melism1
Newly Registered
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jun 25, 2010 9:52 pm
Location: Michigan

new strawberry patch

We just moved into a house with a long everbearing strawberry patch planted on a slope. The berries were perfect for picking just a couple days before we moved in. Needless to say, after spending a few days getting moved in, the berries are pretty bad. I know nothing about how to take care of strawberry plants.

Do I need to go pick the rotten berries and clean out the bed / take out the really old (unrecognizable in many cases)?

Do I need to spray the for bugs and if so what do I use and how often?

We've had a ton of rain in the week that I've been here so I haven't worried about watering... but do they need watered regularly?

I've read that strawberry plants need to be replanted every 3 years. The house was built 5 years ago but I have no idea how long these plants have been here. I'm not sure if this is true for everbearing, but if so... how do I know when it's time to dig up the plants?

Anything else I need to know?

JONA878
Greener Thumb
Posts: 1014
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 2:14 am
Location: SUSSEX

It may be worth doing just a few simple things this year Melism and then seeing next year how things develope.

First ..remove all damaged and rotten fruit. Botrytis will always follow rotting fruit.
As you say....clean out the bed of old dead and dying leaves. Any plants that look unhealthy remove as you go.
If they are everbearers they should continue to produce flower through the year so give them a regular supply of water and a good feed of a high potash fertiliser would help them along. ( Tomato feed is ideal).

Don'y worry about spraying too much unless you find a heavy infestation of aphids.
Mildew and Botrytis are the main fungal problems but good strong open plants can usually fight these on their own.
Beds can last up to five years if they are healthy.
Good luck.



Return to “All Other Fruit”