I bought a hanging strawberry plant from Home Depot that has done quite well - It has put out dozens of flowers and has given us quite a lot of fruit, way more than we expected from a small hanging plant. I'm beginning to wonder if the pot if overcrowded. How can I tell? What can I do about it? Some of the leaves have some spots and there is an occasional yellow leaf, and the strawberries are on the smaller and oddly shaped side, so I'm wondering if that means the soil is deficient in something.
We are also clueless about what to do when the season is over, especially come winter. Will the plant come back next year? What do we do with it in the meantime?
Thanks for helping this newbie!
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Safroniabee
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Hi.
I assume your plant is not a perpetual strawberry which crops all through the season. But is a 'normal' variety that gives one large flush of fruit.
It depends how small your container is...but in general you should be able to keep your plant going for many a year.
First...don't let your plant produce runners unless you need a replacement plant. They take a large amount of energy from the parent plant, especially as in a pot they just hang without being able to root and take in nourishment themselves.
The centre of a strawberry plant...the place were the leaves all come from...is called the crown. This grows larger each year according to the health of the plant. On average growers would expect this crown to produce good flower and fruit for around five years before it needed replacement.
After cropping the plant needs a light feed of something like tomato feed....this will give a good potash feed without overdoing the nitrogen.
The old leaves can be removed along with yellowing ones as the season comes to an end. Growers often cut nearly all the foliage off the plants before winter finally sets in. This stops diseased leaves from contaminating the ground around the plants.
Finally...if you have hard winters the roots will need protection. Wrap the pot with sacking or similar ...the crowns are tough..the roots not.
I assume your plant is not a perpetual strawberry which crops all through the season. But is a 'normal' variety that gives one large flush of fruit.
It depends how small your container is...but in general you should be able to keep your plant going for many a year.
First...don't let your plant produce runners unless you need a replacement plant. They take a large amount of energy from the parent plant, especially as in a pot they just hang without being able to root and take in nourishment themselves.
The centre of a strawberry plant...the place were the leaves all come from...is called the crown. This grows larger each year according to the health of the plant. On average growers would expect this crown to produce good flower and fruit for around five years before it needed replacement.
After cropping the plant needs a light feed of something like tomato feed....this will give a good potash feed without overdoing the nitrogen.
The old leaves can be removed along with yellowing ones as the season comes to an end. Growers often cut nearly all the foliage off the plants before winter finally sets in. This stops diseased leaves from contaminating the ground around the plants.
Finally...if you have hard winters the roots will need protection. Wrap the pot with sacking or similar ...the crowns are tough..the roots not.
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GardeningCook
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As a rider to my last reply .... Misshapen fruit is usually down to one of two things. Either poor pollination....or insect/disease damage.
If a berry is grazed by an insect slightly as it grows it will be distorted.
A solo plant is more likely to suffer from poor pollination though.
I should have added also that next year when your plant is in flower feed weekly with a tomato fertiliser to give it a high potash,low nitrogen feed.
After the fall before winter fully sets in thoroughly soak the pot to wash the soil through. The problem with feeding in a small container is that the salts from the feed can build up In the soil. These can lock up nutrients so the roots cannot use them.
If a berry is grazed by an insect slightly as it grows it will be distorted.
A solo plant is more likely to suffer from poor pollination though.
I should have added also that next year when your plant is in flower feed weekly with a tomato fertiliser to give it a high potash,low nitrogen feed.
After the fall before winter fully sets in thoroughly soak the pot to wash the soil through. The problem with feeding in a small container is that the salts from the feed can build up In the soil. These can lock up nutrients so the roots cannot use them.
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Safroniabee
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- Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2015 5:09 pm
Thanks for the responses! So, in peeking around inside the plant, I am seeing more than one crown. I'll attach a pic so you can see the size of the pot. I did pinch off the runners a while ago and now I t puts out tons of flowers, and has been for a few weeks now. I don't remember what the variety is and I don't have the tag anymore, unfortunately. I'm not sure what to do about the multiple crowns.
I also keep seeing birds eating the strawberries! Is there a way to deter them?
I also keep seeing birds eating the strawberries! Is there a way to deter them?
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applestar
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Oooh! it's the newer pink flowered one. I think there are only 3 or 4 cultivars. I can think of two and aim pretty sure there was another one, so I added the 4th as likely. LOL 
How does it taste? The first one that came out commercially didn't get good reviews -- I think it was whimsically called "Pink Panda"
Birds will always go after the reddest ripest strawberries. You could put a net around it not touching the plant (top and bottom too.
Other things to try are shiny streamers and birdscares. Last year, my kids and I made them out of aluminum takeout/pie pans -- drawing giant eyes on both sides and hanging with longish string so they flap around and turn and bang on things, they actually worked well and the best ones were on long strings or hanging loosely on a nylon rope run so it would get pushed around by the wind and travel/slide along the line.
Some people make them out of old CD's ...and old VCR and audio tapes make excellent flashy birdscare tapes when twisted a few turns
How does it taste? The first one that came out commercially didn't get good reviews -- I think it was whimsically called "Pink Panda"
Birds will always go after the reddest ripest strawberries. You could put a net around it not touching the plant (top and bottom too.
Other things to try are shiny streamers and birdscares. Last year, my kids and I made them out of aluminum takeout/pie pans -- drawing giant eyes on both sides and hanging with longish string so they flap around and turn and bang on things, they actually worked well and the best ones were on long strings or hanging loosely on a nylon rope run so it would get pushed around by the wind and travel/slide along the line.
Some people make them out of old CD's ...and old VCR and audio tapes make excellent flashy birdscare tapes when twisted a few turns
As regarding the crowns...you will have to leave them until the fall when the plant has gone dormant.
Then if they look overcrowded you can remove some and plant them elsewhere.
If your straws have been flowering and fruiting for a long time then I guess they are perpetuals and will continue to crop through the summer. In that case a steady feed of Tom food will be needed to maintain that heavy crop and limited root room.
A good idea ...one that commercial growers use.....is to include a light feed in every watering you do, so the plant does not get flushes of feed but a steady supply. It means diluting the mix more than you would for weekly feeds so the plant gets the same amount but on a more regular basis.
Then if they look overcrowded you can remove some and plant them elsewhere.
If your straws have been flowering and fruiting for a long time then I guess they are perpetuals and will continue to crop through the summer. In that case a steady feed of Tom food will be needed to maintain that heavy crop and limited root room.
A good idea ...one that commercial growers use.....is to include a light feed in every watering you do, so the plant does not get flushes of feed but a steady supply. It means diluting the mix more than you would for weekly feeds so the plant gets the same amount but on a more regular basis.