Strawberry food?

[brandon558]

Strawberries are doing well so far...are there any types of food I should be feeding them to really make them thrive?

Thanks

[PunkRotten]

I started some strawberries like 2 weeks ago. I gave them some compost with a little bit of organic 4-4-4 fertilizer and some azomite (rock dust). I am not sure what a strawberry fertilizing schedule should be like though. I am wondering the same thing.

[JONA878]

Strawberries do best if you give them a high potash feed once the fruit starts to swell.
They do not need too much nitrogen as this just encourages excess growth.
A good quality tomato feed is ideal.

[brandon558]

Do you mind explaining what a good tomatoe feed would consist of? Brand names would be ideal so I can go get some. I'm new to all of this..thank you!

[ruggr10]

I use Holly Tone.

[RogueRose]

This is helpful! My strawberries started to push up past their forced hibernation of pine needles and they're starting to really come up now. I never really fed them much, but I will feed them this year !

[brandon558]

Thanks ruggr.

I will pick some up...is Holly Tone something good to use on all vegetables in the garden?

[JONA878]

Thanks ruggr.

I will pick some up...is Holly Tone something good to use on all vegetables in the garden?

I'm afraid that I can not help from this side of the pond as too what is available to you.
All I would say is that you make sure it is a product designed for fruiting plants.
General ferts are usually too high in Nitrogen for straw production.
Ideal ratios are around 1-1-3.

[ruggr10]

Holly Tone is great for plants that need acidic soil. So I use on strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes.

The same company makes Plant Tone, Tree Tone, and others that are organic and also contain beneficial microbes. Maybe they should pay me a commission for mentioning this!!

[rainbowgardener]

Tomato tone! The Holly Tone is acidifying. Strawberries like slightly acid soil, so that is ok, unless your soil is acid already.

[PunkRotten]

Thanks ruggr.

I will pick some up...is Holly Tone something good to use on all vegetables in the garden?

I'm afraid that I can not help from this side of the pond as too what is available to you.
All I would say is that you make sure it is a product designed for fruiting plants.
General ferts are usually too high in Nitrogen for straw production.
Ideal ratios are around 1-1-3.

Would the 4-4-4 I added at time of transplant be too much? All my straws are everbearing and they had some flowers that I pinched off. Hoping for a Fall harvest.

[applestar]

When I'm being really attentive, I toss some compost over them just as they are waking up in spring. This helps with crowns that heaved up a little and settle back the soil that got disturbed from the first weeding. Then after the leaves grow out and are creating canopies, I spread tomato fertilizer around and scratch it in as I weed again, and when the berries start to develop, I mulch with clean fresh straw.

There is a patch of wild strawberries in my front yard that doesn't get the fancy treatment -- they live with vetch that self seeds and spreads. So other than a little compost and yanking out the honey suckle that some bird started in the patch, I don't do much except to water when absolutely necessary. if I happened to have it handy and it's going to rain, I *might* scatter some tomato fertilizer (I can't scratch it in here since everything is so tangled up).

I suppose it helps that most of my garden beds are full of earthworms.

[JONA878]

Thanks ruggr.

I will pick some up...is Holly Tone something good to use on all vegetables in the garden?

I'm afraid that I can not help from this side of the pond as too what is available to you.
All I would say is that you make sure it is a product designed for fruiting plants.
General ferts are usually too high in Nitrogen for straw production.
Ideal ratios are around 1-1-3.

Would the 4-4-4 I added at time of transplant be too much? All my straws are everbearing and they had some flowers that I pinched off. Hoping for a Fall harvest.

Too much nitrogen will not harm any strawberry plants but it can get them to produce a very heavy flush of leaf instead of concentrating on fruit production.
In the garden where we expect our straws to last for several years this is not a great problem and encourages runner production for matted beds.
Commercial growers only expect their plants to last for two crops in protected croping and at best three to four years outdoor...so they want maximum production and only just enough leaf to give the plant the food it needs.

[PunkRotten]

Should straws get ongoing fertilizer? What I mean is, some fertilizers say to fertilize every 3 weeks or something. Does this apply to straws? Or should they only get some during fruit production?

[JONA878]

Should straws get ongoing fertilizer? What I mean is, some fertilizers say to fertilize every 3 weeks or something. Does this apply to straws? Or should they only get some during fruit production?

At the start of the growing season it helps the plant to get gowing if they have just a light feed of something light like blood and bone etc.
A steady feed of high potash dureing fruiting is always a good thing.
The best extra feed though is to give them a good dose of a general fertiliser straight after they have finished fruiting....this builds up their reserves for the coming dormant period and helps build a strong and healthy crown on the plant.

One thing I would add...
If you are growing strawberries in a container...pot...grow-bag etc...then at the end of the season it always pays to give the soil a very heavy flush through with water.
High useage of fertiliser builds up salts levels in the soil and this can act as a blockage to the root system for the coming season.

[PunkRotten]

Thanks for all the info.