new plantings

with new plantings, the essentials are:

1. Location

Full sun. The more sun the better. at least six hours a day.

2. Ground

when growing in the soil, dig to a depth of at least 20cm. The roots of the plants like to bury themselves well into the ground, where the root zone is cooler for the uptake of water. when planting in containers, use a specialist strawberry potting mix that has all the nutrients and goodies in it the crop needs for the season.

3. Spacing

allow 30-40cm between plants in the ground. in containers this rarely happens as the temptation to cram more into a small space, overrides the planting distance. This works okay, until the plants start competing with each other for food and water. Once this happens, the capacity to produce as much fruit lessons. Hence plants in containers will need more food more often.

4. Fertiliser

Strawberries thrive with high levels of potassium; think banana skins. The easiest way to feed strawberries is to use strawberry food, this is a pre-blended fertiliser that is high in potassium formulated with berries in mind. essentially it is a multi-vitamin for strawberries. either blend into the ground before planting or sprinkle it around each plant. i allow about half a cup per plant depending on what brand i use. do check the recommended application rate as they do vary.

5. Plant plenty

We used to say five to six plants per person where possible, but I suggest doubling that to make sure you have enough!

6. Planting ideas

Strawberries are adaptable and will reliably grow in hanging baskets, strawberry towers, wine barrels and in vertical planters.