Growing your own strawberries

SUMMER GOLD: Strawberries for the family. PICTURE / GETTY IMAGES

Strawberries are one of the easiest plants to grow. They will fit into any size garden and also grow well in pots and containers. They are quick to give results. If they are planted now, you can be harvesting fruit from mid November and through into the summer months.
Varieties There are a number of varieties available, and a couple of good ones that do well here in Wanganui include Seascape and Camarosa.
A new variety we have got hold of for the first time last year at the garden centre was Aromas. It is described by the breeders, The University of California. "This is a day-neutral cultivar which has larger fruit and produces greater yields than Seascape strawberry plants. The Aromas strawberry cultivar produces large quantities of late-season fruit. It also has a broader environmental tolerance and is more resistant to mildew, and is especially tolerant to spider mites. Flavour is very good."
I grew this variety myself last summer and was still harvesting fruit into May!
Strawberry varieties fall into two main categories - short day varieties and day neutral varieties. The biggest difference being that the fruiting peak falls at a different time, so if you plant a mixture of these varieties you will be harvesting fruit for a longer period.
Short day varieties initiate flowering when as the name suggests the days are short in winter and spring. Subsequently the bulk of the fruit of these varieties will start in early November, mostly finishing after Christmas. As the days shorten in autumn, flowering is also initiated and small crop may be produced. Camerosa is a good short day variety.
Day Neutral Varieties in contrast will fruit any time of the year when the temperatures are warm enough for growth. These varieties tend not to have such a large flush of fruit at once but produce consistently for a longer period. Seascape and Aromas are good producing day neutral variety for Wanganui.
While strawberry plantings can be made year round, planting done in the cooler months tends to result in heavier cropping that plantings made in warmer months. If they are planted too late, closer to the longest day (December), they will tend to produce an abundance of runners instead of fruit.
Where To Grow There seems no limit to how and where strawberries can be grown, and they are fairly fool proof so that anyone can plant them and be rewarded with fruit!
They can be grown in old car tyres, where the heat of the tyres hastens ripening. This method keeps the fruit off the ground and subsequently clean from soil. They can be grown in hydroponics, in glazed or terracotta pots or in specialist herb/strawberry planters. They are an edible option to grow in a hanging basket or they can fit in the herb garden. Some grow them along the edge of a vegetable garden and others will dedicate a spot to mass produce their favourite berry.
Many will grow strawberries in pots and containers of various forms. If you are planting strawberries in pots make sure you should use a specialty potting mix such as Tui Strawberry Mix.
The biggest factor to growing good strawberries is site selection. The plants need a sunny position and a well-drained soil that has good structure. When planting strawberries the garden the addition of compost or broken down animal manure will help improve soil structure and by bulking up the soil can give height that will aid in good drainage.
Mulching & Feeding Mulching the soil surface between plants will prevent weeds, maintain an even soil temperature and prevent moisture loss in summer. A mulch will also help to keep the fruit clean. Suitable mulches include straw, arborist mulch, sawdust, pine needles, pine bark or wood shavings.
The traditional and very effective method of growing strawberries is to cover the raised mound with black polythene plastic or weed mat making a small slit for each plant. The black mulch attracts heat increasing soil temperature making fruiting earlier and the fruit clean from dirt.
Cultural Notes Strawberry plants will produce significantly more fruit if they are watered and fertilised regularly. Like many plants you can buy a specially blended fertiliser such as Tui Strawberry food which is blended with the appropriate proportions of NPK and trace elements. While they like to be well drained, plants will need to be watered during the summer months. This is best done in the early morning to reduce the risk of humidity build up.
Strawberry plants will produce good crops for three years after which time the 'mother' plants are best thrown out. The plants will generally produce runners each season during late summer. In the first year it is beneficial to fruit production of the subsequent year if these runners are removed before growing too much as they will drain the plant of energy that will benefit next seasons fruit. However in the second and third season, saving some runners and replanting will allow you to replenish or enlarge your strawberry patch.
For plants that are starting their second or third season all the dead leaves should be pruned off during winter to minimise hosting pests and diseases. Plants should then be fertilised in August or early September.
Strawberries are relatively pest free, though keep an eye out for slugs during spring which may eat the new leaves.
Bird Control Planting strawberry plants (like other fruit trees) is ironically a great way to attract birds into the garden! So to enjoy the fruits of your labour, bird control is essential and this is the area where many people come unstuck.
The most effective method is to construct a frame to drape bird netting. The frame needs to be able to hold the bird netting at least 30cm above the plants so when birds sit on the cloth they are not able to reach through the netting and eat those precious morsels.
The netting also needs to be secured around the base to prevent side entry from the birds, using bricks or similar weighting netting to the ground.
There are a number of different frame options from bending number 8 wire or steel into hoops, to making a square frame with garden stakes.
A rule of thumb is to plant five plants for each family member. If you want to eat bowls full of strawberries every night then plant more!
Gareth Carter is General Manager of Springvale Garden Centre.