How to grow strawberries - Van Meuwen How to Grow

Jan. 17, 2011 - PRLog -- From the largest allotment to the smallest balcony, strawberries can be grown almost anywhere! These versatile fruits will grow in raised beds, containers, hanging baskets or window boxes, to provide a constant supply of mouth-watering fruits during the height of summer.

Shop bought strawberries travel great distances to reach your kitchen table and commercial varieties often lack that delicious sweet flavour of home grown fruit. We offer a range of early, mid season and late fruiting varieties that will produce a mouth watering crop every year.

Growing strawberries really couldn’t be easier if you follow our tips.

Growing strawberries in the ground:
1. Strawberry plants grow best in a sheltered, sunny position.
2. Plant them in well drained, weed free soil, at a spacing of 45cm (18”) apart, leaving 75cm (30”) between rows.
3. Spread out their roots and place them in the soil, positioning them so that the crown of the plant is just poking above the surface. Try not to plant them too deeply as this can cause them to rot.
4. Water strawberries frequently throughout the growing season and weed regularly between rows.
5. In May, place straw either side of each plant to protect developing fruit from slugs and to raise the strawberries off of the ground. Cover your plants with a net to protect your crop from greedy birds!

Growing strawberries in containers:
1. Strawberries are ideal for growing in hanging baskets or in specially designed strawberry planters for the patio. You can even plant them in our vertical strawberry growing pouches against a wall. You can usually fit around 6 plants in a basket.
2. Water them regularly and feed them every 2 weeks with a high potassium plant fertiliser such as tomato food.
3. Remove any runners that are produced in early summer as these will weaken the plants vigour, (they look like a long flexible stem with a baby plant at the very end).

Aftercare:
1. Harvest strawberries as they ripen. Choose a dry day if possible and gently pull them from the plant.
2. After cropping, remove any netting and straw to allow better air flow around the crown of the plant, and cut back any old foliage.
3. Mulch strawberry plants with compost or well rotted manure every spring
4. Although strawberry plants will continue to fruit in successive years, the crop will become considerably reduced and it is advisable to completely replace plants every 3 years.

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Established as a producer of tulip and daffodil bulbs in 1973, Van Meuwen diversified into mail order in 1977. Today Van meuwen is a horticultural mail order specialist, http://www.vanmeuwen.com