Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Deborah1 on November 12, 2020, 15:40
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I know this is a bit of a ‘how long is a piece of string’ type question ;) But I am re-making my strawberry patch after two successive years of pathetic crops - different reasons each year though.
I love strawberries and would ideally like to make 4/5 pots of jam, plus enough to eat a couple of bowl fulls every couple of days!
So, my question is how many plants would you put in to achieve that in an average year?
Any comments/advice gratefully received. So far I’ve planted out 24 new runners...
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I can't really help with quantities, as I only grow a token few for my granddaughter , but I know from experience :( not to plant them somewhere that you recently grew potatoes, or where they will be growing near them, as they are both prone to verticillium wilt.
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Have you got room for a few pots at home ?
I find you get really good yields from those which might help with the supply of eating ones.
You could save your plot crop for jam then, without having to devote huge amounts of space :)
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I had 24 plants and was overwhelmed with strawberries. Was picking 1-2kg every two to three days. Made about twenty pots of jam and gave away quite a few. I’d say you’d be fine with 12 plants if they are in good soil and spaced 18” apart in rows 2 foot apart. Might be an idea to get six early and 6 late fruiting plants so you can eat fresh over a longer period.
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Nobbie has planted at very wide spacings in very good soil. The answer depends on how much room you are willing to devote to them and how big your plot is. I would certainly consider planting them in holes in weed suppressant material so that they are undisturbed by weeds. In a smallish plot, I would plant at 12" x 12" spacings. What spacing have you used so far?
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Thanks for your comments so far. I have planted them at roughly 12 x12 spacing - but that was only yesterday just before I posted so I can always pull them out and re-set them if necessary! Luckily I’ve chosen a spot where there’ve been no tomatoes or potatoes for a few years.
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I don’t grow them on the plot, but I have raised beds at home where I have about a dozen plants, then I do a couple of big pots every year as well.
The raised beds are good soil and I mulch them over winter with bagged stable manure. We get a pretty decent crop, but I have also done this and replaced half with a later cropping variety so we don’t get them all at once.
Might be an idea to get six early and 6 late fruiting plants so you can eat fresh over a longer period.
They are a crop worth spoiling a bit for really good results. You could achieve this by good spacing, or by making sure you really look after the soil they are in, or a combination of both :)
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For jam i hull and freeze the odd strawberries that are not enough for a serving or ripe when you have temporarily lost your appetite for them! ::)
It is surprising how the one or two picked and frozen add up to a few pots of jam.
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If you have room I’d increase to 36 plants, but bear in mind they should increase yield after year 1 & decrease yields after year 3 so it is recommended to dispose of after year 3 or 4. So you might be better to do it on a rolling programme, so next year plant another 12 up & so on. Of course if you have masses f room go for it now. Remember though not tomplant the next plants where these have been when you discard them. I started this current bed with 36 plants from Lidl 2 or 3 years ago. This year we had more than we could eat & I made over 18 mixed sized jars of jam & the same last year.
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Thanks everyone. Weather permitting that’s my weekend sorted :D