[ianl]

Hi, I made up a strawberry bed yesterday. Its 4' x 6'. I put plastic on the bottom and pierced it for drainage. The sides are 4'' high plastic boards.  I filled it up with fresh horse manure and covered with black plastic. How long does the manure take to compost and when can I plant my strawberries? Your replies please, Ian

[Kajazy]

I would say that if the manure was very fresh, then it will need a good 6 months to rot down! As to when to plant strawberries - I've heard different things, but mine went in towards the end of summer last year - and they're doing very well this year, particularly the misted tip ones - but we had a very warm autumn, which gave them a good opportunity to put down some roots

[GrannieAnnie]

I planted my new strawberries on 13th May and harvested my first 22 fruits tonight!  I agree with Kajazy about the manure though, too fresh probably isn't good for them.  Do you have somewhere else you can plant them temporarily until your manure rots down more?

[m1ckz]

i covered my strawberry bed with fresh horse muck september last year,covered the whole bed of strawberry,i had a bumper crop,an still picking them,,,,

[ianl]

Hi, thanks for your replies As the manure takes six months to compost, I wont get any strawberries until the beginning of next year. Thanks again, Ian

[lazza]

There was a raised 5'x5' strawberry bed in our garden when we moved in 3 winters ago, and we had two excellent years, but last year the yield really dropped off. So we assumed the existing plants had reached their optimum productivity. So in the late summer, I pegged in loads of runners, and ended up with about 20 new plants. which I potted up. Then at the end of the autumn, I dug out the whole bed, keeping back 6 or 7 of the plants that had still produced reasonable yields, and got rid of all the soil. (This was based on advice on this forum, which suggested planting back into the same bed could lead to build up of disease, but seeing as we don't have space for another bed, the only option was to dig out the existing one and start again!)

Early in spring, we refilled the bed with manure and fresh topsoil, then planted out the most healthy looking "baby" strawberry plants in April, together with the older plants we had kept back. First strabwerry was picked this weekend (yes, just the one, which we cut into quarters and shared among the whole family!) and this morning, half a dozen more. Most of the plants (about 15-16 plants in all) have around 10-20 strawberries on and more flowers coming, so although the "first year" yield won't be spectacular, it will keep us going with fruit for a month or so, I hope.

[ianl]

I'm didn't realise that you get so many strawberries from  a bed that size. I can't wait until next spring!

[lazza]

I'm didn't realise that you get so many strawberries from  a bed that size. I can't wait until next spring!

Strawberries seem to be one of my rare success stories! From this small bed, with about 15 plants in, we got about 15-20lb of strawberries for 2 summers, down to about 8-10lb last year.