Q.
We purchased some strawberry plants last year and they produced fruit around December. This year they have started flowering earlier. Is this a problem? If so, is there anything we can do to rectify this?
A.
- This is normal especially if the winter has been mild, in warmer weather plants will flower and fruit early.
- If there is a cold snap, flowering will stop, but a new set of flowers will emerge when temperatures warm up.
- If there are any misshapen fruit they can be removed, this is caused by incomplete pollination by bees especially in wet or windy weather.
- Give your plants a side dressing of Tui Strawberry Food if you haven’t already. Apply every four to six week's during the growing season.
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Are my strawberries flowering too early? Comments
I am having the same problem, I thought you had to take the flowers off until October. Is this not so?
Celia Geary
Hi Celia, if you leave them on you will get more fruit in the coming months :) Thanks, Tui Team
jenna
I thought this too.
Les Howe
Hi Les, it is personal preference whether you take the flowers off or not - you can pick them off and wait for the next lot of flowering. If you leave them on the plants energy will go into producing these fruit set in winter and there is more chance of deformed fruit. However you can pick off any deformed fruit. Thanks, Tui Team.
jenna
Hi. My strawberry plant leaves are browning and dying off. I planted them in Strawberry mix and tilled in strawberry food and water them often. A lot of the berries ripen very small too. What am I doing wrong?
Jo
Hi Jo, thank you for getting in touch. It seems like you have done all the right things to start off your berries, the burning could be from watering in the heat of the day. This is the most common cause of burning at this time of the year. Water before 10 in the morning or after 5pm where possible. Sometimes plants that are stressed with too much water or too little shed there excess leaves too. So keep an eye on your watering and make sure the soil does not dry out in-between watering or that the soil isn’t water logged at all. An application now with Seasol plant tonic will give the plants a boost. All the best, Tui Team
jenna