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Strawberry gardening

Strawberries are an easy and rewarding crop for the home gardener.

They are quick to fruit and take up little space – about a square metre for six plants.

VARIETIES

Strawberry varieties are classified as either short day or day neutral.

Short day varieties start flowering during the shorter days of spring and autumn, cropping in early summer and again in autumn.
Bare-root crowns* can be planted during June and July.

Fruit ripen 20-35 days from flowering, depending on climate, with a light crop in early summer followed by a main crop December-January.

Pajaro*
An excellent all round variety, large fruit with a lighter flesh. Firm with excellent flavour. Early to mid-season cropper. A very popular variety grown by commercial growers in the North Island.

Chandler*
A newer variety with medium red fruit with light red flesh. More resistant to wet weather. Suggested as the most suitable variety for home gardeners in the North Island.

Camerosa*
Medium red flesh with large, firm berries. Good flavour. Wet weather resistant.

Sundae
Large red fruit, oval in shape. Firm red flesh with excellent flavour. Suitable for northern and central regions.

Supreme
Very large bright red fruit. Very firm red flesh with excellent flavour. Suitable for northern and central regions. Yield is very good.

Tioga
Medium, firm red fruit with good flavour. Suitable for northern and central districts. Average yield.

Day neutral hybrids will fruit at any time of the year that temperatures allow.

Seascape*
A newer variety producing medium dark berries of moderate size. Good flavour, firm and conical in shape. A good late season variety, suitable for most parts of New Zealand. Harvest late season. Best grown in drier areas.

Temptation
Medium bright red shiny fruit. Pale, firm flesh with excellent flavour. Tough and resilient in relation to perst and diseases. Ideal to grow nationwide. Consistant high yields of berries ripening over a long period from October to March.

Yolo
Large, bright red fruit with pale but firm flesh and good flavour. Suitable for southern and central regions. Harvest late season.

Baby Pink
Produces stunningly beautiful bright pink flowers followed by small to medium fruit with a sweet, traditional flavour.
Large bunches of berries will ripen over a long period.Compact and strong growing.

HOW TO GROW

Position and soil

Full sun.
Prefer a fertile, moisture retentive, crumbly loam but are tolerant of a wide range of soils.
Improve soils by adding compost and other organic matter prior to planting.
Good drainage is a must if the soil is to warm up in the spring .
Plant on a mound if drainage is a problem, especially in clay soils.
Protect from frost during flowering.
Prior to planting apply 150 grams of Tui Strawberry Food per metre of row.

Planting

Bare-root crowns of some varieties are available for planting in mid winter.
Plant through black weedmat or sheets of newspaper on raised rows to provide weed control, good drainage and earlier fruit.
Space 15cm apart.
The crown of the plant, the part just below the leaves, must be at soil level and not buried.

Fertiliser

Prior to planting apply 150 grams of Tui Strawberry Food per metre of row.
Side-dress monthly with Tui Strawberry Food until the fruit are ripe at a rate of 75 per metre of row and water in well.
Seaweed sprays every couple of weeks will supply trace elements as well as prevent most fungal diseases. These can also enhance flavour.
Use liquid tomato fertilisers to encourage flowering and fruit.

Maintenance

Place a straw mulch around the plants as the young fruit begins to form.
Cover fruit with netting to keep off the birds.
Remove dead foliage from the plants to help minimize disease and housing of pests.
Spraying can assist in the prevention of fungus disease and pests.

Early growth	Use a copper spray to prevent leaf spots.
Pre-flowering	Flowering Yates Bravo to prevent leaf spots and botrytis.
	Yates Success or Kiwicare Organic No Caterpillars to control caterpillars.
After wet weather	As above

Water in hot weather preferable by a dripper irrigation system with a dripper for each plant. Irrigate early in the morning to prevent humidity that can help establish fungus diseases. Enhance the flavour and firmness of the fruit by reducing the amount of water as the fruit ripens.
In late summer, plants will send off runners. These should be removed, unless new plants are required.
New plants can be propagated from the first strong runners sent off by the healthiest, pest and virus free ‘mother’ plants. Remove and dead or damaged leaves from the runner and plant in a seed tray filled with sand, pumice or gravel.
No fertiliser is required at this stage. Water well and keep the tray in a cool, shady spot. They should be showing new root growth in 5-6 weeks.

CONTAINERS

Strawberries are ideal to grow in containers as the fruit will be well clear of the ground, thus reducing harm from pests and diseases.

The plants tend to be healthier and fruit earlier than those grown in the ground.

Popular chooses of container are the terracotta strawberry pots and woven polyethylene pop-up planters with planting pocket in the sides. They look great in hanging baskets.

Fill the container with Tui Strawberry Mix, designed to give the appropriate nutrients and conditions for top performance.

Regular watering is necessary especially when the fruit are forming.

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