Strawberries

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Have you seen @henless 's strawberry boxes Mary? I think it's a great idea. No worries about weeds.

https://www.theeasygarden.com/threads/a-henless-garden-2019.22611/page-3

That is a great idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That might be the answer!

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

i believe u-pick places deal with weed and grass problems by tearing up plants and redoing beds every three years or so. we home gardeners love and care for each tiny plant so we often keep the bed going longer than we should. i have two beds dedicated to strawberries. i used to plant one, harvest the second and third year. that third year, i planted new runners in the second bed, starting the new bed. that way i had a relatively steady production and managed weed and grass problems and had fallow years to improve the soil.

I have watched videos of how they do this and I do just what you said, care of each little strawberry plant and old enough to go to retirement homes. I have never really taken care of the strawberries, just let them go wild and then end up with a mess. I moved my large strawberry bed after I could not keep slugs out.

 

[Smart Red]

 

[catjac1975]

i believe u-pick places deal with weed and grass problems by tearing up plants and redoing beds every three years or so. we home gardeners love and care for each tiny plant so we often keep the bed going longer than we should. i have two beds dedicated to strawberries. i used to plant one, harvest the second and third year. that third year, i planted new runners in the second bed, starting the new bed. that way i had a relatively steady production and managed weed and grass problems and had fallow years to improve the soil.

I think they saturate with round-up.

 

[bobm]

All of the methods will work up to the time verticilium wilt shows up... then it is curtains for all plants that are susseptable to it. I know this by first hand and personal last year as I lost about 60% of my plantings . The commercial strawberry growers treat their fields with methyl bromide and cover the fields with plastic annually and replant.

 

[seedcorn]

I think they saturate with round-up.

Nope. Bacteria in ground deactivates the chemical. No such thing as RR strawberries to spray over top.

 

[ninnymary]

My friend's uncle is a strawberry grower both conventional and organic. He told me he plants new plants every year and fertilizes every 6 weeks. That sounds kind of high maintenance to me.

Mary

 

[catjac1975]

Nope. Bacteria in ground deactivates the chemical. No such thing as RR strawberries to spray over top.

What's RR?

My friend's uncle is a strawberry grower both conventional and organic. He told me he plants new plants every year and fertilizes every 6 weeks. That sounds kind of high maintenance to me.

My friend's uncle is a strawberry grower both conventional and organic. He told me he plants new plants every year and fertilizes every 6 weeks. That sounds kind of high maintenance to me.

Mary

I am going to guess he is in your warm climate. I cannot imagine doing that up north. In fact they tell you to pick the blossoms the first year to strength the plant. I will let you know the the weed barrier works out for me!

 

[seedcorn]

Roundup ready. GMO.

 

[flowerbug]

My friend's uncle is a strawberry grower both conventional and organic. He told me he plants new plants every year and fertilizes every 6 weeks. That sounds kind of high maintenance to me.

Mary

it's a lot easier to not have to work around existing plants, they probably have a tractor that can lift all the old plants and reshape the rows.