View Full Version : Anyone growing strawberries, tomatoes or chillis?
Anyone on here grow strawberries, tomatoes or chillis?
I bought 3 small strawberry plants last year and we got a couple of strawberries off them, then they bred like mad and this year I have 8 plants. The three original ones are now huge and clumpy and literally teeming with fruit:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/09-05-07_1729.jpg
And the smaller ones are doing pretty well too:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/09-05-07_1731.jpg
The bigg'uns are in a large terracotta pot with last year's soil and I've been feediting them Tomorite tomato food whoch apparently feeds the fruit rather than the plant itself. Well it seems to have done the trick and with the good weather it looks like we're going to have a nice crop. The smaller ones are a bit crammed in platic planter but I think I've left it too late to re-pot them.
We also have a hanging basket with two Tumbler tomato plants which seem to be growing quite well too and I have a baby jalapeno pepper plant on the sunny window sill in the bedroom.
Do you good people of BD have any tips or tricks for me? I've heard you get more strawberries the next year if you don't let them breed, is this true? ;)
This year I have planted gooseberries, raspberries, loganberries, blueberries, and both red and white grapes. I've also had a peach tree for 2 years and it flowers bu the fruit always dies before it gets anywhere near ready to eat!
Kitten my grandma used to grow toms and it's down to the variety. She said get one called Tumbler and it's fine in a hanging basket. No more than 2 plants per basket and keep them nice and watered and feed regularly. You're a bit too late this year if you want to start from seed, they need to be started around April ideally but saying that our summers have been going on very late so they will still fruit going on past experience. Best to get them as plants and pot them up nicely.
I'm quite lucky to have particularly green fingers but naturally I want to optimise my crop :D
Gooseberries tend to need a year or 2 to get their roots established in my experience. After that I've noticed you'll get a huge harvest one year and a small one the year after!
I think the plant over-exerts itself bearing too much fruit and compromises itself for the next year. I've heard this is why you should cut the runners off when they sprout. However I've also heard that if they are pot-bound they send off lots of runners which they don't do it they are in a field etc.
Mine is pot bound at present. Have to sort out garden so should be planted next spring.
I just learned you should cut off 10% of the fruit when it is small to allow the other berries to grow big.
But, but, but...
I can't bring myself to do it :(
This year I have planted gooseberries, raspberries, loganberries, blueberries, and both red and white grapes. I've also had a peach tree for 2 years and it flowers bu the fruit always dies before it gets anywhere near ready to eat!
Would love to grow lots of different berrys but I'm terrible with plants of any sort - I just manage to kill them all :/
Lynnie_pitch nee Leigh
10-05-2007, 21:35
i'm about to invest in a little fake-greenhouse for the garden. Been told it's too late to start with tomatos and chillis though, but don't trust the person who told me ;D
She also said that the tomato hanging baskets didn't work well because the shape doesn't allow the goodness to travel the length of the plant. A friend of mine says they are great though.
So I'd be interested in some advice too if anyone has any on good ways to start off.
For tomatoes my dad used to put them in a propergator (It heats the soil, makes the plant think its a nice time of year ;)) then he'd plant them up in the green house. But we haven't got one anymore, so I pretty ****ing useless really telling you that ;D
Strawberries - these lot say it better than me:
The three year life cycle
Strawberry plants have a 3 year cycle…. the first year you get a small crop…the second year you get a large crop, and possibly the third year, but after three years, they lose their oomph…. so you need to replace your plants,
Take runners during the first year to make sure you have a second year crop all the time. When strawberries are growing well, they throw out tendrils, which grow miniature plants on the end, and they are the runners. When they get to a size of 3 or 4 leaves, then cut off the runner, and plant it in a pot of good multi-purpose compost, and keep well-watered. When you take the runners in the first year, do not let the runner plant crop. Just let it sit, and produce leaves. They are called maiden plants…. if flowers look like opening, take them off. Don't forget to label and date your runners. Remove surplus runners, and make sure you keep your plants well weeded if growing them in the ground.
When watering, do not wet the fruits, as they will develop botrytis, so use a watering can, and gently water near the crowns. Do not use a hosepipe, as it will spray the fruits, and disease will follow.
http://doctorgreenfingers.co.uk/
When we used to grow them at the allotment, we had a section for the strawberries and they basically looked after them selves, new ones grew, old ones died and we just tidied up tbh, never grown them in pots so think advice above is better :D
Strawberries - these lot say it better than me: *Stuff*
I forget to water plants let alone cutting, replanting, dating etc :embarassed: I think I'll have to stick to the local grocers :embarassed:
Would love to grow lots of different berrys but I'm terrible with plants of any sort - I just manage to kill them all :/
Well all I've done is potted them and chucked them in the garden! They do the rest!
I have renamed my chilli plant "Big Frank" :)
Quick update...
The strawbs are coming along well, there were two big fat ripe ones waiting for me when I got home from work:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/24-05-07_1825.jpg
Nyom, nyom nyom...
The plants are coming along really well but I let them dry out last weekend and the leaves have looked a bit tatty since. It doesn't seem to have affected the fruit and the hot weather is really making some big strawbs. Can't wait for them to ripen, check these babies out:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/24-05-07_1826.jpg
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/24-05-07_1827.jpg
I've also got some cherry tomatoes on the go in a hanging basket. Old Grandma69 recommended a strain called Tumbler and they really grow well, covered in yellow flowers at the moment so it's going to be a bumper crop, well worth the £1.30 or whatever it was for each of the two plants.
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/24-05-07_1828.jpg
And here is my first tomato of the year, about as big as the end of my finger:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/24-05-07_1829.jpg
I've just bought chillies, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers and herbs and will be planting them later - providing I don't keep drinking this lovely red wine.
I've seen them - they looked good! mmmmmmmm
Nyom nyom nyom, still warm from the sun :cool:
http://www.jonny69.co.uk/uploads/strawbs/09-06-07.JPG
Von Smallhausen
09-06-2007, 19:26
Did you use a home-made genetic modification laser to grow them Jonny ? :D
Oh fantastic, glad they're doing well Jonny. I might get some strawberry plants next year.
Mum gave me 3 cherry tomato plants and a courgette the other week that she couldn't fit in her vegetable patch. I've been watering them lots and they seem to be doing well. The courgette has quite a few buds on it, so I'm hopeful for a good crop :)
Until I get around to hiring a pneumatic drill and a skip and getting you lot around to demolish my garden I have the choices of doing nowt (as normal) or attempting things in pots. I will probably start with a herb pot but then may move on to berries so I'll probably be using this thread as a guide :)
The best thing to remember with pots, is give them drainage (crocks in the bottom) and make sure you water them lots because they can dry out quick. Do both of those, and you should be fine :) My herb trough needs very little looking after. I just cut the herbs and water it. Might as well give it a bash :) I kill plants too, but they're almost always house plants. The ones in my garden seem a lot happier.
I think the best plants to grow are the ones you get to eat afterwards. Motivation to feed and grow them. Pets could be like that too.
Did you use a home-made genetic modification laser to grow them Jonny ? :D
Shh don't give the game away! And there's no illegal lasers either, not that I'd tell you. YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!!! *shoots lasers into sky, stumbles over uncleared up mess and gets one in the eye* Arrrrgh.
We used to have loads of strawberry plants in my parents garden. One year they went mad and gave fruit for ages. We actually managed to get a strawberry from them on xmas day.
Lynnie_pitch nee Leigh
26-07-2007, 10:09
hmm my gooseberry bush has been eaten by caterpillars :(
Oh no :(
Hopefully we're getting closer to having our veg / fruit patch. I want my cherry tree!! :angry: ;D
My Mum gave me a corgette plant and 2 tomato plants and they're doing quite well at the moment.
We've had 2 tastey corgettes so far and a 3rd & 4th are currently growing.
The tomato plants are cherry toms. Lots of little green tomatoes starting to grow. Looking forward to picking them for salads and oven roasting and things :)
Oh, and my fennel took over the entire garden whilst I was away, so I've had to hack it back :D
Treefrog
31-08-2007, 15:20
Mmm, strawberries. Not sure if it's naughty or not but I just dug up a few wild strawberry plants and stuck them in the ground. I still prefer them to the farmed type - so much tastier.
Mine all died when I went away. I thoght that was it but they have sprouted back up again and two of them are flowering a second time. Probably too late to get any runners though :(
I have lots of green tomatoes on my 2 plants now. They've been green for weeks though :( COME ON SUN!!!!!
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