Plant strawberries in mid-spring or in late summer/early autumn – no later than the first week of September in the northern Britain and the second week of September in southern regions. Planting in August or early September gives them longer to get established before fruiting, so they should produce a better crop. If the leaf surfaces have a white, powdery look in summer, this is powdery mildew. It can be a problem in hot, dry weather. Keep the soil moist and remove any affected leaves promptly. Space out your plants to avoid over-crowding and to improve air flow. Remove weeds, as they can spread the fungus. Strawberries are easy to grow in containers, such grow bags, hanging baskets, troughs and tubs. Although traditional strawberry pots look attractive, they can make it difficult to maintain healthy, productive plants.

Next year I might spray paint the PVC a nice color to blend in with the house and garden. Probably a dark green color. When to Erect a DIY Strawberry Plant Cage I’d also like to touch on using PVC pipe. Admittedly, PVC doesn’t make for the most attractive cage. Especially in my front yard. A wood frame would be far more attractive. Alpine varieties are often sold alongside herb plants at the garden centre; you can also grow them from seed Fruits may occasionally be affected by phyllody, and the fruit fly spotted wing drosophila (SWD) is likely to become an increasing problem. Summer-fruiting strawberries – these are the most popular type and produce the largest fruit. They have a short but heavy cropping period of two or three weeks. There are early-, mid- and late-fruiting cultivars, cropping from early to mid-summer. If covered with cloches or grown in a greenhouse from late winter, they will provide even earlier harvestsStrawberries can be propagated from runners (plantlets produced on long stems) in late summer, but no later than early autumn: The key to pregnancy skincare: Focus on hydration and soothing, avoid harmful ingredients and select products according to your skin type. After you have enjoyed your harvest of ripe, juicy berries, simply snip the plastic ties, remove and fold the netting, and break apart the PVC pipes and connectors and prepare for storage. With proper care, the netting should last a few years. Plant spare runners (plantlets produced on long stems) into any gaps in the row or use them to replace old plants. Remove any unwanted runners to prevent overcrowding Measure the height and the width of your strawberry grow bags (or yard area). Add about 6″ to all the measurements to estimate the length and width of PVC pipes (i.e. the supports). For our 2 10-gallon strawberry bags, our cage was about 32″. 2. Cut PVC Piping

Netting – Minimum of 6′ by 40′ roll. We found the best value in a 7’ by 100’ roll for future gardening projects My point is this – the tutorial below includes measurements for covering 2 strawberry grow bags. BUT this method should work for strawberry plants plants in row with a modification in measurements. Birds love ripe strawberries, and who could blame them. Imagine a bird just flying along and spotting, below, a dessert bar—a long matted row of sweet, juicy berries. Why not stop for a bite! Well, you planted strawberries for your family, and everyone is waiting for them to ripen, that's why not. Netting protects this strawberry garden from hungry birds. The netting is suspended on PVC hoops to keep it off tender fruit, and it is secured to the ground with logs. A wooden frame added to this raised bed holds the bird netting up and off the strawberry plants below. It also does double duty to keep out rabbits. What's a gardener to do? I was impressed with the netting we used – lightweight yet still appears strong. It’s made by Jobes’ Easy Gardener division (they also manufacture the garden staples). Based in Waco, Texas, they focus on a wide range of products that make growing plants attainable for any level of gardener. Thank you Jobes! Now I have a sturdy and weatherproof support system for my strawberry netting. It shares the general appearance of The Gates, but none of its grandeur or expense.The netting is laid over the cage and pegged down. It is not fitted as this would make it difficult on the larger cages to take off the netting with just one person.

One of the advantages of this type of support is that it can accommodate beds that not perfectly rectangular (and none of mine are). You can just shift the assemblies to get the coverage you need. Strawberries are one of the most popular fruits to grow, as they’re compact, ideal for containers and produce deliciously sweet berries from early summer onwards. There are summer-fruiting, perpetual and alpine types to choose from, with many delicious varieties of each. I take down the netting in July. The frames could be dismantled, too, but it’s easier to leave them in place. Over the years, the copper has weathered to an unobtrusive dark hue. When snow covers the garden, it’s a nice reminder that a fruitful spring is on the horizon.In this post, we share asimple, inexpensive DIY strawberry plant cage using PVC pipe and bird netting. We designed and installed it in about 20 minutes (but I didn’t time it….) We do not have large spans between legs, the maximum span between legs is 1.98m ensuring the cages do not bow. The covers are not fitted, making them easy to lift for working the beds.