The strawberry harvest may be over, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to forget the strawberry plants. Strawberry plants should be renewed every three years or so, as there production rate slows down.

Strawberries are poor competitors, not only against invading weeds, but neighboring strawberry plants as well.Once fruiting has finished give your strawberry plants a haircut! Post-harvest care is an important part of keeping your patch healthy and productive.

The strawberry plant begins forming the buds that will turn into next year’s flowers within the crown after the harvest has completed.  These buds begin forming in late summer and continue forming until early fall.

For strawberries, it is very important to renew the strawberry bed after harvest. This includes cutting all the leaves, narrowing the rows, adding a fertilizer, preferably a 5-10-10, thinning the plants and leaving only the strongest ones, allowing only the strongest two runners from each plant.

Old leaves are of little use to the plants, and may be diseased. Trim off the leaves with a pair of shears, aiming to leave just a few leaves around the crown. Remove old foliage, unwanted runners and spent flower stalks from plants, allowing light and air into the centre of the plant.

New foliage will develop within a few weeks. Remove the straw mulch (if used) and weeds and clear away all debris from the crown. Put old leaves and straw on the compost heap.

Within the row, thin plants to one every 6 to 8 inches, removing the older plants and leaving the younger, more vigorous ones. Giving the  strawberry plants a little room to grow reduces the competition for water, light, and nutrients and also improves air circulation.

As a strawberry row becomes dense with new daughter plants or the row width increases to more than 24 inches, fruit quantity and quality begin to suffer.When preparing to narrow the row, choose one side of the row to keep, rather than the center. The following year, choose the opposite side, then alternate back and forth in succeeding years.

This method requires a small amount of extra space on each side of the strawberry row, but provides an annual supply of newer, more productive plants.Peg down runners into small pots of compost, buried in the soil between rows. By autumn these will have roots and can be severed from the parent and planted into their new site with minimal disturbance.

Strawberry plants have a short life expectancy as a perennial.  They fruit best in their second and third year. If your strawberries are in their third year of cropping, consider establishing a new bed. After three years of cropping, yield declines and plants are more likely to be infected with virus.

What I do is replace one third of my patch every year.I dig up and remove any plants that are looking old. They have multiple crowns, and the crowns have grown higher out of the ground, and they are all matted together. Just leave the ones that look like new, single plants.

Fertilize and water the remaining plants. Continue to water with one watering season each week. To ensure maximal production of strawberries in the following year, 1 inch of water must be applied to the strawberry plants per week until the first frost.)

Want  to know more about strawberry plants?

Then, click here:Strawberry Success Solution | Your Organic Gardening Blog or Your Strawberry Plants | Your Organic Gardening Blog

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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener

Marigolds

To meet the demands of their native lands–chiefly Mexico and Central America–members of the marigold family  had to flourish in hot sun as well as tolerate poor soils and infrequent rain.These qualities make them one of the most foolproof summer annuals, whether you plant them in the ground or in a container.

Their leaves have another bonus: Like other plants whose foliage contains volatile oils, such as lavender and rosemary, marigolds seem to repel many harmful insects while attracting beneficial ones. Recent research indicates that marigolds contain compounds toxic to root knot and other plant-parasitic nematodes (microscopic round worms that damage plant roots).

If nematodes are bugging your crops, you won’t see them, but you’re sure to see the damage they cause: stunted, yellow, and/ or wilted plants, often with distinctly knotted and possibly rotting roots.

There’s no safe chemical cure for these microscopic, soil-dwelling worms except French marigolds.Plant them in rows or blocks between your crops (you have to plant a lot of them to get the benefit), and you’ll enjoy their flowers all season long. Marigolds suppress nematodes only when they are planted thickly and allowed to grow for many weeks.

Then, in fall, till the plants into the soil instead of pulling them out. Doing so will reduce the number of safe places where nematodes can survive during the winter.

When you’re done, fill your 20 gallon hose-end sprayer with a can of beer and drench the soil. By spring, the beds will be in great shape for planting, and  garden pests should be a thing of the past.

Marigolds also attract beneficial insects such as lacewings, lady beetles, and parasitic wasps. And while this plant drives away many bad bugs, it also attracts spider mites, slugs and snails.

Like other members of the daisy family, marigolds also do their share in feeding nectar to beneficial insects, such as syrphid flies, who prey on aphids and other insects that attack garden plants.

There are several other advantages to having marigolds.  In the garden, they attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Watching the butterflies and hummingbirds flit from flower to flower gives you a sense of pride and peace.

Plus, moles think the roots of marigolds are distasteful. So planted around the perimeter of any garden they will deter moles from ruining flowers and vegetables.

Marigolds really do help not only with insect pests but rabbits. They hate marigolds. Last year I had several rabbits in early spring and they continued to wreak havoc on my early crops until it was finally warm enough that I could plant marigolds. Once they were planted the rabbits were gone.

Little Secret Hints to make your marigolds the best in the neighborhood.

1.) Just as the marigold begins to bloom, lop off the first flowers before they open.  This stimulates your flowers to bloom profusely.

2.) Another suggestion to extend your marigolds’ growth is to add a small amount of potash fertilizer.  As a cautionary tip, do not over-fertilize.  The temptation is there because the leafage becomes lush.  You want the flowers, not the leaves!

3.)  You may have to stake your larger-flowered marigolds.

Remember that what works in my garden may not work in yours. Every garden is different with its own microclimate, soil type, and pest control issues.

Want  to know more about marigolds?

Then, click here:

Marigold’s Treasures (Antiseptic, Antioxidant, Anti-Fungal, Anti-Bacterial) To Your Health | Natural Health Solutions

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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener