The June bearing variety of strawberry plants start bearing fruit around the middle of June, here at least. They will keep bearing fruit for about four weeks. Everbearing strawberries One way to get plenty of strawberries all summer long is to plant summer-cropping varieties along with so-called ever-bearers. Summer-cropping strawberry plants produce heavy harvests over a short two to three week period, and ever-bearers produce multiple smaller harvests from early summer right through to the autumn. Strawberries prefer a humus rich moist soil and they like a ph of around 5.5, just slightly acidic. So dig in lots of well rotted compost and aged cow manure and some blood and bone before planting.

Strawberries are quite easy to grow but to keep your bed going year after year, some maintenance needs to be done. And we’ve figured out how to grow huge strawberries every year! You could also grow them in a vertical planter, like this one. Or grow strawberry plants in these metal raised garden beds, which would keep all the weeds out. Generally around 25 plants is sufficient, although even a few plants in a strawberry planter can provide some wonderful fruit.Perpetual-fruiting strawberries (or ever-bearing varieties) like 'Mara Des Bois', 'Flamenco', and Anais are a great choice if you don’t have much space because they produce fruit in flushes from early summer right through to early autumn. See, this is why we plant the runners into a different bed. This helps us after a few years to remember where the oldest plants are.) These will bear fruit the following year.For other maintenance, all you really need to do is keep the berry bed weeded. You can also use diatomaceous earth; sprinkle this around the base of your plants. Finely crushed egg shells will work too, as these pests won’t want to cross the sharp edges of the shells. Some varieties of strawberry produce runners - stems with young strawberry plants along the length. Remove these as they appear so that the plant’s energy goes towards flowering and fruiting.

The cold weather conditions described by Dr. Nir Dai led to a bumper crop of strawberries for Ariel’s fruit farm, producing not just one, but four sizable strawbs. You will be able to have a really good berry harvest if you just keep cutting and planting the baby runners from the newest plants. If you're planting into a basket, it's best to limit yourself to three or four strawberry plants in a 30cm (12in) basket. Add water-retaining granules and slow-release fertiliser into the compost before planting. And you ARE going to want to know which plants are oldest, if you want the biggest juiciest strawberries there are. Strawberries are best watered by drip irrigation, try twice weekly. Remember strawberry plants no not like to be waterlogged.

Sweet Colossus is a traditional June bearing strawberry so will yield most of its bountiful harvest in early summer. The conical berries are sweet and juicy and often weigh more than 40g each. You'll get plenty of them too so overall yields will be very rewarding. As the fruits develop, place dry straw or mulching fabric underneath to stop splashes blemishing the fruit.

Now just keep the plant watered regularly and it will grow. You can use drip irrigation or you can use a garden sprinkler.In poor soils, some extra fertiliser during the growing season may be beneficial, use a liquid fertiliser at this stage for better uptake.

As soon as you notice small berries beginning to form, apply a tomato fertiliser weekly or fortnightly to give fruiting a boost. Remove any extra runners that develop and keep on top of your watering. You should be ready to begin harvesting from June through September depending on the varieties you choose. In the autumn, cut away any diseased or damaged foliage. In colder areas we recommend some protection over winter such as straw or a fleece. This will help the strawberries to fruit earlier next year.These plants usually remain in the same spot two years in a row. Then we recommend creating a new bed in a different place with young plants. Strawberries also grow well in pots and planters, but you need to store them in a cool frost-free area for the winter. During this strawberry season in late January and early February it was particularly cold," explained Dr. Nir Dai, who was one of the witnesses during the strawberry's weigh-in. The strawberry developed slowly for more than 45 days from flowering which caused it’s large size at full ripening stage." Just be sure the shells are well washed though or that may attract even more pests. Our other Growing Berries posts When you want to have new plants for putting in the ground, always take rooted runners off your youngest mother plants.