Am I only supposed to get "tiny" strawberries from my plants?

AMamani
by AMamani
I'm trying my hand at strawberries for the first time. I bought June-bearing plants this spring and have them in containers. The plants themselves have grown large and bushy and are trying to put out lots of runners (which I am keeping trimmed). However the actual fruits being produced so far are tiny! What do I need to do for my plants to produce as they should?
  13 answers
  • Lulu Dubin Lulu Dubin on Dec 16, 2014
    Firstly, great job attempting to grow berries! It's on my to-do list for when I have a sightly larger space. I'm definitely not an expert, but we did grow some veggies this year (cucumbers, tomatoes) and if I remember correctly, the first batch were smaller than the rest and as the season progressed they got much bigger. @Douglas Hunt @360 Sod (Donna Dixson) any advice?
  • Marie King Marie King on Dec 16, 2014
    Do you put compost or fertilizer on your soil around the berries? We put compost around our plants in the spring.. I decided 2 years ago to try my hand at the growing of strawberries and this year they produced from the first week in June until the last week in August when It got too hot for them. I don't cut back the runners and they ARE starting to take over my garden but I love berries so no problem. They got big as a 50 cent piece on most of the plants and were juicy and sweet.
  • Carole Carole on Dec 16, 2014
    Strawberries like a slightly acidic soil. Do not add any lime to the soil they are growing in. Are you feeding them? Fruit and Flower feed - Thrive make one - should help. Also, in the first year, cut off any runners as soon as they start. Don't wait till they take root. The plants are young and need to put their energy into making fruit not new plants. They would only be good for producing fruit for say 3 or 4 years so after say 3 years, let them produce runners but not in their first season. You can then use those runners as replacement plants as the originals will become unproductive. Hope this helps. A good layer of Lucerne over the soil may help their condition generally and keep the fruit produced clean and not laying on soil where they can rot. Keep the slugs and snails off of them too. We are growing them in a raised bed. Netting keeps the birds off and the height keeps the dog off of them - she loves fruit!
  • AMamani AMamani on Dec 16, 2014
    I am keeping the runners cut back as soon as they start and I am fertilizing once a month with a 20-20-20 liquid fertilizer since they are in containers. Not sure if that is the right balance for strawberries?
    • Carole Carole on Dec 17, 2014
      @AMamani I would buy a liquid fertiliser specifically that encourages fruit and flowers. Check in your local nursery. Flowers come first, then the fruit.
  • AMamani AMamani on Dec 17, 2014
    @Carole I am using a liquid 20-20-20 fertilizer once a month. It says it is for flowering. I have bushy plants, flowers, and fruit. But the fruit is very very small. I'd like to know what my strawberry plants need to correct the size of the fruit being produced?
    • Carole Carole on Dec 17, 2014
      @AMamani Refer to Douglas Hunt's reply. I don't fertilize mine, I probably should be doing so though as they are putting out lots of runners and not much fruit. We had some reasonable sized berries when they first began flowering. Might depend on the variety. Did you keep the label from the plants or runners when you planted them. It may point you in the direction of what they need to make them produce at their best. I always try to keep the labels in a zip lock bag to refer back to for information.
  • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Dec 17, 2014
    I am not sure what your climate is in Bolivia so it is hard to address specific cultural questions about growing strawberries there. Some types of strawberries should not be fertilized during the fruiting period, while for others it is necessary. I've seen 10-10-10 and 5-10-10 recommended, not 20-20-20. My first question, though, would be whether you know what cultivar of strawberry you have and what size fruit is expected from it. The size of mature strawberries varies widely, and you may be growing a cultivar that simply never produces large fruit. If the fruit you are getting has good flavor, I would be less concerned about the size of the berry.
  • Dorothy Dorothy on Dec 17, 2014
    If this is their first season (and it sounds like it is) the production may just be an indication of a young plant. And as Douglas Hunt says, many varieties are fairly small (and hardly any of them seem to grow as huge as the ads suggest they will)....and my experience is that smaller ones seem more flavorful.
  • Gail Gail on Dec 17, 2014
    I like @Douglas Hunt answer I to would much rather have better taste than large berries. We used to go to pick your own lots and so many would only pick big ones, my Dad always said the little ones are just as good and you really got more in the quart than when only picking the big ones. Good luck with your berries AMamani.
  • AMamani AMamani on Dec 17, 2014
    The strawberries we have picked so far haven't had a lot of flavor and are really a bit sour. @Douglas Hunt after comparing low temperatures I believe I am in Zone 9. The farmers markets in the last couple of weeks are starting to sell strawberries, so I think my plants are right on time. In the markets I have seen 2 kinds of strawberries, one smaller variety and one larger. When I bought my plants 3 months ago, there were two kinds of plants available. I was told that the plants with smaller leaves on shorter stems produced smaller berries over a longer time, and the plants with larger leaves on longer stems produced larger berries over a shorter time. I bought the latter and that is really all the info I've had available! As for fertilizer I bought the 20-20-20 because it is the only kind that comes in small bags here. Can I dilute it and be okay?
    • Douglas Hunt Douglas Hunt on Dec 18, 2014
      @AMamani Climate conditions and berry cultivar can certainly affect flavor, but without knowing more about what you have I'm afraid I can be of little help beyond that. Yes, you can apply 20-20-20 at half the indicated rate.
  • Teo Teo on Dec 17, 2014
    Aj @Buna seara,in primul rand totul depinde de -soi-(niciodata un catel de rasa pitica nu va da nastere la un -dog german-tot asa si cu plantele, daca soiul este mic,mic va iesi si fructul.In alta ordine de idei ,este foarte adevarat ca daca vei pune ingrasemant ,plantele se vor simti mult mai bine.Deci verifica soiul si elimina toti noii lastari.
  • Jani Jani on Dec 17, 2014
    We are in SW Texas and have always been told to pinch off the small strawberry buds the first year and the 2nd year they will be bigger.
    • See 3 previous
    • Jani Jani on Dec 17, 2014
      You are so welcome hope you get huge sweet berries!
  • Jackie Jackie on Dec 18, 2014
    I can't answer about containers, but I do know strawberries. Different kinds produce different results. If you want a big berry, buy a plant that produces a big berry. If you want an abundance of berries buy a plant that produces a lot. Hybrids are made from a combination of both and if you read the advertisement for them, you will know what to expect. Fertilizing should not be done year round on strawberries, in fact strawberries produce without fertilizer. Combine all of the advice everyone else has given you, experiment and you will not only get the berries you want but learn a lot over the years. Oh, and type of berry also decides flavor. Some have a crappy flavor or texture, and the soil can effect this.
  • Teo Teo on Dec 18, 2014
    @Daca vrei fructe mai mari,atunci redu numarul florilor si lasa mai putine si vor creste mai mari,chiar daca soiul nu este chiar mare. ..