Strawberry mulch

Community Community General Gardening Fruit Strawberry mulch

This topic contains 2 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by  John 6 years ago.

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  • #43076

    KevL
    Participant

    Hi Charles, my spring planted strawberries really struggled this year, notwithstanding the dry April when I planted them, but I think that putting them in mushroom compost was a bad idea as I recently tested it and it has a pH of 8+ whereas strawberries prefer less than 7. What mulch do you suggest (not enough home-made compost yet) that will help lower the pH – I have cow manure or horse manure (soil is 7+ here anyway) and is there any tonic / feed worth giving such as ericaceous / azalea feed? Thank you.

    #43082

    charles
    Moderator

    Kev, the mushroom compost I buy is pH 6.8, from Woodhort.
    I suspect the dry spring as main culprit, as April is late for planting strawberries, except perhaps everbearers.
    You could check the pH question by adding ericaceous compost.

    #45486

    John
    Participant

    Probably not to do with correcting the soil pH but I have read that winter ryegrass straw is a superb mulch for strawberries. I used wheat straw last year. But I will get some rye straw later this year and try it instead of wheat straw.

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