Forum home Fruit & veg
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Red mulch fabric for strawberries

Hi. Has anyone actually tried this? I recently bought James Wongs book and he suggests getting red mulch fabric (which was a real pain to get hold of) as this is said to increase the flavour of the berries.

I finally found someone on Ebay who sells a reasonable amount of red plastic sheeting which actually turned out to be PVC so my husband has nicknamed my strawberries "Kinky Fruits" but i've put it down on my strawberry bed and it looks lovely but wondering if it really will increase the flavour along with regular high potassium feeds and watering.

«1

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,138

    I've read this article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/fruitandvegetables/11474954/James-Wong-how-to-grow-the-best-tasting-strawberries.html

    As to whether or not it works ...

    "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,

    Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." 

    Wm Shakespeare - Hamlet


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Jules BJules B Posts: 30
    I love my strawberries. My little patch grew from 2 plants i brought to Milton Keynes when i moved years ago. They and their offspring have given us amazing fruits year after year. So am going to try the Kinky Fruit approach just as an experiment. Will be interesting to see what happens.
  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    How are you going to know, unless you do a proper trial with side-by-side plants?
  • Jules BJules B Posts: 30
    Taste test i think and maybe see if the yeild is higher. Not that i'm an expert or anything. I do love to experiment when it comes to gardening.
  • WelshonionWelshonion Posts: 3,114
    Yes, but how are you going to know whether the taste and yield are better than they might have been if you had used black mulch fabric, straw, or no mulch?
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053

    Sounds an ideal experiment for the Beechgrove team!

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053

    Sounds an ideal experiment for the Beechgrove team! How will you get over the problem of it not being permeable?

    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • Jules BJules B Posts: 30
    Welshonion: there's a section where i ran out of PVC so i will use those as a comparison.
  • Jules BJules B Posts: 30
    Hogweed:

    I can just see them all playing with PVC. I have made small holes around the crowns and have invested in a directional nozzle for the hose pipe to ensure watering gets done ok.
  • Blue OnionBlue Onion Posts: 2,995

    You could also run a soaker hose under the plastic next to the plants.  

    Utah, USA.
Sign In or Register to comment.