The Hungry Gardener - Growing Giant Strawberries

I like experimenting with growing big fruit and veg and strawberries are one of my favourites.They are the real taste of the start of summer and nothing beats that first juicy strawberry you pick from the garden.Homegrown strawberries are so tasty compared to those bought in the store and its like finding treasure when you come upon a big red one hidden under a leaf. I always wanted to grow bigger fruit and when I read about the variety "Sweet Colossus" I knew had to try growing them. And this is the result .No photoshop just my niece holding one of my strawberries before it was eaten.

The fruit are amazing and just as delicious as their smaller counterparts. And with the ordinary strawberries and pineberries giving a bumper crop this year its now time to look back at my experiences with the "Sweet Colossus"

I received my new plants early last year as tiny runners which had a great root system allready.I decided these strawberries were too precious to leave outside so they would be grown inside in the polytunnel.I prepared a small bed specially for them with  some well rotted farm yard manure and some of my home made compost.They were planted early in the year in the hope of getting an an earlier crop.

The plants thrived in the heat of the tunnel and by April small fruit were already forming and starting to swell .The first fruit ripened by the second week in May ,way before the ordinary strawberries outside which would not be ready for another 5-6 weeks.The huge fruit were 2-4 times bigger than the outside strawberries and mouth wateringly delicious.The only disapointment with them was the small number of fruit,only about 4-5 per plant.

After the fruit I allowed runners to form and got 8 new plants for this year.The plants were then dug up and potted on as space is at a premium in the tunnel.They were left outside to the elements until the first or second frost and then the pots were stored inside ready to be planted again in the tunnel next year.

This year I tried some plants outside but they were slower  growing nearly the same rate as the ordinary strawberries and were a magnet for slugs and nearly impossible to keep intact.The plants in the tunnel on their second year were magnificent with a much higher yield of fruit per plant (8-10) and even bigger fruit than last year .Whenever I give some of these to anyone you can see their eyes visibly widen in anticipation of tasting them and kids absolutely love them .So if you can get your hands on some of this variety I would highly recomend them.Thanks everybody for all the follows and support.