Hi, I’m hoping someone can help me with my wild strawberries.
I seem to get flowers, then, a small berry starts to form… then nothing. The berry dries up and does not continue to grow or ripen.
I have been hand-pollinating by gently shaking the plant.
Can someone please help me figure out what I’m doing wrong? Do I need to do some pruning? Or pollinate a different way? Thank you!
Hey there
I took am experimenting with these strawberries. I had the same problem until I starting adding additional nutrients. I have tried a hydroponic grow mixture and additional fertilizer pellets under the pod. The berries did then go red but were so tiny. Not sure what stain of strawberry this is but I wish C&G would try something else to help with this
Hey @JessyChef ! 
First, it’s important to note the temperature and humidity around your garden. Wild Strawberries can tolerate 18 - 26 °C / 64 - 79 °F. Wild strawberries are meant to be small, but extra sweet and tasty once ready. Definitely try hand pollinating, for tomatoes it’s enough for a gentle shake but for strawberries try with a Q-tip or a make-up brush to gently transfer the pollen from flower to flower.
One thing that always helps is removing the older, longer leaves with stems. You can leave 5-10 leaves for one plant and it will grow more leaves from the middle part. This helps with better light conditions for all leaves and fruits. And you can boil tea from the leftover leaves, fresh or dried!
Also, check the float and water level, sometimes the float gets stuck and the water gets into the float and it doesn’t work correctly. This can lead to overwatering too, which strawberries don’t like at all.
If the plants are already grown too old the nutrients may be depleted and in this case adding nutrients will help them grow longer.
I am so frustrated with the strawberries! I have tried everything - this is the third time I planted all strawberries. Half of them didn’t come up at all and the other half did just this - teeny tiny things that look like they want to be strawberries then they dry up. I changed all the wicks, kept the water level at the level I think it is supposed to be, etc. I am wondering if I should try a different hydroponic system.
Hello!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Please get in touch with Support about this problem. Here’s the link to their request page.
I have seen this happen sometimes, yes. It’s quite frustrating.
If you can share any extra information it would be appreciated.
Can you share any package info on the wild strawberries? Did you use the pods in the same batch all three times? Support might ask about this, they can track the codes.
What are the temperatures near the garden?
Do you use tap water or is it any way softened?
I see some white speckles on the plant but they do not seem like a pest. Have you checked your plants for pests?
Thanks for reaching out.
I have tried three separate times with three separate boxes of strawberries. Between each, I cleaned out the whole device, and the last time, I changed all the wicks and made sure the cups were clean.
I assume the temerature is around 70 degrees.
I have tried two different locations in my house.
The plants seem to do okay until they start to grow berries, then they get brittle and die.
There is plenty of water at this stage. But they are dried out.
| Debora Click & Grow Gardener
November 20 |
- | - |
Hello!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Please get in touch with Support about this problem. Here’s the link to their request page.
I have seen this happen sometimes, yes. It’s quite frustrating.
If you can share any extra information it would be appreciated.
Can you share any package info on the wild strawberries? Did you use the pods in the same batch all three times? Support might ask about this, they can track the codes.
What are the temperatures near the garden?
Do you use tap water or is it any way softened?
I see some white speckles on the plant but they do not seem like a pest. Have you checked your plants for pests?
Hi again,
Thanks for your detailed answer.
Okay, everything looks in order and I’m puzzled why the plants are not working for you.
It can be because of softened water too, do you know if you might have softened water?
Also, check out this tutorial on how to take care of Wild Strawberry.
My water is softened. The instructions state not to use bottled or filtered water, so I am not sure what the options are. I cannot turn off my whole-house filter. Should I use bottled water after all?
I guess I could try one more time with bottled water. And maybe another location in the house. What is the recommended air temperature for the strawberry plants?
My water is softened. The instructions state not to use bottled or filtered water, so I am not sure what the options are. I cannot turn off my whole-house filter. Should I use bottled water after all?
Hi again
What is the recommended air temperature for the strawberry plants? The recommended temperatures are 18 - 26 °C / 64 - 79 °F.
Okay, this explains the plant’s appearance then. We have noticed in the plant testing facility that some plants don’t do well with softened water, and wild strawberry is one of those plants.
I’m sure that bottled or filtered water is better than softened. So if you can use that.
Here’s an outtake of the Support Help Desk:
Regarding watering, filtered water or softened water may essentially cause the plants to die from dehydration. Salt (sodium) will build up over time and may gradually cause degradation in the soil quality. Some species are more affected than others.
For this reason, we always recommend using tap water. However, tap water sometimes (depending on the region) causes limescale in the water tank, which in turn may clog the water transmitting wicks. Cleaning the water tank and wicks in a warm vinegar solution helps to remove limescale when necessary.
Happy growing!
