Growing Strawberries and Mangoes in October

Last weekend we visited my parent's property in Yandina to check up on the fruit trees. They are looking ok after the feeding and pruning last month, but do need some more mulching. There are no pictures from Yandina this month, but I do have a photo of my potted strawberry patch!

After some more research, I found that the mango trees need the same treatment as the citrus, so we set to work on the small mango tree. It's ten years old, but only looks like a three year old. First I threw two handfuls of feed around the outter circle under the tree. Then we placed newspaper down, rather than try and remove the weeds by hand like last time, then wet it down. Then we covered it with a thin layer of mulch. We really need a thicker layer of mulch, hopefully we can get that done next time we're out there, possibly in January.

my next attempt at a potted strawberry patch

Last week I also planted out some strawberry runners into a potted strawberry patch. For the last 3 years, this strawberry has been hanging on in a coconut fibre lined hanging pot that we put out into the yard to get sun and rain. It's never really produced fruit so I kind of gave up on it. But its still alive, and with this recent inspiration I decided to give it another go. I planted individual plant runners into small pots as it obviously doesn't need a deep pot. The hanging pot is shallow and very dry. I also prepared that soil like I did the tomatoes, with blood and bone and slow release fertiliser. With a closer eye on these strawberries, perhaps we will get some summer fruit off them? We shall see ...