Worth knowing:
Strawberries on trees? The evergreen Arbutus with its cherry laurel-like leaves produces beautiful strawberry-like fruits that are good to eat and come in various colours, from bright shining yellow to orange-red until glaring red. You can make jam out of the fruits or liqueur like on Corsica. In Sardinia you can even get the blossom honey called “Amaro di Cobezzolo”. Since the maturing of the fruit usually stretches over many months, the new buds, the beautiful white flowers and the tasty fruits are often present on the tree at the same time. The Strawberry Tree tolerates frost and is not only easy to cultivate as a tub plant, but can also be planted outdoors in regions with a mild winter, where it will grow at a sunny place three to five meters tall.
Natural Location:
The Strawberry Tree is a typical plant of the Mediterranean region, where it grows in heights of even more than 3000 meters above sea level and resists even strong frosts.
Cultivation:
Seed propagation indoors is possible throughout the year. You should keep the seeds initially in the refrigerator for about a month. This will simulate the winter time during which the seed usually prepares itself for the germination in spring. After that, spread the fine seeds onto moist potting compost and put just a little compost earth on top, which you may solidify gently. Cover the seed container with clear film to prevent the earth from drying out. Don’t forget to make some holes in the clear film and take it every second or third day completely off for about 2 hours. That way you avoid mold formation on your potting compost. Place the seed container somewhere bright and warm with a temperature around 20° Celsius and keep the earth moist, but not wet. You may need a little bit of patience with the germination, it can take up to three months. Later on, you may also multiply the Strawberry Tree through sprouts.
Place:
The Strawberry Tree prefers a sunny place - a wind and rain-sheltered spot outdoors near a heat-preserving wall would be ideal.
Care:
Water the plant regularly, but modestly since the strong laurel-like leaves keep the evaporation level rather low. Avoid waterlogging, especially in the saucer. From April until October you can give fluid fertilizer for tub plants once a month. Strawberry Trees can be pruned easily - the best time for that is the end of winter, before the fructification.
During the winter:
Since the blossoming starts in winter, your tub plant should be kept somewhere bright with a temperature between 5° and 18° Celsius. Starting from the second year on, even young plants are frost-resistant up to -15° Celsius, whereas in matured Strawberry Trees the winter hardiness reaches until -30° Celsius. The hypogean tubercle can survive even strong frost or drought damages and will sprout again. Water the plant only modest, so that the roots don’t dry out.
Picture credits:
- © © Lucarelli - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Frank Laue - © Saflax - http://www.saflax.de/copyright
- © Wendy Cutler - CC-BY-2.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0
- © Jozicav - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
- © ElisabetS - CC-BY-SA-4.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
- © Lucarelli - CC-BY-SA-3.0 - http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
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