Small deformed strawberries

Webby80 starts with ...
Hi everyone,
I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas break. I’m finally getting some time off to fix a few problems in the garden. One such problem is my small deformed strawberries (Picture attached). I planted around 5 strawberry plants in about Sept 2010 and didn’t get any fruit or flowers for the first year, but I quickly managed to turn 5 plants into 50. After pinching back the runners for 6 months and still no fruit or flowers and the need for a vege garden renovation I moved a few of the plants into pots and hangers which have been there now for around 4-5 months.

Over the past 3 months I would have easily picked a hundred fruit, but not one piece of fruit has matured to a decent size or been a proper shape. Most grow to about the size of a 5 cent piece, are round and deformed looking. All plants are producing the same deformed fruit.

In the past I have treated my strawberries for red spider mites (using natural predators I bought online) and aphids. But over the past 2 months I have not seen any evidence of these. I have fertilised intermittently with seasol and osmocote (vege, tomotao, herb and garden beds) since transplanting and I water a few times a week.

The plants to me look healthy (photo attached), there are a few holes in leaves from snails that got into them last week when I was away but otherwise they appear to be growing well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Regards
Webby

Pictures - Click to enlarge
Picture: 1	Picture: 2

John Mc says...
Correct above, also, they also appear to be (not suffering) but lacking nutrition. You must be a little more vigilant when growing fruit in pots. Mine are all past their prime now and are starting to produce fruit similar to your's, after producing heaps of large and sweet fruit earlier in the year. Mine are grown hydroponically so have all the nutrients at their disposal. The larger the leaves the larger the fruit in my hydro setup.