• Question from:Catherine

Hi! Last week I planted some strawberries and my mom encouraged me to put fertilizer on them. (I didn't want to, but she insisted it would help.) I put the plants in the ground, mixing our clay soil with 50% cow manure/compost mix that i bought from Lowe's. I applied some Miracle Gro Organic Choice All-Purpose Plant food (7-1-2) on top of the soil, then watered the plants.

Today I was on a Strawberry FAQ site and it said that you should never fertilize strawberries after they have started to bloom, but the site didn't mention why. When we added the plant food, all the plants had blossoms and several already had small fruits. I'm worried that I poisoned the strawberries by fertilizing them. I also bought Miracle Gro Tomato Food and applied it to my cherry tomatoes, which already have several small fruits on them. Should I avoid eating my strawberries and tomatoes now? Or is the no-fertilization-after-blossoming rule just to avoid blossom loss? Please help! Thanks very much - Catherine

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  • University of Nottingham, UK
  • Posts: 66

I wouldn't worry about it, you won't have poisoned them and they'll be perfectly safe to eat. Gardening advice should always be taken with a pinch of salt; a lot of the time it's just about habit and personal preference.