Strawberry 'Cambridge Favourite'

A Much-Loved Classic That Never Lets You Down

Strawberry 'Cambridge Favourite' is one of the best-known and most widely grown strawberries in Britain. It has earned its place in gardens and allotments for generations. It was bred in Cambridge in the 1950s, and it has stayed popular ever since for one simple reason: it's wonderfully reliable. Year after year, it produces a generous crop of juicy, orange-red berries with a sweet, classic strawberry flavour.

This is a summer-fruiting, mid-season variety that crops from mid-June for around four weeks. It's tough, disease resistant and happy in a wide range of soils and conditions, so it's an ideal choice for first-time growers. Experienced gardeners who want a dependable crop without any fuss love it too. It holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit, a mark of its proven performance in British gardens.

Key Features

• Heavy, reliable crops of medium-sized, orange-red berries

• Sweet, classic strawberry flavour that's delicious fresh

• Mid-season cropping, usually from mid-June for about four weeks

• Good all-round disease resistance, making it easy to grow

• Copes with a wide range of soils and conditions, including less-than-ideal spots

• Tolerates a little shade better than many strawberry varieties

• Excellent for jam and freezing, as well as for eating fresh

• Produces plenty of runners, so it's easy to raise new plants for free

• Grows well in beds, containers, hanging baskets and growbags

• RHS Award of Garden Merit

Size and Growth

'Cambridge Favourite' is a low, compact plant. It typically reaches around 20 to 30 centimetres tall, with a spread of about 30 centimetres. It's a perennial and will crop for several years, with the best yields usually coming in its second and third summers. After three or four years, plants tend to become less productive. That's the time to replace them, ideally with young plants rooted from your own healthy runners.

Where to Plant

Although 'Cambridge Favourite' is famously adaptable, you'll get the best results with a little care over its position.

• Position: Full sun gives the sweetest fruit and heaviest crops. However, this variety puts up with some light shade better than most, making it a good choice if your garden isn't in full sun all day.

• Soil: It performs well in a wide range of soils. For the best harvests, choose a fertile, moist but well-drained spot and dig in plenty of garden compost or well-rotted manure before planting.

• Shelter: A sheltered site helps bees and other pollinators reach the flowers and protects the plants from cold winds.

• Crop rotation: Avoid planting where strawberries, potatoes, tomatoes or chrysanthemums have grown recently, to reduce the risk of soil-borne diseases.

Growing in Containers

'Cambridge Favourite' is well suited to growing in pots, window boxes, hanging baskets and growbags. That makes it perfect for patios, balconies and smaller gardens. Use a good-quality multi-purpose compost. Allow one plant per 15 to 20 centimetre pot, around three plants per growbag, or three to four plants in a 30 centimetre (12 inch) hanging basket. Container-grown plants dry out quickly, so water them regularly throughout the growing season. Growing in containers also keeps the fruit off the ground, where it stays cleaner and is less likely to be damaged by slugs.

Planting Guide

Strawberries are best planted in spring or from late summer to early autumn. Planting in late summer gives plants time to establish before winter and usually means a good crop the following summer.

1. Prepare the ground by digging in generous amounts of garden compost or well-rotted manure.

2. If you're planting bare-root runners, soak the roots in water for about 20 minutes before planting.

3. Dig a hole wide enough to spread the roots out comfortably.

4. Set the plant so that the crown (the point where the leaves meet the roots) sits level with the soil surface. If it's planted too deeply, it may rot. If it's planted too shallow, it may dry out.

5. Firm the soil gently around the roots and water well.

6. Space plants 30 to 45 centimetres apart, with around 75 centimetres between rows.

Care and Maintenance

Watering

Water regularly, particularly during dry spells and while the fruit is developing. Aim the water at the base of the plants rather than over the leaves and fruit. This helps reduce the risk of mould. Watering in the morning is ideal.

Feeding

Once flowers start to appear, feed every one to two weeks with a high-potash liquid fertiliser, such as tomato feed. This helps the plants produce plenty of flowers and good-quality fruit.

Protecting the Fruit

As the berries start to form, tuck straw or strawberry mats under the plants. This keeps the fruit clean, stops it sitting on damp soil and helps deter slugs. You can also plant through a weed-suppressing membrane. Cover plants with netting to stop birds from taking the ripening fruit.

Runners

'Cambridge Favourite' is a generous producer of runners. These are the long stems that grow out from the plant with young plantlets on the end. While the plant is fruiting, remove most of them so it puts its energy into the crop. If you'd like new plants, peg a few healthy plantlets into small pots of compost placed beside the parent plant. Once they've rooted, cut them free and grow them on. It's an easy way to keep your strawberry bed going for years without buying new plants.

After Harvest

Once cropping has finished, cut the old leaves back to a few centimetres above the crown, taking care not to damage the crown itself. Clear away old straw and debris, and remove unwanted runners. This lets fresh, healthy leaves grow and helps prevent pests and diseases from carrying over to next year.

Harvesting and Enjoying Your Strawberries

Pick the berries when they're fully coloured all over, ideally on a warm, dry day when the flavour is at its best. During the peak of the season, check your plants every day or two, and pick with the green stalk still attached to help the fruit keep. 'Cambridge Favourite' is lovely eaten fresh, served with cream or piled onto summer desserts. It's also one of the classic strawberries for making jam, and it freezes well, so you can enjoy your harvest long after the season has ended.

Why Choose Strawberry 'Cambridge Favourite'?

Few strawberries are as trusted as 'Cambridge Favourite'. It's tough, adaptable, disease resistant and wonderfully productive. It will give you a generous crop of sweet, juicy berries whether you grow it in a traditional bed, on an allotment or in pots on the patio. If you want a strawberry you can rely on summer after summer, this timeless British classic is hard to beat.