Arbutus Unedo (strawberry tree) No flowers / fruit.

Hi folks.

Newbie here.

As in the title, I have a lovely, healthy Arbutus Unedo
(strawberry tree)

It is about 3 years old, about 4 feet high & bushy.

Unlike others I have, it has Never flowered or fruited.

Have I bought a variety which doesn't?

Are there male / female varieties like holly and I have the wrong "sex"

Any suggestions please how to make it fruit / flower?

Cheers.

Ian.

 

I don't know what age they have to be to be mature enough to set fruit?

They flower towards the end of the year, and I suppose insects to pollinate them might be more scarce? and then the fruit takes a year to mature, so time for birds to eat it, and a dry spell in the Summer to cause the fruit to drop.

Duuno if those are likely to be the problem though? I'm inclined towards 3 years possibly being a bit young.

 

as Kristen mentions I believe that arbutus need to be certain age before they flower unfortunately I cant seem to find a mention of what age they mature but I would of thought that it would be maybe 7-10years....but that's only an educated guess:cnfs:

 

I'm only assuming this but I would imagine most nursery grown plants are vegetivly propagated, not seed grown.

Bearing that in mind, I think after initial establishment the plant should start to flower relatively quickly.

I've got a couple and they both flower, but I cant actually remember when they started to do so.

Maybe the growing conditions could have some effect, perhaps full sun and not overly fertilized might have some bearing on the matter.

Any pruning would probably stop flowering for a year.

Other than that I think its just a waiting game.

 

Hi Agian.

Thanks for the comments.

We have a relatively young Arbutus in our front garden
which has flowered & fruited from the day it arrived.

Perhaps it is a dwarf variety and is in fact quite old compared to the non-fruiting one.

I suppose I'll just have to wait & see.

Cheers.

Ian.