Strawberry season in the UK is officially underway and is off to a good start according to growers thanks to a glorious spring.

Strawberries are well known for their sweet taste and it’s that delicious flavour that makes them so popular for use in desserts. The fruit naturally becomes sweeter as it ripens, but greater exposure to sunlight is what leads to higher sugar levels in strawberries, preventing the development of a sour taste. Strawberry plants favour warm days with lots of sunshine and cooler nights, with these conditions known to make the fruit sweeter.

As spring this year was the driest in more than a century, according to the Met Office, it has meant strawberries have enjoyed particularly favourable conditions to produce a sweet crop. But the weather can be very changeable and with strawberry season in the UK running from late May until late August, conditions can heavily impact the flavour of the fruit.

Excessive heat can result in a bitter taste, while high humidity can lead to more watery and less flavourful berries, so there are lots of influencing factors at play.

Unfortunately the weather cannot be controlled, but if you’re growing your own strawberries at home there is something you can do to help your fruit taste sweeter without having to rely on ideal weather conditions.

Gardening experts say that it’s important to feed your strawberries to help develop their sweet flavour and this should be done using a fertiliser that is rich in potassium – like tomato feed.

It may not seem like the obvious choice but tomato feed is actually really good for the growth and development of strawberries, particularly sugar production.

Tomato feed is rich in potassium which is crucial in developing sweeter fruits, so regularly watering with a liquid fertiliser like Tomorite can help strawberries to produce more sugar and enhance their overall flavour.

Garden Centre Chris Bowers & Sons explains: “You will definitely want to feed your strawberries in order to help the plants develop the flavour; starving plants, even if they may look healthy enough, will not yield well flavoured fruits.

“The choice of fertiliser here is key – you want one with lots of potassium because it has been proven that plants fed with a potassium rich feed develop more sugar and a better flavour! Tomato feed [Tomorite or similar] is the most well known fertiliser within this category, it’s easy to find and use.”

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) adds: “Feed plants in containers with a high potassium liquid feed, such as tomato feed, weekly or fortnightly throughout the growing season.”