Just like other iconic spring garden perennial favorites like daffodils and bluebonnets, strawberries should be planted in the fall to have a good spring harvest.
Planting strawberries in the fall allow the root system to establish itself over the fall months, prior to going dormant in the winter. This gives you a head start come spring, as your strawberry plant will be fully-rooted and more mature. If you wait until the spring months to plant, this will delay your strawberry production.
Strawberries need nutrient-rich, well-draining soil with a pH of 5.5 – 6.8. They need 8 hours of full sun exposure daily.
Most strawberry varieties sprawl, meaning they produce offshoots or “daughter” plants. Leave 18 – 20 inches between your newly-planted strawberry plants to allow for this growth. Make planting holes deep and wide enough to accommodate the entire root system without bending it.
Plant just deep enough so that the roots are covered with soil, but the crown—the central growing bud that produces new roots and new flower buds—must remain exposed to light and fresh air. If you bury the crown too deep, your plant could rot.
Strawberries have a shallow root system, so consistent moisture is important. Fall water intake actually dictates the following year’s fruit production. Ensure your strawberry plants receive 1 – 1.5 inches of water each week. Avoid wetting the leaves, which can lead to rotting.
June bearers = One crop in spring to early summer.
Ever bearers = One crop in spring to early summer and another crop in the fall.
Day Neutral = Produce waves of fruit through the growing season unless it becomes too hot.
Plant a combination of the three to get a heavy crop of strawberries in spring and early summer and then a trickle through the summer with another strong fall crop of berries.
When strawberry plants are no longer productive in the fall or temperatures begin to plummet, it is time to prepare them for winter.
Dead leaves and old plants should be removed and raked up. Strawberry plants can be damaged by freezing temperatures in the low 20’s and colder. Protect your strawberries by tucking them into bed for the winter with mulching of straw, pine needles, or possibly shredded leaves. Mulching with leaves can be a problem if the leaves become matted and wet.
Be sure to remove the covering promptly when temperatures warm up, otherwise, it gets too hot inside when the sun comes out.
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A strawberry plant is good for about 3 years, after which it should be dug up. Wait another 4 years to plants strawberries in that location again.