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Strawberry Growing & Care

May 23, 2022

JUICY AND SWEET

strawberries

Strawberries are relatively easy to grow, and they can fit within small space constraints or fill huge garden plots. Growing strawberries doesn’t require any specialized equipment. And, they can even be grown in a container or pot on a deck, porch, patio, or balcony

strawberry plants

3 Types

Strawberry plants come in three types:

June-bearing: This traditional berry will usually produce one large harvest in late spring or early summer depending on temperature. June-bearing strawberries are available in early, mid-season, and late varieties.

Ever-bearing: These scrumptious strawberries produce two to three harvests intermittently during the spring, summer, and fall. Because ever-bearing plants do not send out many runners, they make great choices for containers.

Day-Neutral: Grow these to keep producing fruit throughout the growing season. They continuously fruit if temperatures are between 35-85°F. Because they produce few runners, they are great when space is limited, but the fruits are usually somewhat smaller than June bearers.

Planting

Try to plant strawberries on a cloudy day or during the late afternoon. Set the strawberry plant in the soil so that the soil is just covering the tops of the roots. If the crowns are planted too shallow they lose water and can die. If the crowns are planted too deeply the leaves may not be able to emerge from the soil. Do not cover the crown. After four or five weeks, the plants will produce runners and a new daughter plant.

Watering & Fertilizer

Give strawberries room for runners by planting them 12- 18 inches apart. Strawberries can be grown in a variety of ways, but make sure they get 8 or more hours of sun and are planted in slightly acidic soil with a pH of 5.5 to 6.8.

Give your native soil a boost by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter. Consider a premium bagged potting mix for growing in containers.

Give plants 1 to 1.5 inches of water weekly, and avoid wetting the leaves.

Promote excellent fruit production by keeping plants fed with a continuous-release fertilizer.

Strawberry

Planting Tips

Strawberries need full sun to produce maximum fruit.

Strawberries are self-fertile, but require bees for pollination.

Remove some of the runners throughout the season or your strawberry plants will take over your yard.

After planting, pinch off any flower buds that appear for the first few weeks. This allows the plant to produce leaves and roots so when the flowers are pollinated and begin to produce fruit there is enough energy in the plant to develop large, juicy strawberries.

One June-bearing plant can produce up to 120 new daughter plants in one season. 

As runners begin to appear, place them where you want the plants to fill in and gently press the end of the runner into the soil. This will encourage the daughter plant to root where you want it to. If the plants are running too much, simply cut them off with scissors or pruning shears.

Winter

Winter is the time strawberry plants will rest, so there isn’t much for you to do. A good snow cover on top of the straw mulch will help insulate the plants from bitter cold temperatures, so enjoy watching that snow pile up!

After raking straw mulch off in the spring, keep the straw mulch between and under plants to help retain soil moisture, prevent weeds, and give the berries a nice clean surface on which to ripen.

Strawberry

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