I learned how to grow strawberries from years of experience and from Carla… The farmers daughter! But we’ve learned some lessons the hard way before figuring out how to grow more and tastier strawberries! This is what we learned, and I hope it helps you harvest more and better strawberries than ever before! (Now you can Buy Strawberry Plants Online!)
Growing your own strawberries in a home garden can be a rewarding and delicious experience. With proper care and attention, you can enjoy a bountiful harvest of ripe, juicy strawberries throughout the growing season.
If you take good care of your strawberry patch, it will continue to produce for years to come! Growing strawberries in your home garden can be a fun and rewarding experience. By choosing the right type of strawberry, providing good drainage, and using organic matter to improve soil fertility, you can enjoy a large harvest of ripe, juicy strawberries throughout the growing season. With proper care and attention, you can prevent fungal diseases like powdery mildew and verticillium wilt and enjoy the delicious fruits of your labor for years to come.
Early spring is the best time to plant strawberry plants in your home garden. You can purchase new plants or use mother plants from your existing strawberry beds. If you are growing June-bearing strawberries, plant them in late spring to ensure a good crop in the first year. Day-neutral strawberries can be planted throughout the growing season, but they may produce smaller fruits in the first year.
Where To Grow Strawberry Starts
When planting strawberry plants, choose a sunny location with good drainage. Add organic matter to the soil to improve fertility and water retention. For best results, plant June-bearing varieties in rows with a matted row system. This will allow the plants to produce more daughter plants and flower buds, resulting in a larger harvest in the second year. Day-neutral plants should be spaced further apart and produce fewer runners to encourage fruit production.
The easiest way to grow strawberries, which we have found through years of growing them, is in raised garden beds! Raised beds have the advantage of a weed barrier or grass between them, so there is much less weeding than in traditional ground rows.
Not only do raised beds limit weeds, but they are also easier to weed and plan in than at ground level! If you plant strawberries where the grass was recently dug out, you may become overwhelmed with weeds, or get infested with lawn grubs. Weeds and grubs can devastate a strawberry patch.
Raised garden beds also drain well, which strawberries need!
Place your raised garden beds for strawberries in an area that gets full sun, and doesn’t stay too wet in the spring.
*Caution – Don’t plant strawberries in areas where tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, or peppers grew in the last 4 years. These plant crops carry a root rot fungus called Verticillium, and it will kill strawberry plants too.
Soil Prep For Growing Strawberries
Fill your raised garden beds deeply with miracle grow, or a deep sandy loam with lots of organic material in it!
Strawberries grow the best in soil with a pH of 5.8 – 6.2. You might need to apply ground limestone to increase the pH of acid soils. Soil testing is done by private & public labs.
If you are like me and don’t get your soil tested, broadcast 20 pounds of 10-10-10 garden fertilizer per 1000 square feet of the site a week before planting strawberries! Then mix fertilizer into the soil and break up dirt clumps and hard areas. Instead of synthetic fertilizers, use organic ones like plant meals, seed meals, sulpomag (or K-Mag Natural), and rock phosphate.
Planting Strawberries
Strawberries should be planted as early in the spring as you can work the soil. Make holes for strawberry plants about a foot to 18 inches apart in rows that are a few feet apart each. Now you can Buy Strawberry Plants Online!
Each hole should be wide enough to spread the roots a bit when planting them. Put your strawberry start into your hole, spread the roots a bit, and cover with soil halfway up the “crown”.
Pack the soil firmly around each strawberry and start after getting them into the ground!
The space between rows will get filled in by the new strawberry runner plants (strawberry starts) that each plant will grow several of in the summer! If runners grow into areas you don’t want them, just move them over… Do not pick them off! These are free new strawberry plants that will fill in your patch for free!
Maintaining Strawberry Plants
To maintain healthy strawberry plants, mulch the soil with straw to prevent weeds and retain moisture. Use drip irrigation to water the plants and reduce the risk of powdery mildew, a fungal disease that can affect fruit production. In late summer, remove the strawberry runners to prevent overcrowding and promote fruit size.
Watering – How To Grow Strawberries
How you water your strawberry patch makes a HUGE difference in how they turn out! If you don’t water enough, you’ll get tiny berries, and not many of them. However, if you over water your berries will be big and juicy BUT have no flavor!
There is an important balance that must be maintained to make sure strawberry plants produce large juicy and tasty berries!
- Do not soak strawberry patches! Too much water makes them tasteless.
- Do not use sprinklers to water your strawberry patch.
- Water strawberry plants with a soaker hose or drip hose. If plants get too wet (from sprinklers) they become subject to disease, pests, and mold.
- Water your strawberry patch regularly from spring through fall (unless you get a lot of rain) and make sure the ground is moist, a darker color, but not drenched. Soil should feel slightly moist to the touch, and the color should tell you it’s moist.
Weeding – How to Grow Strawberries For Years
Enjoy a few minutes twice a week in your strawberry patch and pull out any weeds that have come up! Keeping your patch weed-free ensures that the strawberries get all the nutrients they need to produce more berries. Weeds will quickly overtake strawberry patches and decrease the number of berries you get to harvest!
Regular weeding will actually prolong the life of your patch because the plants get all the nutrients they need.
How Do You Get Strawberries To Produce More Fruit? Harvesting!
Believe it or not, but the more you’re out harvesting your strawberries, the more they’ll grow! If you leave strawberries on the plant longer, the plants will put their energy into those berries till they rot or get picked.
However, if you pick a berry when it turns red, the plant will put its energy into growing more new berries! Thus picking often gets strawberry plants to produce more fruit!
*And what will you do with all Your Strawberries? Preserve them the easy way… Make Strawberry Freezer Jam or the Sugar-Free Strawberry Freezer Jam that will last for another year! or Try a Fresh Strawberry Pie! or my favorite… Strawberry Salad! *
Harvest ripe fruit as soon as possible to prevent spoilage and encourage continued fruit production. June-bearing plants produce fruit in early summer, while day-neutral plants can produce fruit throughout the growing season. Alpine strawberries are a good choice for pot-grown plants and require less space than traditional strawberry varieties.
How To Grow Strawberries – Fall Strawberry Patch Care: Mulch, Trim, and Feed
After your last fall harvest, MOW or trim your strawberry patch leaving an inch and a half above the crowns.
Now, Fertilize your strawberry patch! Broadcast twenty lbs of 10-10-10, or organic fertilizer, per thousand square feet.
Then remove plants between rows (they’ll fill in again next summer).
Cover your strawberry patch with 3-6 inches of mulch in late fall to protect them from extreme cold that causes root damage. Good mulches include straw, pine needles, wood shavings and loose organic material that will provide cover and won’t mat down. Avoid using mulch that has seeds in it, because those seeds would come up in your strawberry patch the following spring.
When spring comes back around and there is no longer the threat of frost, rake mulch off strawberry plants into middle rows to make walkways!
Trouble Shooting
To prevent verticillium wilt, a fungal disease that affects the crown of the plant, avoid planting strawberries in the same location for several years. If you have limited space in your home garden, consider using grow lights to promote plant growth and fruit production.
Why Grow Strawberries
People like strawberries for several reasons. Firstly, strawberries are delicious and have a unique sweet and slightly tangy taste that is hard to resist. They are versatile and can be used in many different ways, including eating them raw, adding them to desserts like cakes and pies, or using them to make jams and preserves.
Additionally, strawberries are a good source of vitamins and antioxidants, which are essential for maintaining good health. They are low in calories and high in fiber, making them an excellent choice for people who are watching their weight. Strawberries also contain vitamin C, which is important for boosting the immune system and fighting off infections.
Moreover, strawberries are visually appealing, with their bright red color and distinctive shape. They are often used as a decorative element in food presentations and can add a pop of color to any dish.
Finally, strawberries have a rich cultural significance, particularly in Western cultures. They are associated with romance and love and are often given as gifts on Valentine’s Day. Strawberry festivals are also common in many parts of the world, celebrating the fruit’s unique flavor and cultural significance.
Overall, people like strawberries for their taste, health benefits, visual appeal, and cultural significance. They are a beloved fruit that has been enjoyed for centuries and will likely continue to be a popular choice for years to come.
Are Strawberries Easy To Grow?
Yes, strawberries are generally easy to grow and can be a great addition to your home garden. Strawberries are hardy plants that can tolerate a wide range of growing conditions, although they do have specific requirements to ensure successful growth and fruit production.
One of the advantages of growing strawberries is that they can be planted in a variety of ways, such as in traditional garden beds, raised beds, containers, or hanging baskets. This makes them a versatile choice for gardeners with limited space or those who prefer container gardening.
Another advantage of strawberries is that they are relatively low-maintenance, requiring minimal attention once established. They are generally resistant to pests and diseases, although some common issues like powdery mildew and gray mold can occur under certain conditions.
To ensure successful growth and fruit production, strawberries require full sun exposure, good drainage, and fertile soil with adequate organic matter. They also benefit from regular watering, particularly during dry periods, and regular fertilization to promote healthy growth.
Overall, with proper care and attention, strawberries can be easy to grow and provide a delicious harvest of fresh fruit.
What is the Best month to Plant Strawberries?
The best time to plant strawberries depends on the type of strawberries you want to grow and your geographic location.
For June-bearing strawberries, which produce one large crop of fruit in late spring to early summer, the best time to plant is in early spring, as soon as the soil is workable and before the last frost date. This allows the plants to establish their root systems before the growing season begins, resulting in better fruit production in the first year.
For day-neutral strawberries, which produce fruit continuously throughout the growing season, the best time to plant is in late spring to early summer when the soil has warmed up and the risk of frost has passed. This allows the plants to establish quickly and produce fruit in the first year.
For home gardeners who want to grow strawberries from seed, the best time to plant is typically in early fall, so that the seeds can overwinter and germinate in the following spring.
Regardless of the planting time, it is important to choose high-quality plants or seeds and to prepare the soil properly to ensure optimal growth and fruit production. Additionally, regular care and maintenance, including adequate watering, fertilization, and pest control, will help ensure a healthy and productive strawberry crop.
What is the Secret to Growing Strawberries?
The secret to growing healthy and productive strawberries lies in providing the right growing conditions and proper care. Here are some tips to help you grow successful strawberry plants:
- Choose the right type of strawberry: There are several types of strawberries, including June-bearing, day-neutral, and everbearing varieties. Choose the type that is best suited to your climate, growing conditions, and desired harvest time.
- Plant in the right location: Strawberries grow best in sandy and well-draining soil. They also need full sun exposure to produce the best fruit, so choose a location that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. Additionally, ensure that the soil has good drainage and is rich in organic matter.
- Provide regular watering: Strawberries require regular watering, particularly during dry periods, to prevent stress and ensure optimal growth and fruit production.
- Add organic matter to the soil: Incorporating organic matter into the soil, such as compost or well-rotted manure, can improve soil fertility and structure, which can benefit strawberry growth.
- Control pests and diseases: Regular monitoring and treatment for common pests and diseases, such as aphids, spider mites, powdery mildew, and gray mold, can help prevent damage to the plants and ensure a healthy crop.
- Practice proper fertilization: Strawberries benefit from regular fertilization with a balanced fertilizer, applied at the right time and rate. Avoid over-fertilizing, which can lead to excessive growth and fewer fruits.
- Mulch the soil: Mulching the soil around the plants with straw or other organic matter can help retain moisture, regulate soil temperature, and prevent weed growth.
Overall, by providing the right growing conditions and proper care, you can successfully grow healthy and productive strawberry plants in your home garden.
Can You Grow Strawberries from a Strawberry?
It is possible to grow strawberries from a strawberry fruit, but it is not the most reliable or recommended way to propagate them.
When you grow strawberries from a fruit, you are essentially starting with a seed. However, strawberries are not true-to-type from seed, meaning that the fruit that grows from the seed may not be identical to the parent plant. This can lead to variations in fruit size, taste, and other characteristics.
Instead, the most common and reliable way to grow strawberries is by purchasing and planting established plants or runners. Runners are stems that grow from the mother plant and develop into new plants, producing genetically identical offspring.
If you are interested in growing strawberries from seed, you can do so, but it can be a more challenging process. You will need to stratify the seeds by exposing them to cold temperatures for several weeks before planting, and you may need to plant a large number of seeds to ensure a good germination rate.
Overall, while it is possible to grow strawberries from a fruit, it is not the best or most reliable method of propagation. It is recommended to start with established plants or runners to ensure consistent and reliable fruit production.
Great tips! I’ll be growing strawberries for the first time this year. This will help a lot.
This is great! Those layered raise beds are beautiful. Thank you!
is it true you pinch off flowers the 1st year
Hi Mary! Many pros suggest you pinch flowers off the first year to help the plant grow faster. But I’m always too impatient for strawberries and don’t always do that. Strawberries are really hardy and grow fast, producing multiple strawberries each year. I’ve never had a problem not pinching them off, they do great!