Growing strawberries in the garden

Growing strawberries in the garden

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Plant at the right time. This will be determined by the strawberry variety you've chosen, so read the label or consult the retailer from whom you're purchasing the plants.^[1]

• Large fruiting varieties of strawberries are best planted in summer, usually in the second month of summer and at the latest, by the first half of the last month of summer.
• Alpine strawberries are best planted during the second and third months of spring.
• Perpetual strawberries can actually benefit from an autumn/fall planting rather than a winter planting, as this gives them more time to grow accustomed to the new plot and establish a healthy root system. (This planting time is appropriate for gardens in temperate climate zones.)

2 Choose a warm and sunny spot. Strawberries love areas that get a lot of direct sunlight without shade. They also appreciate minimal wind. A strawberry plant will produce strawberries in partial shade if need be but the crop will never be as prolific as a plant kept in full sun.

3 Dig the soil over well. Add lots of compost to enrich the soil and remove any weeds, including the roots of weeds.

• Strawberries like rich soil the most. If the soil is heavy clay or poor sand, add well-decomposed organic material. Mulch after planting, to protect the surface soil and to keep the strawberries clean.
• If the soil is very acidic, add three-quarters of a cup of dolomite per square meter of complete plant food before planting.

4 Remove the strawberry plant from the storage container. Place the root ball into a bucket of water to soak for an hour or so. This helps to ease the shock of the transition from pot to ground and ensures that the roots stay moist enough.

1. 5 Dig a hole in the soil. Place the strawberry plant in the hole, keeping the crown above the soil line.

6

Press the soil firmly and gently around the base of the strawberry plant.

7

Continue planting in the same way if you have other strawberry plants. Keep each plant about 35–40 centimeter (13.8–15.7 in) apart. It making rows, keep the strawberries about 90 centimeters (35.4 in) apart.

8

Water regularly. However, don't overdo the water––the shallow roots need water in hot weather but don't like being soggy. Avoid letting the soil dry out and avoid making it into a mud bath! The time for a decent soaking is when the soil appears dry at the surface to about 1cm/ 1/2 an inch down (stick your finger in to check).

• Water the crown of the plant. Avoid watering fruit––this can cause fruit to rot.

9

Use a liquid fertilizer to provide nourishment. Choose a fertilizer suited to strawberries.

• Strawberry plants that are given water-soluble fertilizers that are high in nitrogen will perform poorly, producing lots of leaf growth rather than focusing on bearing fruits. If you wish to use this type of fertilizer, minimize its application.

10

Pluck off the first flowers. By removing the first flowers that appear, you will give the strawberry plant a chance to grow more vigorously and produce a stronger root system. Allow subsequent flowers to keep growing.

• Runners are also best removed. If the strawberry plant is going to produce these, you'll see them about a month into growing. Runners deplete the energy of the strawberry plant, so keep them under control until the plant is well established. Later on, you can leave one runner to grow to establish new plants if you're growing the strawberries in the garden but never let a plant have more than one runner at a time or it will be weakened and the energy will go into growing plant rather than strawberries.

11

Check regularly. The first signs that the strawberry flowers have turned into fruit will be small green strawberries. These will continue to grow and then turn red when they're ripe.

• You may need to deal with the birds. Birds love strawberries too, and if you discover that they're pinching the strawberries, you will need to create a barrier. You can use fine garden mesh/strawberry net to throw over the plants; this will stop most birds from getting in to take the strawberries. Another option is one for the birds and one for you. If the birds aren't too greedy, you can leave some for them and take some for you; this tends to work best where the birds are often scared off by something like a cat, the flash of something bright like hanging CDs or noise.

1. 12
   Harvest the strawberries. When the whole strawberry is red, it's ready to pick. Take a bowl or basket of your plant or strawberry patch and pick straight from the bush. Always pick so that the stem is left intact; hulling should occur only when eating or preparing for a dish.
   

   • Give freshly picked strawberries a quick, gentle wash in cold water before eating fresh.
2. 13
   Continue to tend the plants. Strawberry plants are fairly hardy and they'll continue to produce fruit year after year, for at least five years before they need to be replaced. For overwintering in temperate climate zones, clear away weeds, straw, mulch, etc. and leave to grow untended. If it snows where you live, use container strawberries and bring them indoors.

   • Consider replacing strawberry stock every two years if you experience problems with viruses destroying the plants. Discard the old stock completely and bring in new stock that is virus free.

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