Growing Strawberries
Tips on Growing Strawberries
Growing strawberries is very popular among home gardeners. Strawberries are a highly nutritious and healthly fruit and you can produce quite a large amount in a small amount of space. An initial planting of twenty-five plants can produce anywhere from 25-50 quarts of strawberries in May and June.
If you are interested in growing strawberries, there are three different types from which to choose. Junebearers will give you fruit once a season, Dayneutrals can give you fruit several times every season, and Everbearers bear fruit twice each season. The most dependable in all locations are the Junebearers.
Each of these three groups of strawberry plants have many cultivars from which to choose. Among the best Junebearers are Earlyglow, Delmarvel and Annapolis. Mid-season varieties include Honeoye, Redchief, Guardian, and Surecrop. For late-season berries try Allstar. The Dayneutral cultivars do not produce well in heat, but if you live in a cool region, check out Tristar and Tribute. Among the Everbearers, the ones that tested best were Fort Laramie and Ozark Beauty.
Growing strawberries requires that your soil be well-drained sandy loam or loam. Strawberries do not like standing water or heavy soil that does not drain well, If this is the case in your garden, you will need to plant your strawberries in raised beds. They should be a minimum of 6 to 8 inches above ground for the best drainage. If you have previously planted strawberries, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes or other fruits or vegetables capable of acquiring vertiicillium wilt, give the soil at least a two to three year rest before replanting these types of plants there.
To prepare the soil for growing strawberries, it’s good to plant a green manure crop the year before, such as rye or oats. Strawberries like organic fertilizer, so if you are using raised beds, add peat, compost, or well-rotted straw or manure. The spring you plant, add two pounds of 6-24-24 or an equivalent synthetic fertilizer into every one hundred square feet.
Next, plant your strawberries in rows that are three to four feet apart. Plants should be between fifteen and twenty-four inches apart. Each plant should be set into the soil with the crown right on the surface. Firm the soil around the plant and water it thoroughly.
Your strawberry plants will not produce berries until the following season, so during the first summer keep the plants free of weeds and pinch off flowers as soon as they appear. This will encourage the formation of healthy runner plants on which the first crop will be produced. Place the runner plants so that there a five in a square foot. Once you reach your desired plant density, you should remove any additional runners that grow. Fertilize again, this time with 12-12-12 as soon as the plants are growing well and again in August or September.
Mulch your strawberry plants for the winter once they become dormant. An early spring frost is fatal to strawberries so they will have to be covered or you can install sprinkler irrigation if you plan on growing a huge crop.