• Soil, Planting, and Care
• Harvest and Storage
• Troubleshooting

Soil, Planting, and Care

Depending on where you live, strawberries can be started in the fall or the spring. Fall and very early spring planting allows time for the plants to establish good root systems, which are needed for optimum growth when the weather warms. Bonnie plants arrive at stores at the approximate planting time.

Strawberries go into a dormant stage during the cold winter months and can withstand freezing temperatures. Purchase your fall strawberries in September and October. For spring planting, set out strawberries as soon as the ground can be worked, usually March or April. Allow the plants to become well established before the hot weather arrives. Do not work the soil if it is wet. Wait a few days until it dries out a bit.

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. Do not cover the crown. After four or five weeks, the plants will produce runners and new daughter plants.

Planting Systems

• Matted-Row System
  This system is the best for growing June-bearing cultivars. In this system, the strawberry plants should be set 18 to 30 inches apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart. Daughter plants are allowed to root freely and to become a matted row no wider than 2 feet.
• Spaced-Row System
  This system limits the number of daughter plants that grow from a mother plant. The mother plants are set 18 to 30 inches apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart. As the daughter plants appear, they are spaced to root no closer than 4 feet apart. All other runners are cut from the mother plants. Even though more care is needed under this system, advantages include higher yields, larger berries and fewer disease problems.
• Hill System
  This is the best system for growing ever-bearing strawberries. In this system, all the runners are removed so only the original mother plant remains. Removing the runners causes the mother plant to develop more crowns and flower stalks. Multiple rows are arranged in groups of 2, 3, or 4 plants with a 2-foot walkway between each group of rows. Plants are set about 1 foot apart in each row.

  Strawberries prefer a well-drained soil that is high in organic matter. They need full sun for the highest yields, at least 6 hours per day. Do not plant strawberries where peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, or potatoes have grown. These plants could harbor verticillium wilt, a serious strawberry disease. Strawberries need about 1 inch of water per week during the growing season.

  Work fertilizer into the soil before planting. Use a slow-release organic source, or use about 1 pound of slow-release commercial fertilizer such as 10-10-10 per 100 square feet. Work it into soil to a depth of  6 to 8 inches.

  After the first harvest of the second season, strawberries should be fertilized (after renovation in July.) Water the fertilizer in to get it down to the root zone. This keeps the plants vigorous and promotes new growth and more fruit buds. Do not over-fertilize. Over-fertilization causes too much leafy growth, reduced yields, and increased losses from frost and leaf diseases.

  In the fall before temperatures drop below 20 degrees, apply a straw mulch 3 to 4 inches deep over the rows. This mulch protects the plants from cold temperatures that can kill the buds and injure roots and crowns. Remove the mulch in the spring when the strawberry leaves show yellow. Leave some of the mulch around the plants to keep the fruit from soil contact and to conserve soil moisture.

  Strawberries are very susceptible to frosts in the spring. Although any mulch that has covered the plants during the winter months should be removed in the early spring, it's a good idea to leave it in the aisles to cover the plants in the spring if a frost is predicted when they are in bloom. Old blankets laid over the plants will protect them, too. Spun bond material such as Reemay or row covers will protect strawberry plantings down to temperatures of about 23F.

  Harvest and Storage

  Harvest strawberries as the fruits turn red. The berries should slip right into your hand, or you can gently pinch the berry stem from the plants. If you have to tug on the berry, it is not ripe. Tugging isn't good for the plant roots either. Depending on the variety, berries will all ripen within a short time period, or they will continue to appear through summer.

  Troubleshooting