Sooner or later, every home gardener decides to try growing strawberries. The luscious red fruit are gorgeous in any garden - and who doesn't want loads of fresh, ripe berries right off the vines? Strawberries are actually quite easy to grow, and they'll do well just about anywhere as long as they have plenty of sun and rich, well-drained topsoil.
Strawberries are perennials, meaning that once they're established, they'll come back year after year. You won't need to replant, as your strawberry plants will continue growing and producing fruit each year.
Preparing your Plot
Two main factors are important for growing strawberries: topsoil and irrigation. The strawberry plant's root system rarely grows deeper than 6 inches. That means you'll need careful water management and nutrient-rich topsoil for healthy, fruitful plants.
Strawberries aren't very demanding soil-wise; however, they do prefer slightly acidic topsoil. Your plants might grow if your pH balance is too high, but you'll typically need to provide some kind of iron supplement to help your strawberries grow properly. If your soil isn't fit for strawberry growing, your best option may be to build raised beds or plant in pots, using an appropriate topsoil from your local garden center.
Picking your Plants
There are three common varieties of strawberries: day neutral, June-bearing, and ever bearing. As you might have guessed, June-bearing only bears fruit in June. Day neutral strawberries will bear a good crop in June, and subsequent smaller crops until the first frost. The name "everbearing" is a little misleading, as you'll actually get one June crop, and a second mid-summer crop.
June-bearing varieties include: Earliglow, Northeaster, Honeoye, Sparkle and Jewel strawberries. Some common everbearing and day-neutral strains include: Albion, Tribute, Ozark Beauty, Tristar, and Seascape.
You can often find starter plants at your local garden center; however, if you can't find any locally, you can easily find your preferred varieties online or in mail-order catalogs. Check your plants well when they arrive, and if they're looking a bit droopy, remove any dead leaves and soak their roots in water for a good half-hour before planting.
Planting, Maintaining and Harvesting
Remove your starter plants from their pots and trim the roots back to 5 inches. Dig a small hole in your topsoil and plant the strawberry so that the crown is level with the soil. Spread out the roots a little and then fill in the soil around the plant. Space your strawberry plants about 12 inches apart.
Your plants will need a little time to settle in and grow strong root systems. Watch your plants carefully and remove any flowers or runners for the first six weeks. This will give them time to establish themselves.
Once berries start growing, check back every couple days to harvest any that are ripe. As soon as a berry is bright red all over, it's time to harvest it. Just remember that little critters like ripe berries too, so you may need to cover your plants with netting to protect them from birds, squirrels and other creatures.
For more tips and tricks, please see the following two sites:
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