How to Grow Strawberries From Planting to Harvest?

If you are planning to make jam, you will need a lot of plants. However, if you are only looking to sprinkle a few strawberries on your morning cereal, 4 to 5 strawberry plants will do the trick.

When to plant strawberries?
The best time to plant strawberries, especially young plants is late summer, September is ideal. If you plant it at that time, you will get a crop the following year.

You can also plant them in the spring, but keep in mind that you will not a get a large yield the first year because the plants need time to mature.

What type of soil to use to plant strawberries?
Plant them in a sunny well drained soil with lots of organic compost. You can also use peat-free compost.

How to plant the strawberry plants?
If you are planting them directly in regular bed of soil, you will need more space.
Place them 18 inches apart in rows that are 3 feet apart.
If you are planting your strawberries in a raised bed, you can plant them a little bit closer. Plant them 12 inches aprt in rows that are 2 feet apart.

In containers and baskets, you can place the plants even closer to each other, about 10 inches apart.

When you plant them, make a hole about the size of the plant root and place it in the soil.

How to care for your strawberry plants?
As the plants begin to flower around April of May, Place straw underneath the plant. This helps the fruit from rotting on wet soil. It also discourages weed growth and it stops rain splash whcih makes the fruit go moldy.

If you cannot get your hands on straw, you can also use landscape fabric. Place the landscape fabric over your soil and make incesions for your strawberry plants.

In May, the strawberry plants will send out runners. You will want to cut off as many of the runners as possible, since the plant will send all its energy into growing the runners and not into producing fruit.

You can actually propegate new plants from these runners. So a good plan is to have multiple plants for growing fruit and keep one for growing runners, from which you can propegate from.

If you are growing strawberries in baskets and containers, you don't need to remove all the runners, but it is suggested that you remove at least half of them. Otherwise, you will end up with a small crop.

Strawberry plants are hardy, however you should water them regularly and feed them every 2 weeks with a good plant feed.

Slug and snail problems
If you have slug or snail problems, first check to make sure that your straw is nice and tight. If the problem persists, you can use coffee grounds, crushed shells or copper slag rings. Place these around the plants.

You can use slug pellets, but if you do, use ones that are approved for organic use, since they are much safer.

How to protect your strawberry crop from birds?
Use a frame mamde from bamboo sticks and netting. Make sure the netting does not touch the plants, otherwise, the birds will just peck through.

When to replant strawberry plants?
In the first year, you will not get a lot of fruit. In years 2 and 3, the crop will be excellent. After the 3rd year, your plants will susseptible to pests and diseases. At this point you will need to replace your plants and plant new young plants.

It is suggested that you plant strawberries every year and therefore as your old plants need to replaced you will always have young ones to take their place.

When to pick strawberries?
Strawberries need to be picked as soon as they are ripe and be gentle when you pick them since they bruise easily. Quick Video Description: How to plant, take care and harvest strawberries.

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