How Do You Grow Strawberries?

Strawberries thrive and increase in quality when planted in full sun.

Strawberries can be one of the most satisfying and effortless plants to grow. For instance, strawberries do not need much space, plus they produce a lot of fruit quickly. Your strawberry beds will continue producing crops for three to five years if you care for them properly. As you and your family enjoy low-calorie strawberries in desserts, jams and jellies, you will also receive a healthy dose of vitamin C.

Things You'll Need

• Garden spade
• Small stones
• Hair pins (optional)
• Garden hoe

Instructions

1. Choose a location that receives full sunlight for the best strawberry quality.

2. Arrange for your soil to be tested by the university extension office in your area if you do not know the soil's acidity. Your soil needs to have a pH of 5.8 to 6.5 for strawberry plant growth.

3. Start planting your strawberry plants in early spring. If the soil is muddy, wait a little longer to plant, since strawberries are sensitive to excess moisture in the soil. Plant your strawberries in raised beds if water will not drain properly.

4. Plant your strawberries 18 inches apart in each row, with rows 48 to 52 inches apart.

5. Dig holes using a spade in each row deep enough to allow the strawberry roots to sit vertically, then cover half of the crown -- the stem between the roots and leaves -- and the roots with soil, packing it firmly around each plant.

6. Water your strawberries deeply as soon as you finish planting them.

7. 

   Pinching off flowers increase the yield of your strawberries the following year.

   Pinch off all flower buds for four to six weeks after planting. Pinching off the flowers increases the amount of strawberries you get the next year as the runner growth increases.

8. Let the runner plants fill out each row when they appear from the crowns, which happens in the early summer. The strawberry's runner plants are slender stems running horizontally along the ground, developing leaves and roots at each node. Keep your rows 24 inches wide, so you can get to your strawberry aisles effortlessly. Use items such as small stones or hair pins to hold down the runners before they take root and keep them inside of the row.

9. Pull up weeds by hand or use a garden hoe to prevent weeds from filling up a strawberry bed.

10. Water your strawberry plants with 1 to 2 inches of water per week.

Tips & Warnings

• Purchase your strawberry plants from a nursery; buy only certified disease-free plants. Look for plants with large crowns and healthy roots.

• Never plant strawberries in areas of your garden where you grew nightshade plants in the past four years. Eggplants, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes are nightshades. The verticillum root rot fungus may remain in the soil in an area where nightshades were planted.

References

• The Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet: Strawberries are an Excellent Fruit for the Home Garden
• University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension; Growing Strawberries; David T. Handley; February 2001
• University of Illinois Extension Urban Programs Resource Network: Strawberries & More Nutrition

Resources

• Joy of Baking: Strawberry Recipes