How to Grow Strawberries With Mold

Strawberry plants live for three to five seasons.

Strawberries are small, juicy fruits with delicate flesh and flavoring; but they grow on hardy perennial plants. The plants require deep, loose and nutritious soil to produce their berry harvest; and they thrive in warm, moist foundations. To enjoy rich strawberry harvests every summer, use leaf mold compost as both organic soil amendment and protective mulch for these low-growing plants.

Things You'll Need

• Leaf mold
• Organic compost
• Garden fork/rake
• Fertilizer
• Mulch

Instructions

1. Plant strawberries in mid-spring, just after the last frost, to give young seedlings warm soil and air at planting. Choose a site with full sunshine and quick drainage for best strawberry production. Avoid sites that held tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplants, as those crops leave soil-borne fungi behind.

2. Amend strawberry planting sites with leaf mold and organic compost to improve soil quality and drainage. Dig up the top 6 to 8 inches of natural soil and add 2 inches of organic compost and 1 inch of leaf mold. This mixture gives the strawberries rich, long-lasting nutrition and loosens the soil for root growth and drainage. Mix 6-24-24 granular fertilizer into the top 6 inches of soil at a rate of 2 lbs. every 100 square feet.

3. Plant strawberry seedlings in holes as deep and wide as their root balls so that their crowns sit at soil level. Strawberries fail in deep or shallow plantings. Give the seedlings 15 to 24 inches in the row and leave 36 to 48 inches between rows.

4. Water strawberries with 2 inches of water every week to maintain soil moisture. Mix leaf mold with traditional organic mulch like wood chips or bark to produce a heavy, nutritious mulch. Lay 2 inches of this mulch mixture on the soil around and between plantings to keep soil moist and free of weeds. Strawberries fail with competition and in dry soil.

Tips & Warnings

• Feed strawberries again in mid-season with 12-12-12 granular fertilizer at a rate of 1 lb. of fertilizer per 50 feet of row.

• Produce your own leaf mold for use in the garden. Gather leaves and put them in a plastic bag, then leave them outdoors for 12 to 18 months. Use the compost when it turns black and crumbly.

References

• The-Organic-Gardener: Leaf Mold
• Purdue University Department of Horticulture; Growing Strawberries; Bruce Bordelon
• Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension Service; Growing Strawberries in the Home Garden; Julia Whitworth