How to Grow Strawberries
Have you ever wanted to grow strawberries at home. Its super easy and one of the best parts, is as long as you take care of your plants and have space it does not take long to have a larger number of plants. Meaning more strawberries to enjoy!
What Do You Need To Know
There are 3 main types of strawberries to choose from.
Day neutral - don’t mind shade and are a milder flavor but extremally cold tolerant.
June bearing - large fruit with large yields.
Everbearing - two crops in one season one in the spring and one at the end of summer.
Runners
Strawberries are crazy prolific they create clones of themselves on vine like stems. These clones set roots creating more plants and more berries. Some people will use this to there advantage to get more plants, some use them as ground cover in the garden for less weeding. If kept heathy the plants can start to get out of control, because of the runners being so prolific. You can dig or pull up unwanted plants with little effort. they make great gifts for friends.
What Do you Need
Plants you can get them just about anywhere from a friend or neighbor or the store be careful with selection if your grab some quick at the big box store not all varieties are the same.
container or place to plant they need about 6 to 12 inch’s deep of soil for their roots with about 12 inches between plants for good air flow between plants and this will help pollinators find the flowers for a good fruit set. Keep in mind when picking your variety of strawberries not all variety’s thrive in all areas so ask around to see what is being planted with success near you.
Fertilizer in the spring nitrogen to grow large plants
and a second time in the fall for strong root development as the plant goes to dormancy.
mother plants need to be taken out every four years, the life span dwindles and the fruiting does as well so if you remove the mothers it allows space for runners and keep the nutrients from being used ineffectively, increasing harvest. Also the mothers become weak with age and this weakness is taken advantage of by disease, so by removing the weak plants you lower your risk of disease to all of your plants.
How Do You avoid Pest
First you need to know what kind of pest your dealing with. You can take preemptive measures or wait until issues arise. Identifying your pest will be key.
Birds will eat your berries little birds as well as big birds I had trouble with a Pheasant a few years ago it would eat half the berry and leave the other half on the plant for a new berry. It was a clean cut it looked like someone took a pair of scissors and just sniped off one side.
Ring Neck Pheasant
So what can you do?
Netting - There is bird and deer netting that can be put out over plants. It still allows bees in and out to pollinate, but will need to be removed in order to pick the berries.
Wire - You can also make a more permanent structure with chicken wire. Just make a frame and attach your wire enclosing the berries if its a large enough cage you can make a door and walk in and out for convenience, and if its smaller pick it off and put it back when your done.
Depending on the size and number of plants you have, you may be limited as to what you can do.
I have never tried it but I have read where people paint stones to resemble strawberries and place them in there beds before there berries become ripe. When the birds go to eat what they think is a berry they bite the hard stone, and don’t want any more. So when the fruit is ripe the plants are left alone for a full harvest.
Slugs will eat the strawberries leaving jagged irregular holes in the sides off the fruit.
Salt - you can pour it on them and it will kill them at risk to salting your garden.
Wool - slugs don’t like the drying sensation or the sharp edges of the fibers.
Turn over - slug like to hide under mulch and stones where its cool and moist so simply turn it over and remove the slugs.
Cornmeal - Does not work you will just feed the slugs, though it use to be thought to work some people swear by it. However the cornmeal works to keep slugs busy eating elsewhere.
Ants will make a feast of the sweet berries.
Cat nip - Gives a smell of faint mint, and the ants will stay away. I allow the weed to stay, it is so beneficial when the berries are almost ripe I just break off a few leaves so the smell will deter the ants and every time I pick berries it pick off a few leaves.
Catnip
Rabbits interplanting with onions is affective at keeping them out of your patch as well as raised beds to limit access.
How and When to Harvest
So picking is simple, the hardest part is waiting for the berries to be ripe. when ripe they will be red and plump. You simply need to remove the strawberries from the plants there will be a green top.
To improve production watering can be critical mulch can be uses to retain moistier straw, wood shavings.
Mulch should be used in the fall to insulate crowns of plants for the winter cold.