Strawberries
Fragaria X ananassa (ROSACEAE)
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Strawberries
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow strawberries in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- How many strawberries to plant
- Growing conditions for strawberries
- When to plant strawberries
- How to plant strawberries
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning strawberries
- Companion plantings for strawberries
- How to harvest, store, and use strawberries
Growing Strawberries
Strawberries are cool-season perennials. Low-growing plants, to 8 in. (20 cm) tall, bear red, heart-shaped, berrylike fruit unique for having their seeds on their fruits’ exterior skins. Strawberries reproduce by extending foliage runners that start new plants, by root division, and by seed.
Everbearing, Spring-bearing—sometimes called “June-bearing” or “Summer-bearing—cultivars are available. Everbearing strawberry varieties set and ripen new berries continuously from spring to autumn, except in hot-summer climates where they go dormant for a few months before resuming production. Spring-bearing varieties ripen a single set of berries over a 3–4 week period in late spring or early summer, beginning in their second year of growth.
All strawberries are tender perennial plants, but best production occurs when the tiny plants on forming runners are rooted and held for planting until spring of the following season, discarding the old plant that produces only sparse pickings of strawberries.
Strawberries may also be grown from germinated seed, found on the exterior of their fruit. Strawberries are the only common fruit that bears its seeds on the exterior of its fruit.
Strawberry Plant and Care Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 20 plants per household member. For jams or jellies, allow 40 plants, yielding 4–5 qts. (4.4–5.5 l).
How to Plant
Cold-Winter Climates: Set out root divisions in full sun in early spring when soil warms to 45–60°F (7–16°C). Mild-Winter Climates: In late autumn or early spring. Plant root divisions 12–14 in. (30–36 cm) apart, in mounds 6 in. (15 cm) high and wide, 2 ft. (60 cm) apart. In containers, plant root divisions 12–14 in. (30–36 cm) apart.
Best Conditions for Growth
Growing temperature: 70–90°F (21–32°C). Zones 3–11. Best with at least 6 hours of direct sun, in mild-summer climates.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich. 5.8–6.5 pH. Prepare soil at least 1 ft. (30 cm) deep.
Proper Care
Keep evenly moist; avoid wetting foliage. Fertilize monthly with 5–10–10 formula supplemented with potassium sulfate. Mulch as fruit spurs develop to lift berries, preventing direct-soil contact. Remove mulch when fruiting ends, and cut plants back to the soil. In cold-winter climates in autumn, transplant to flats filled with moist sawdust and store in a cool, dark place until spring. Replace parent plants every 3 years, retaining runner starts. Slug, snail and downy and powdery mildew susceptible.
Pairing Recommendations
Beets, carrots, and radishes.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
90–120 days. Pick fruit when full colored, sweet, plump, and full flavored. Avoid washing; rinse only if necessary, immediately before consumption or use.
How to Store and Preserve
Fresh in vegetable keeper of refrigerator for 7–10 days; frozen whole or as pie fillings, 6 months; preserved as jams or jellies, 3 years. Good for small-space, container gardens. Combine strawberries with raspberries or rhubarb to make superb pies and preserves.
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