Growing Strawberries in a Home Garden

Growing conditions: Choose a location receiving full sun in summer. Strawberry plants have a shallow, fibrous root system, making it somewhat more vulnerable to very dry or wet soil conditions. If your soil drains slowly, build a raised bed at least 12 inches above grade.

Plant in spring:

• Young starter plants are typically available bare-root. Order bundles of bare-root plants in January for March delivery. 
• Seeds can also be purchased. Seeds must first be refrigerated (stratified) for about one month to break dormancy. They can then be germinated and grown indoors for 6-8 weeks before transplanting into garden soil.
• Plant outdoors in March or early April when the soil begins to warm.

Getting transplants established:

• Trim long roots to within 4 to 6 inches of the crown, and set plants with half the crown below the soil level with roots fanned out. 
• Fertilize plants lightly with a complete liquid or granular fertilizer (containing all three major nutrients, N-P-K).

Encouraging productivity: 

• For June-bearers, remove the flowers for the entire first season to direct the plant’s resources into developing a large root system and healthy plant.
• Fertilize June-bearing plants after the harvest season, and day-neutral plants once a month, May through September.

Mulching and weeding: 

• Use an organic mulch for weed suppression and to keep fruit lying on the ground cleaner. Straw is a traditional mulch for strawberries, but other biodegradable materials can be used.

• Remove weeds promptly. Weeds encourage high populations of plant bugs and other insects that can damage the fruit, promote disease development by reducing air circulation (leaves stay wet longer), and compete strongly with shallow-rooted strawberry plants for nutrients and water.

• Fruits start ripening around 5 weeks after bloom. The harvest period is usually 3 weeks long, but can vary due to spring weather conditions.
• Strawberries should be left on the plant 1 to 2 days after turning fully red. Berries picked when not fully red will continue to change color but will not sweeten.
• If possible, pick early in the day when berries are cool. Twist the stem and fruit from the vine.
• Wash before eating, not before storage. Berries can be refrigerated for 3 to 5 days.

• Shallow roots make plants prone to being pushed out of the soil (heaving) with winter freezes and thaws. Protect plants by mulching them with straw or mower-shredded tree leaves in late fall when night temperatures approach 20℉.
• Row covers are useful in preventing winter damage, promoting early bloom, protecting flowers from spring frosts, and excluding flying insect pests. Flowers that are self-pollinated, and pollinated by wind and insects are fully pollinated and produce the largest, well-shaped fruits. Be sure to remove the row cover just before flowering begins to give bees access.

• June-bearing cultivars are typically maintained using either of two systems:
  • Hill system: Space plants one foot apart in all directions and remove all runners to encourage more flower stalks.
  • Matted row system: Space “mother” plants 18 to 24 inches apart, in rows at least 36 inches apart. Allow runners to root freely in all directions and fill in with “daughter” plants. Keep the beds narrow (12 inches), if possible, to maximize sunlight penetration. (It helps to drive a short stake in the ground at the head of each row so you can identify the mother plants later.)

• Plant day-neutral cultivars about 5-9 inches apart in all directions. Remove flowers for the first 4-6 weeks after planting, and then allow plants to fruit. Remove runners throughout the growing season. They can be treated as annuals and replanted each year, or mulched and overwintered to produce a harvest for a second year before replacement.

Due to diseases and crowding, june-bearing cultivars typically decline after 3-4 years. You can start a new bed with fresh plants in a new location (don’t move runners from an old bed with insect pests and diseases) or renovate the old bed.

Renovation 

After the end of the second-year harvest:

1. Mow or hand-prune plants to a height of 2 to 3 inches or just above the crowns.
2. Apply fertilizer.
3. Thin daughter plants to 6 inches apart. Use a garden spade or other hand tool to turn under or remove runners that strayed beyond the 12- to 18-inch-wide growing bed, leaving a bed of mingled mother and daughter plants.

Repeat the third year: mow, fertilize, and thin daughter plants to 6 inches apart.

In the fourth year, alter this process: turn under the mother plants and allow only the strongest daughter plants to form the 12- to 18-inch-wide beds. Plant new plants every three years if growing in containers.

Resource

(Video) Renovating a Strawberry Bed | University of Maine 

Common strawberry diseases include strawberry leaf spot (Mycosphaerella fragariae), anthracnose fruit rot, and gray mold (Botrytis rot). Insect pests include tarnished plant bugs, sap beetles, leafhoppers, and spotted-wing drosophila. Slugs, birds, squirrels, and other wildlife will feed on fruits.

Strawberry foliage, crowns, and flowers are very vulnerable to damage during periods of temperature fluctuations in late winter to early spring. The plant care section above provides information on overwintering strawberry beds.