Tips for Growing Strawberries
Last spring hubby planted strawberries in our vegetable garden and I wasn’t too happy about it. You see, I’ve spent years pulling wild strawberries in our flower beds that just won’t go away. Their fruit is small and sour and wild strawberries constantly shoot out runners so they’re difficult to get rid of entirely. I shouldn’t allow my distaste for one variation of a plant to turn me against all varieties, because we’re now enjoying the sweet fruit he planted last year. I’m sharing our tips for growing strawberries so that you can enjoy their sweet and juicy goodness right in your own yard.
Our strawberries are going to be plentiful this year, which leads me to the first tip. Strawberries do better after the first year. Last year we had strawberries, but they weren’t as big and juicy as this year.
Another helpful tip is knowing that strawberries enjoy well-drained soil and 8 hours of sunlight per day. We planted our strawberries in a raised bed in our vegetable garden. You can also plant strawberries in containers. I took this photo after an evening rainfall. You can see there are a lot of berries that will ripen soon.
It’s so exciting to see the little white flowers appear on your strawberry plants, which leads to the next tip. These flowers need to be visited by pollinating bees and insects before they can set fruit. I see bees in our garden all the time. If you have a lack of bees, you can always add bee-attracting plants near your strawberries like Bee Balm or Cosmos. I have both in my garden.
My next tip for growing strawberries deals with planting them. Be sure to leave the crown exposed when planting strawberries. The crown needs light and air for the plant to survive. Plant too deep, and the crown could rot. After planting, water well and mulch the soil around the plant.
Many of our strawberry plants are sending out runners, which can be exciting since the plants are spreading. This leads to my final tip for today, it’s best to snip off the runners so that the mother plant will produce more fruit. Runners will require some of the plant’s energy, but if you clip those runners, the energy is directed to producing more fruit on the original plant.
I had a few strawberries in pots until I could transfer them out in the garden, which I did this weekend. I got excited about the berries I was seeing and decided to get a few more in the ground, since these plants are more tasty and less obnoxious than their wild counterparts.
The grand kids were over and they enjoyed picking and eating the strawberries. I plan to educate them on the benefits of locally grown foods and eating seasonally. I explained that strawberries from our garden are sweeter and juicier than store-bought berries since they’ve been allowed to ripen on the vine longer. I even had them do a taste test between garden-grown and store-bought; they easily tasted the difference.
I’m looking forward to an early summer filled with days on end enjoying these juicy little morsels. I hope my tips for growing strawberries motivates you to plant a few of your own. You’ll enjoy the sweet reward of growing your own food!
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My first year for planting strawberries and already having some that are setting on. I did mulch mine with straw to keep the moisture in as well as keeping the fruit out of the dirt.
Never want to use hay has hay has lots of weeds in it and last thing you want is more weeds to pull out of your beds.
A few year ago hubby had built me some raised beds with chicken wire frames over top to keep the birds out of which come to my waist so have my berries planted in it so no bending which saves on the back.
I also have to hanging baskets that have what they call, Hula Strawberry berries. These Hula berries are white with red seeds and have the taste of pineapple
A waist-high bed for the strawberries would be heaven…the older I get, the creakier the body…
If you email me I can in turn send you picture of my DIY waist high raised beds that my hubby had built for me that I have my strawberries planted in. He built 3 raised beds but strawberries only planted in one of the 3 beds.
We have strawberries galore. We were so careful to plant (according to the directions) the first raised beds a few years ago and then runners were everywhere with no assistance from us. I wish I knew someone who would like some strawberry plants as they are taking over one of my flower beds. Just hate to destroy plants… The plants we have (don’t recall the variety) is foliage heavy so most of the berries are hidden from the sight of birds. Nothing better than fresh strawberries. The organic ones are outrageous and the conventional ones are loaded with pesticides. Will have to pin your strawberry recipes!
What you have thought are strawberries may be Potentilla, a look-alike plant that can be invasive. The flowers are yellow instead of white like real strawberries. The fruit is not poisonous, but ranges from tasteless to unpleasant. One species is Potentilla simplex, another is Potentilla indica. An interesting website is eattheweeds,com..
Genuine wild strawberries (Fragaria virginiana) are delectable and intensely flavored, though small. They are the parent plant for all other varieties in the Western Hemisphere. Their flowers are white.
Hope this helps!
gm
Gloria, you’re correct. My “wild” strawberries are Potentilla indica. Thanks for sharing that information!
Thank you for the hints on strawberries. I want to plant more for next year in raised beds. I have a plant in a strawberry plant and the runners from the mom plant is in the side pockets. I have them near the door on side of house and pick one to eat when I come in. Are your strawberries ever bearing and if so , are the? I want to try them.
betsy
Your strawberries look beautiful, Jennifer. I have had a few strawberry plants in the past but they never were as gorgeous as yours. I’ll bet your grandkids love picking those sweet berries and eating them too! Thanks for all the tips on growing the berries succesfully. I might just have to try again next spring to grow some!
This is amazing! I’ve been dying to grow strawberries in my garden forever and I’m always afraid I’m going to destroy them. Thanks for sharing, I’m gonna get started on my own strawberries this week. 😀