Growing Strawberries - 7 Tips and Methods for Lots of Strawberries

There's no better way to teach children that sweet flavors can come from the garden, than from plastic cones full of chemical junk. By growing your own strawberries, you can offer your children or grandchildren a healthy snack. Children, by the way, love helping you with this. With a little common sense, you and your family can enjoy sweets from the garden from June to October. In winter and spring, you can enjoy jam made from your strawberries. Personally, I don't know anyone who doesn't like strawberries. In short, strawberries in the garden are always a good idea. Enjoy the growing process and the smiles on your faces as they burst open into many mouths.

These are my favorite strawberry plants . By planting different varieties, you spread out the harvest.

My children love helping with strawberry growing. The youngest easily eats 250 grams a day. So it's up to me to have a constant supply of strawberries in my vegetable garden. From the end of April onwards.

Growing Strawberries - There are two main types of strawberries you can grow: single-bearing and everbearing . Within these two types, there are many varieties. Check the specifications carefully to determine which variety you have. This will influence the timing and spacing of your planting. Single-bearing strawberries stop producing fruit after 2-3 weeks in the summer, while everbearing varieties continue into the fall.

This variety is the most popular because it produces fruit five years in a row, throughout the entire season. This makes it ideal for a continuous strawberry harvest.

This plant will give you plenty of strawberries over a period of 3 to 4 weeks, usually between June and early August. Ideal for the summer holidays.

The wild strawberry is a very small type of strawberry and is also everbearing, returning every year. Even though the fruits are small, they are packed with flavor and very sweet. These are the ideal strawberries for making jam. You can easily grow this variety in containers or pots or use it as edible groundcover.

Yes, of course. In 2014, I sowed the everbearing Sarian F1 strawberries from Horti Tops from seed, but the everbearing Baron Van Solemacher strawberries (Rügen) are also perfectly suitable for sowing. The first year, you won't harvest the strawberries until autumn. The second year, from summer onwards. You can also sow the Yellow Cream wild strawberries and plant them out in pots or planting troughs. The color of these wild strawberries is very attractive, and birds don't recognize them as ripe, so they leave them alone more than their red counterparts. If you want strawberries with end-bearing varieties early, it's better to buy seedlings. More information about sowing strawberries can be found in Tip 5.

Before planting your strawberry plants, be sure to check them carefully for signs of disease or weakness. Your plants should have shiny green leaves with no visible spots. Brown edges or dead leaves should also be removed. Be sure to check for a healthy root system that is very light in color. Plants with dark roots are best left undisturbed.

Decide carefully where to plant your strawberries. You can grow strawberries in the ground or in pots or containers . The most important factors are your soil and nutrients. More on this later.

The crown of the strawberry plant

Strawberry plants grow from the crown of the plant. The crown is just above the roots. When planting, the crown should not be under the soil; this applies to pots , containers , or open ground. The crown should also not be more than a centimeter above the ground. So, when planting strawberries, make sure the crown is just above the soil.

The strawberry seeds are on the fruit, which is very unusual. The black dots are actually the plant's seeds. You can try to harvest the seeds from a ripe strawberry, but it's not easy. It's better to consider buying a packet of strawberry seeds. More on how to sow strawberries later in this article.

My colleague Ruud is also crazy about strawberries

Plant your strawberries at the right time. The planting time depends on the variety you've chosen (see tip or method 1). So, carefully follow the instructions provided by the garden center or online plant shop . Single-bearers are best planted in the summer for harvest the following year. You can plant out single-bearers between July and September. Wild strawberries are best planted around April/May. Everbearing varieties are best planted in March or July of the harvest year.

Plant and harvest table mooiemoestuin.nl

The reason you plant out the plants early is to give them time to acclimate to your vegetable garden. The plants build up their strength the previous year (summer and everbearing strawberries) or in the spring (wild strawberries) to produce masses of strawberries as strong plants.

Choose a warm, sunny spot for your planting. These sturdy strawberry plants can easily handle the heat of full sun and convert all the sunlight into delicious, sweet fruits. They also tolerate moderate wind. You can also grow strawberries in a vegetable garden with partial shade; your plants will be slightly less productive than in full sun, but it works just as well.

As with all vegetable garden plants, turn your garden soil well with a pitchfork , enrich it with organic fertilizer, and remove competing plants (weeds) including their roots. Strawberries prefer rich soil that isn't too acidic, between 5.5 and 6.5. If your soil is too acidic, you can add rock dust such as lime . You can measure the acidity of your garden soil with a pH meter . If you have heavy clay or poor sandy soil, be sure to mix in organic matter such as well-rotted compost .

You can also apply a layer of mulch between the plants. I prefer straw because it retains moisture well in the soil and provides a soft blanket for your fruits. In case of rain, it prevents your strawberries from sitting in water and rotting. If you don't have any organic material available, you can also use root cloth .

About half an hour before planting, place the root balls of your strawberry plants in a container of water (or compost tea) and let them soak up plenty of water. This will help your plant transition and ensure it has water during the first week. A Danish tray is ideal for underwater watering.

Dig a planting hole in your nutrient-rich soil and then plant your strawberry plant with the crown just above the ground. Firmly press the soil down at the base of your plant and around it. Plant your strawberries 35 to 40 cm apart. You can leave a little more space between the rows, 60 to 90 cm. This may seem like a lot, but sometimes it's more productive to give the plants a little more space. You can sometimes harvest more from one strong plant than from three plants competing for nutrients and space in the soil.

Planting distance of strawberry plants

Water regularly. But don't overwater. The strawberry plant's root system doesn't go very deep, so it's best to water a little every day in the summer. So, don't water in a desert, and certainly not in a swamp. If you're going on vacation, ask someone to water your strawberries daily in very hot weather. Water the crown, not the fruit. Fruit sitting in water will rot faster.

Use a liquid organic fertilizer or make your own comfrey manure . These two nutrients are rich in potassium. If you apply nitrogen-based fertilizer, you'll see lots of leaves but few strawberries.

Pick off the first flowers from the plant. I know, we're all excited about the first signs of life, but just like with peppers and bell peppers, it's better to remove the first flowers. Especially before planting, you should remove everything, including the first two weeks after flowers start to form. This way, the plant invests its energy in its root system, which will pay off in many more strawberries later. You can also leave a few plants alone and not pick any flowers for a first early harvest. The bees will thank you too. The choice is yours.

I walk in my vegetable garden every day, and I make sure to stop regularly at the strawberry plants . The first sign that the flowers are forming strawberries is when you see a small green strawberry in the center of the flower. It's that small green strawberry that you'll watch grow into a delicious red strawberry every day. When you see the first signs of red on your strawberries, you need to intervene. Bird netting over your strawberries will ensure that you eat your own strawberries, not the winged friends in your garden. You can also hang shiny, mobile objects like a CD or a plastic bag from a slanted pole to deter birds. But bird netting works best.

Protect your strawberries from birds with a bird net

When the entire strawberry is red, you can harvest it. Take a bowl or basket to your strawberry patch and pick each berry, keeping the stem intact. Rinse your strawberries briefly in cold water and enjoy your homegrown strawberries.

Keep caring for your plants. They are hardy and will produce fruit for about five years. Then they'll need to be replaced. You can plant new plants every year, but that's not necessary. Unless you're experiencing disease in your vegetable garden, it's best to replace your plants annually or biennially.

As mentioned, strawberries have shallow roots. They're therefore easy to grow indoors or outdoors in pots , troughs, containers , and so on. You can place your plants on your balcony, patio, or windowsill. Unlike plants in the ground, it's best to start strawberry plants in spring. During colder weather, you can keep them indoors for a while in a bright spot to help them grow stronger.

Choose pots with holes in the bottom to allow moisture to drain. If water can pool at the bottom of your pots, it creates a breeding ground for unwanted diseases. The choice of pot isn't so important. As long as there's sun and sufficient water and light, the plants will thrive. Shards of terracotta pots, hydroponic clays, or pebbles at the bottom of your pot will aid drainage and retain some water during dry spells.

Water well again to help the root balls and soil adhere to each other and remove air bubbles. You may need to add a little more soil after watering if the crowns are too exposed. Use a watering can with a spray nozzle to prevent soil erosion or washing away.

Give strawberries sufficient water, especially in containers

Done! You can now hang or place your container, pot, or planter outside. Choose a warm, sunny spot in your vegetable garden for optimal results. Harvest regularly. This encourages the plants to keep producing. Water weekly with a liquid organic fertilizer when the first flowers appear, or make your own comfrey fertilizer .

After 9 months of caring for your strawberry plants, the harvest can begin.

Growing strawberries in containers: time to harvest!

Place your tray in a propagator to maintain humidity during germination. You can also cover your tray with plastic wrap to achieve the same effect. Set your propagator's thermostat to 24°C (75°F) or place your tray on a sunny windowsill. Check daily to ensure the seedbed remains moist. Water with a plant sprayer as needed. Do not overwater, as this could wash away the tiny seeds.

When you see the seeds germinate, the soil cracking, or the first green tips appear, open the ventilation flaps on your propagator or remove the plastic wrap from your tray. If your propagator has grow lights , you can turn them on now. If you don't have a propagator, make sure the seedlings get as much light as possible. Continue to monitor the soil moisture.

In a propagator you have control over humidity, light and temperature

If multiple seeds germinate, thin out your seedlings when they are 1 cm tall. Keep the strongest seedling and cut off the rest; try not to prick them out, or you'll harm the others. Spoon the young strawberry seedlings into a P7 pot with potting soil for vegetable gardens when they are 2 cm tall. Strawberry seedlings don't grow very quickly above ground when they're small, but they develop a root system very quickly.

In the P7 pots, the young plants will have food for four weeks. After that, you can supplement with a liquid organic fertilizer or make your own comfrey manure. Plant out your young plants according to tip 4 (growing strawberries in the open ground) or tip 4 (growing strawberries in pots, troughs, or containers). The planting time depends on the variety and whether you're growing in the open ground or in containers. Start sowing seeds three months before the desired planting time.

On our YouTube channel you can see how I sowed and transplanted my own strawberries:

Runners are the shoots you see on strawberry plants. These shoots grow away from the plant and create a new plantlet in a kind of axil. This axil forms the base of a new plant and can be rooted. You can use this new plantlet to grow new plants the following year. How do you go about it?

You can fill P7 pots with potting soil for vegetable gardens and push the runners of the mother plant into their axils. This is often labor-intensive, and watering them is also a major chore. Balancing the P7 pots often requires securing the pots or runners with hardware. I choose a much easier method, which you can see in the following video:

After four weeks, the cuttings will be sufficiently rooted for planting. Take cuttings from single-bearing varieties in the summer and from your everbearing varieties in the fall. Good luck!

The following information will help you care for your strawberry plants . You may need to adjust your care based on the varieties you're growing.

• Early winter (December-January): Keep your strawberry beds weed-free and remove anything that could promote rot or mold (leaves, mushrooms, rotting wood, etc.). Monitor the temperature. When the temperature drops below -4°C, it's best to cover the beds with a fleece .
• Late winter (January-February): Sow your strawberries now if you want to grow strawberries from seed.
• Early spring (March-April): Clean your pots and containers thoroughly to plant new strawberries. Give your existing plants some liquid fertilizer when the weather warms up.
• Late spring (April-May): Remove the suckers and also remove the first flowers from your single-bearing strawberries during the first two weeks they appear. Protect your strawberries from birds.
• Early summer (June-July): Apply a layer of mulch around your plants. Water and feed regularly. Check your leaves for diseases and remove any that are sick. Harvest and enjoy your first strawberries. Plant the shoots of your single-bearing plants.
• Late summer (July-August): Continue to water and feed well. Harvest the everbearing varieties. Time to make jam?
• Early fall (September-October): Remove dead material from your plants. Add some liquid fertilizer before winter. Continue harvesting from your everbearing plants.
• Late autumn: Trim your everbearing varieties for winter. You can also remove the bird netting now.

If you find this information valuable, consider purchasing your garden supplies from our online store.