Growing Strawberries - 7 Tips and Methods for Lots of Strawberries

June-bearing strawberries give one large harvest peak per year. Depending on the variety and the weather, you will harvest a significant quantity of strawberries over a few weeks.

That makes them ideal if you like to have a lot of strawberries at once. To eat fresh, of course, but also if you want to make jam, freeze strawberries, or process a large supply.

The nice thing is that there are early, mid-early, and late varieties. By combining different June-bearers, you can beautifully sync their harvest times.

Would you rather be able to pick a bowl of strawberries regularly throughout the summer? Then everbearing varieties are a very interesting choice.

Unlike June-bearers, everbearing strawberries can continue to form new flowers during the season. This means you don't get a short, large harvest peak, but several smaller harvest moments spread over a much longer period.

The exact harvest period naturally depends on the variety, the weather, and how you care for the plants. Under good conditions, you can enjoy them well into the autumn.

Don't expect bucketfuls per picking as you would with a sturdy June-bearer, though. The big advantage is precisely that you can keep picking for a long time.

My answer? Combine them.

Plant a few early, mid-early, and late June-bearers for nice harvest peaks and put some everbearing varieties among them for strawberries later in the season. Do you have another nice corner left over? Give the wild strawberry a spot there.

This way, you not only spread your harvest, but you can also discover which varieties grow and taste best in your own garden.

In our webshop, you will find various strawberry plants: June-bearing, everbearing, and wild strawberries. Which one you choose depends mainly on when and for how long you want to harvest. Personally, I like to combine different varieties to spread out the harvest as much as possible.

Preferably, buy your strawberry plants around the time you want to plant them out. Do not leave plants in their nursery pots unnecessarily long. After a while, the root ball becomes completely pot-bound, and it is better to give the plant more space in the open ground, a pot, or a vegetable garden bed.

At Plukkers, we offer our strawberry plants seasonally. This ensures you receive plants at the moment they can actually go into the ground.

In addition to strawberry plants in small pots, you can also opt for frigo plants. These are strawberry plants that are harvested while dormant and then stored in refrigeration. They are supplied without a pot and might look a little less spectacular upon arrival, but make no mistake: as soon as they go into the ground, they quickly come back to life.

The great advantage of frigo (bare-root) plants is that you can plant them at different times. What you do after planting therefore depends on when you put them in the ground.

Are you planting your frigo plants in the spring? Then they can produce flowers and strawberries in the same season. Give them plenty of water after planting so they can get well established.

You can also plant frigo plants in August. However, our goal is no longer to harvest strawberries that same year. The plants will often still try to produce flowers, but the season is too short to get a good harvest from them.

Therefore, cut off those first flowers. This way, the plant doesn't have to waste energy on fruits that likely won't ripen properly, and it can focus entirely on roots, foliage, and a strong plant for the next season.

That might require some discipline; cutting flowers off a strawberry plant feels a bit counterintuitive. 😉 But next year, you'll be glad you did it.

You can, of course, also choose strawberry plants in a pot. These plants already have a well-developed root system and can be placed immediately in their final spot in the vegetable garden, raised bed, or a larger pot.

The advantage is that you have a sturdy, growing plant immediately. Carefully remove the plant from the pot, loosen the root ball slightly if necessary, and plant it at the same depth as it was in the pot.

Pay close attention to the crown of the strawberry plant. That is the point where the leaves emerge from the plant. Do not plant your strawberry too deep: the crown must remain above the soil. If you plant it too high, the roots may dry out.

Give it plenty of water after planting so that the soil settles well around the roots.

Yes, of course. In 2014, I sowed the everbearing Sarian F1 by Horti Tops from seed, but you can also perfectly well sow the everbearing strawberry Baron Von Solemacher (Rügen). You won't harvest the strawberries until the autumn in the first year. The second year, starting from summer. You can also sow the wild strawberries 'Yellow Cream' and plant them out in pots or planting troughs. The color of these wild strawberries is really fun, and birds don't see them as ripe, so they leave them alone more than their red counterparts. If you want early strawberries with single-harvest varieties, it is better to buy young plants. More info on sowing strawberries in Tip 5.

Time to give your strawberries their final spot. Check your plants before planting them out. Remove damaged or dried-out leaves and see if the plant looks healthy and sturdy.

Choose a sunny spot with loose, nutrient-rich soil that drains excess water well. Strawberries love moisture, but they don't like having their roots constantly in wet soil.

Plant your strawberries about 30 to 35 cm apart and leave about 60 cm of space between the rows. This gives the plants enough light and air, and you can easily get between them later for maintenance and harvesting.

Make a spacious planting hole and gently spread the roots out. Plant the strawberry so that the crown of the plant remains just above the soil. This is important: if the crown is too deep, it can rot. If the plant is too high, the roots can dry out.

Press the soil down gently and give generous water after planting.

I personally like to lay a drip line between my strawberries. This way, the water goes directly to the soil and the leaves and fruits stay as dry as possible.

Then I apply a layer of mulch around the plants. Straw is ideal for this, but you can also use hemp or miscanthus mulch. The mulch retains moisture longer, suppresses weeds, and ensures that your strawberries aren't lying directly on the wet soil later on.

Before we continue with care, it's useful to know how a strawberry plant is structured.

From the heart of the plant grow the leaves, flower stems, and later, the runners. That heart is important: when planting, it must always remain just above the soil.

After flowering, our strawberries appear. And here is a fun fact: those little seeds on the outside of a strawberry are actually the true fruits. The red, juicy part that we enjoy eating so much is botanically the enlarged receptacle.

Not that it makes your strawberry taste any better, but now at least you have something to talk about while you eat them.

Strawberries love sun. So, give them a spot where they receive at least 6 hours of sun per day. The more sun the fruits get, the better they can ripen and the better they generally taste.

Besides sun, the soil is also important. Strawberries prefer to grow in airy, nutritious, and well-draining soil. The soil should remain moist, but definitely not be constantly wet. Wet feet can cause the roots and the heart of your strawberry plants to rot.

Before planting, work some ripe compost into the top layer of your soil. This not only improves the soil structure but also gives the plants a good start right away.

Do you have heavy clay soil where water tends to sit? Then you can plant the strawberries slightly raised or opt for a raised garden bed. Growing in pots is, of course, also an option.

Furthermore, try not to plant your strawberries in the exact same spot for years. By rotating with other crops, you reduce the risk of soil-borne diseases and pests building up.

Strawberries prefer to grow in airy, humus-rich, and well-draining soil. The soil should remain moist, but excess water must be able to drain away easily.

Acidity also plays a role. Strawberries feel comfortable in slightly acidic soil with a pH between approximately 5.5 and 6.5.

Is your soil poor in organic matter? Work some ripe compost into the top layer before planting. This improves soil structure and helps to better retain moisture and nutrients.

Do you have heavy clay soil? Then good drainage is particularly important. Make the soil airier with compost or plant your strawberries slightly raised so that excess water can drain more easily.

A layer of mulch around your strawberry plants is highly recommended. It helps to retain moisture in the soil, suppresses weeds, and ensures that your strawberries don't lie directly on the wet soil later on.

I personally like to use straw for this. It is airy, keeps the fruit nicely off the ground, and makes harvesting a lot more pleasant.

No straw at home? Then you can also use hemp fiber or miscanthus.

Apply the mulch around the plants, but leave the heart of the strawberry plant free. That is where the new leaves and flower stems emerge, and we do not want to bury those under a thick layer of mulch.

Are the root balls of your strawberry plants a bit dry? Then place the pots in a container with water for 10 to 20 minutes before planting them out. This allows the root ball to soak up water, so your strawberry plant starts off well-hydrated in its new spot.

Let the pots drain briefly afterwards and plant the strawberries. Also give them a good watering after planting, so that the soil settles nicely around the roots.

Have you bought frigo plants? They don't have a pot ball, so we handle them differently. I personally like to pot them up first and let them root well for a few weeks before moving them to their permanent spot.

Give your strawberry plants enough space. I personally keep about 30 to 35 cm between plants and about 60 cm between rows.

That space might seem generous when planting, but your strawberry plants will grow together quickly. With enough distance, they get more light and air, it is easier to work between the rows, and the strawberries will be easier to pick later.

Plant the heart of the strawberry plant just above the soil. The roots should be completely underground, but the heart itself should not be buried.

Strawberries have fairly shallow roots and can therefore get thirsty quickly in hot and dry weather. Keep the soil consistently moist, especially when the plants are flowering and starting to form fruit.

It is better to give a good amount of water when needed than a little bit every day. This allows the water to soak deeper into the soil and encourages the roots to grow deeper as well.

Apply the water as much as possible at the base of the plant. This is very easy to do with a drip hose or drip irrigation. This keeps the leaves, flowers, and fruit drier and reduces the chance of fungal problems.

Fertilizer also helps your strawberry plants produce beautifully. During flowering and fruit formation, you can provide a potassium-rich fertilizer. Potassium supports flowering and fruit formation, among other things.

Do not overdo it with nitrogen-rich fertilizer. This can cause your strawberry plants to produce a lot of leaf growth, whereas we would rather see that energy go into the strawberries. 😉

I know: it hurts a little to snip flowers off a strawberry plant. You can already see that first strawberry hanging there, so to speak. 😉

Nevertheless, for young or newly planted strawberry plants, it can be beneficial to remove the first flowers when the plant is still small or needs to establish itself. This way, it doesn't have to put energy into flowers and fruit right away and can instead invest in strong roots and new leaves first.

If your strawberry plant is already well-developed and growing strongly? Then you don't need to keep removing flowers by default.

With frigo plants that you plant in August, I do remove any flowers. This way, the plant doesn't waste energy on strawberries that probably won't ripen well that season, allowing it to prepare for a strong start next spring.

Unfortunately, we aren't the only ones looking forward to that first ripe strawberry. Birds are just as fond of them. And they have a particularly good eye for it: just when you think “I'll pick that tomorrow”, they beat you to it. 😉

Want to protect your harvest? Then a bird net over your strawberries works best. Stretch it tight so birds cannot get tangled in it and cannot reach your strawberries from underneath the net.

You can also try shiny or moving deterrents, but birds often get used to them quite quickly. For reliable protection, I therefore prefer a well-placed net.

Regularly check your plants during the harvest season and pick ripe strawberries on time. The longer a perfectly red strawberry hangs there, the greater the chance that someone else will run off with it.

Picker's tip: do you only have a few strawberry plants? Then you can also protect them with a small tunnel or structure with fine-mesh netting. Just make sure you can easily access them yourself, as you'll often want to pick in high season.

And finally, the moment we've done all that work for: harvesting! 🍓

Pick strawberries when they are beautifully red and fully ripe. Strawberries barely ripen further after picking, so picking a white or light-green strawberry too early doesn't make much sense.

I personally prefer to pick them in the morning, when it's still a bit cooler. Don't pull on the fruit; pinch or snip the stem just above the strawberry. This way you don't damage the fruit as easily and it stays looking good longer.

During the actual harvest period, it pays to walk past your plants every day or every other day. Ripe strawberries don't wait for you — and birds and slugs certainly don't. 😉

Eat damaged or very ripe specimens immediately and remove rotten fruit from among the plants. This prevents molds from spreading further.

And honestly: the very first strawberry rarely makes it to our kitchen.

During the summer, many strawberry plants produce runners. Do you mainly want to harvest as many strawberries as possible? Then snip them away so the parent plant doesn't have to divide its energy.

Do you want to use the runners to create free new strawberry plants? In Tip 6, I'll show you step by step how to do that.

No large vegetable garden? No problem. Strawberries also do excellently in pots and containers. Ideal for a patio or balcony, but also just handy if you want to make use of an extra sunny spot in the garden.

Choose a pot or container with enough space for the roots and, most importantly, with holes at the bottom so that excess water can drain away easily. Strawberries like moist soil, but they don't like having their roots standing in water constantly.

Fill your pots or containers with good, nutritious potting soil and plant the strawberries so that the heart of the plant stays just above the soil.

Then place them in a sunny spot. The more sun your strawberries get, the better the fruit can ripen.

Keep in mind that soil in pots and containers dries out faster than in the open ground. So, check regularly during warm periods if your plants need water. Drip irrigation makes it a lot easier for yourself.

During flowering and fruit formation, you can support your strawberry plants with a potassium-rich fertilizer.

Strawberries love moisture, but not wet feet. Especially in pots and containers, it is therefore important that excess water can drain away easily.

Always choose a pot or container with sufficient drainage holes at the bottom. This ensures that water does not pool around the roots after a heavy rain shower or watering.

Additionally, use airy, high-quality potting soil that retains moisture well but also allows excess water to drain away easily.

Do not fill your pot or container all the way to the rim with potting soil. Leave a few centimeters of space at the top.

That extra space comes in handy when you water: the water remains on top of the soil for a moment and has time to soak in slowly, instead of spilling over the edge immediately.

Furthermore, you can easily add a layer of mulch around your strawberry plants later. This helps to retain moisture longer and prevents your strawberries from lying directly on the potting soil.

When planting, pay attention again to the crown of the strawberry plant: it should remain just above the soil.

Carefully remove your strawberry plant from its nursery pot and try to damage the roots as little as possible. Is the root ball very tight? Gently squeeze the pot to loosen it instead of pulling on the plant.

Make a planting hole that is spacious enough for the entire root ball and place the plant in it without pressing the roots down hard or folding them over.

Pay special attention to the planting depth. The roots should be nicely covered by soil, but the crown of the strawberry plant should remain just above the surface. If you plant too deep, the crown may rot. If you plant too high, the roots may dry out.

Afterward, gently press the potting soil around the plant and water it well immediately. This allows the soil to settle nicely around the roots so your strawberry plant can settle into its new spot.

Strawberries in pots and containers require a bit more attention than those in open ground. There is less soil around the roots, causing it to dry out faster and limiting the supply of nutrients.

Therefore, check regularly if the potting soil still feels moist. This can happen quickly, especially during hot summer days and when the plants are forming plenty of strawberries. Preferably water at the base of the plant and try to keep leaves and fruits as dry as possible.

At the same time, ensure that excess water can drain away at the bottom. We want moist potting soil, not strawberry plants with their feet in a swimming pool.

Fertilization is also important. The nutrients in potting soil become depleted over time. Therefore, regularly provide a suitable fertilizer for strawberries or small fruits during growth and fruit formation, following the dosage on the packaging.

During flowering and fruit formation, sufficient potassium is especially important. This supports the plant in the formation and development of the fruits.

Yes, you can also sow strawberries yourself. It requires a bit more patience than starting with strawberry plants or frigo plants, but it is of course extra fun to see your plants grow completely from seed.

Especially wild strawberries are very suitable for sowing yourself.

If you want to have strong plants in the same year, start early. You can sow strawberries indoors from January or February in a bright spot.

Strawberry seeds are tiny. Therefore, sow them superficially on fine, moist seed compost and press them gently. Do not cover the seeds, or only very lightly: strawberries are light-dependent germinators.

Keep the soil moist, but not soaking wet. A transparent lid or cover helps to retain moisture during germination. Place your seed tray in a bright spot and above all, have some patience: strawberries are not speed demons.

Strawberry seeds are very small, work precisely

The first strawberry seedlings are tiny, so give them plenty of time to get stronger. As soon as they have formed a few true leaves alongside their initial cotyledons (seed leaves), you can carefully prick them out.

Remove the young plants from the seed compost gently, trying to disturb the delicate roots as little as possible. It is better to hold a seedling by a leaf than by the stem. If you damage a leaf, the plant can recover from that. A snapped stem is a different story.

Give each plant its own small pot with potting soil and place them in a bright spot again. Keep the potting soil slightly moist, but definitely not soaking wet.

Have the plants grown nicely and is it getting warm enough outside? Then let them gradually get used to the outside air first. Put them outside for a bit longer each day over the course of several days before you plant them out permanently.

After that, they can go to their spot in the vegetable garden, pot, or raised bed. Note here as well that the crown of the young strawberry plant remains above the soil.

Free strawberry plants? Yes please! 🍓

During the growing season, strawberry plants produce runners: long stems from which small new strawberry plants grow. If you let such a plant take root, you will have a new strawberry plant for next season without much effort.

For this purpose, choose runners from a strong, healthy mother plant that grows well and produces tasty strawberries.

Fill a small pot with potting soil and place it next to the mother plant. Place the first young plant on the runner on top of the potting soil and press it gently against the soil. You can optionally secure it with a piece of bent wire.

Leave the connection to the mother plant attached for the time being. This way, the young plant still receives energy from the mother plant while it is forming its own roots.

Keep the potting soil moist and give the plant a few weeks to root well.

After a while, carefully check if the young plant is firmly rooted in its pot. Do you feel that it is well-rooted? Then you can cut the runner between the mother plant and the young plant.

And voilà: you have a new strawberry plant. 😉

Let it grow a bit more in its pot if necessary before you plant it out in its permanent spot.

Don't want any new plants? Then cut off the runners. This way, the mother plant can continue to use its energy for its own growth and fruit.

Picker's tip: preferably use the first strong plant on a runner, close to the mother plant. That is usually the most vigorous one. So, you don't need to keep every small plant on every runner.

When should you sow strawberries? When should you plant them out? And when can you finally start harvesting? In this strawberry calendar you will find the most important tasks throughout the year.

January – February

Do you want to grow strawberries from seed? Then you can start pre-sowing indoors. Place your seedlings in a bright spot and make sure the fine seed compost does not dry out.

March – April

The strawberry plants are coming back to life. Remove old or damaged leaves and check your plants.

This is also a great time to plant out new potted strawberry plants. Give newly planted strawberries plenty of water while they root.

May

The first flowers appear and now it starts to get exciting. Keep the soil sufficiently moist and give some extra fertilizer if necessary.

Also apply your mulch layer before the strawberries start growing vigorously. This way the fruit will stay nicely off the ground later on.

And don't forget the birds: as soon as the first strawberries start to color, they usually manage to find your plants surprisingly quickly. 😉

June – July

Harvesting! 🍓

Especially the June-bearing varieties provide their big harvest now. Check your plants regularly and pick ripe strawberries in time.

Remove rotten or damaged fruit and cut off runners if you don't want to use them to create new plants.

August

August is an interesting time to set new strawberry plants for next year's harvest.

Are you planting cold-stored (frigo) plants now? Personally, I like to pot them up first so they can root peacefully. After a few weeks, they can go to their final spot.

Cut off any flowers. This way, the young plant doesn't have to put energy into fruit that probably won't ripen well this season, and it can invest in strong roots and new leaves.

This is also an excellent time to create new plants from runners.

September – October

Ever-bearing strawberries can still produce fruit during mild weather. So, keep picking as long as there are strawberries hanging.

Keep new plantings sufficiently moist and remove diseased or damaged leaves.

November – December

Your strawberry plants are slowly going into dormancy. You don't have to do much now.

Just let healthy plants overwinter outside. Keep an eye on pots and containers during periods of severe frost: the roots are less well-protected there than in open ground.

And then the waiting begins again... because before you know it, the first new leaves will appear and the whole strawberry feast starts over.