FOR FRESHER & TASTIER your FOOD own Growing Strawberries Here s everything you need to know to grow bountiful strawberries this season! We cover everything from different strawberry types, growing tips, and the most cost-effective way to buy them. Fragaria x ananassa
1: Hi, I m Jessie, Horticulturist with Sun Gro Horticulture, and I have prepared a new strawberry bed for the season. Before planning my strawberry patch, there were lots of things to consider. 2: What strawberries to grow, how to purchase them, how many to buy, how and where to plant them, and so on. Here are some strawberry basics to help home gardeners easily answer these questions for their own home gardening needs. 3: Strawberry Types 4: First there s choosing the right strawberry for your needs. There are lots of types and varieties to choose from. 5: June Bearing Hybrids: June-Bearing strawberries bear one big crop per season, usually over a period of three weeks. Fruit size and production varies by variety and some bear earlier or later in the season. 6: Everbearing Hybrids: Everbearing, or Day-Neutral, strawberries bear one large crop and then continue to produce smaller crops of fruit until frost.
7: Pineberries: Pineberries are an unusual everbearing type with white fruits instead of red. These natural variants are noted for their sweet, pineapple-like flavor. 8: Wild Strawberry Species: There are around 20 species of wild strawberries, and some are worth growing. The European Alpine strawberry (Fragaria vesca) has small, very flavorful fruits... 9:...as does the native American eastern Virginia wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana). 10: Buying Strawberry Plants: Strawberries can be purchased in pots, but this is the more expensive way to buy them. 11: Bareroot strawberries are more economical. 12: Quantity and Harvest: 25 happy June-Bearing strawberries should produce around ¾ of a quart of fruit per day for three weeks.
13: Everbearings will produce more over a season. This should be enough fruit for a single family to enjoy and can. 14: Bed Prep: I am planting my last bareroot strawberry in my patch. 15: I ve spaced my berries 15 inches apart, to give them space to grow. 16: The soil has been amended with Black Gold Garden Compost Blend and well mulched with straw. 17: Before planting each berry, I am also adding some Black Gold Garden soil, which feeds plants for up to six months. 18: Planting: Plant at the point where the roots meet the base of the plant, no deeper or higher.
19: Strawberries need full sun, fertile raised soil, and regular watering. 20: In just a little over a month, my plants should be full and blooming. 21: Pollination: Bees pollinate strawberries, so best practice is to refrain from using pesticides to keep these essential pollinators safe. 22: Without bees you ll get no berries. 23: Protection: Birds and garden mammals of all kinds love strawberries, so, once your berries start to turn red, cover them with protective netting. 24: Bees can get through netting for continued pollination.
25: Strawberry Containers: Kids love strawberry pots. They make harvest easy and fun! Be sure to water pots daily in summer. 26: Maintenance: Strawberries have rooting stems called runners that need to be managed to keep plants from getting overcrowded. 27: Clip back runners as they appear. 28: Replanting: After three years, your berry plants will lose steam and quit producing well. 29: The best way to replace them is to let runners root in the third year, and collect the runner plantlets to replace your old plants. 30: Diseases: Many fungal diseases infect strawberry plants and fruits. Good soil and care will help keep diseases at bay.
31: To learn more about Strawberry diseases visit, Visit NC State s excellent document on diagnosing strawberry diseases: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/diagnosis-of-strawberry-diseases 32: Happy Strawberry Growing! Visit blackgold.bz Learn more and discover expert how-to gardening videos, articles, exciting monthly garden giveaways and our $3.00 rebate. We also offer free horticultural advice through our Ask a Garden Expert support service. 2018 Sun Gro Horticulture Canada Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Our Expertise is Growing, All the Riches of the Earth, RESiLIENCE and Sun Gro are registered trademarks of Sun Gro Horticulture Canada Ltd. Black Gold is a registered trademark of ODIN Enterprises II, LLC. Used under license.