Strawberries for the Home Garden
Amy Jordan, Special to the Gazette
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Spring is on its way, and many gardeners are looking to try something new this year. There has been more interest recently in growing our own food, and strawberries would be a good fruit crop to try. They are relatively easy to grow and will produce their second year, unlike many other types of fruit.
New strawberry plantings should be set early in the growing season so that the “mother” plants become established while the weather is still cool. The most appropriate planting time is mid- to late March.
Later in the season, runners and daughter plants develop. The earlier the mother plants are set, the sooner the first daughter plant will be formed and take root. These first daughter plants will be the largest plants at the end of the growing season and will bear more berries per plant the following spring.
When planting is done later, the higher temperatures stress the mother plants resulting in reduced growth, weaker plants and delays in daughter plant formation. Fewer and smaller daughter plants produce fewer berries the following year.
There are two types of plants that are available. June-bearing varieties are usually the most productive for home gardens. The plants produce one crop per year over a period from mid-May to mid-June. Consider planting more than two varieties — an early, mid, and late season variety — to ensure ripe fruits over a longer harvest period. Ever-bearing varieties produce one crop during the normal harvest season and a second crop during late summer and fall. Because of the typically hot weather in July and August, fruit quality may be poor.
Remove all flowers during the first year. Although it might be difficult to bring yourself to remove the flowers, it is very important. New plants have limited energy reserves that need to go toward establishing the mother plants and making runners rather than making fruit. If fruit is allowed to develop the first year, the amount of fruit produced the second year is drastically reduced.
Straw mulch should be removed from established strawberry plants when the soil temperature is about 40 degrees or when new growth is visible. Fruit production drops if the mulch remains as the soil temperature increases. There are likely to be freezing temperatures that will injure or kill blossoms, so keep the mulch between rows to conveniently recover the berries when freezing temperatures are predicted.
By the way, strawberries are not really a fruit or a berry, but rather the enlarged receptacle of the flower.