Strawberries are one of the sweetest and easiest to grow perennial fruits. They will grow back each year if the plants are healthy and looked after, they are frost hardy and are very hard to kill! Definitely a beginners dream, and they're versatile in the kitchen too.
Planting
When to plant
Strawberry plants are best planted in spring and can be planted a number of weeks before the last frost is due as they're hardly plants. As seeds wait until after your last frost, as they are a little more delicate as a seedling and will not germinate in the cold; but as a pug plant or bear root get them in early!
How to plant
Planting strawberries is one of the easiest to do. For seeds plant twice as deep as the seed is in size (this is our rule for all seeds by the way! easy to remember and works). For pug plants, runners and bear root then literally just scoop a small hole in your soil, place your strawberry plant into the hold and fill with soil. Ensure that the leaves are poking out the top if a runner / pug plant and the crown is just below the soil if a bear root.
Spacing isn't much of an issue with strawberries as they spread anyway, but we tend to start with around 15cm between plants to allow for them spreading. They literally multiply. As you can see we have mixes store bough, runners, seed grown and bear root in one bed here! There really isn't much of a rule to strawberries, just remember variety is key.
What type can I use?
There are a number of different varieties of strawberries. If you mix them up you can get a harvest right through from spring to autumn, as different varieties fruit at different times a bit like raspberries.
Where to plant
Strawberries do best in full sun and planted direct in the ground. They will do OK in pots but you will need to feed and water them more when flowers form.
How to care for
Fertiliser
Strawberries like most fruiting plants benefit from being fertilised when they start to flower. Strawberries in particular love acidic soil, which is best produced by adding sulphur, leaf mould, pine needles, lemon and vinegar to your compost. Or add as a liquid feed.
Pruning
You don't need to prune strawberries regularly, but after the winter has been and gone and spring is on it's way you can prune off the dead leaves to make room for the new ones.
Watering
Strawberries are thirsty, they need water to thrive in particular when they are fruiting. The best way to do make sure they get enough water daily is to use drip irrigation; that way you'll never forget.
Problem solving
Why am I not getting strawberries?
If you plants are young runners then you won't normally get strawberries and it is advisable to remove any flowers and runners off young plants to allow them to concentrate on putting down roots.
If your plant if producing runners this will reduce the energy being used to produce fruit. Unless you need more plants, snip the runners off and allow the plant to focus on fruit production.
Strawberries will do their best in year 2 and 3, keep potting runners and keep growing them.
FAQs
How long does it take strawberry bareroots to fruit?
Normally a bear root fruit will take around 3 months to produce its first fruit, depending on when it's planted of course.
How long does it take strawberries seeds to fruit?
Strawberries grown from seed are a little different to growing bear root or runner strawberries as they need their first year to establish and grow, so you will not get fruit until year 2.
What to do with strawberries over winter?
Strawberries are hardy and last outside over winter well. They will die back slightly and lay dormant, do not panic. Just prune off the dead leaves in spring and they will come back!
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