The Ultimate Guide to Growing Strawberries

Strawberries are a traditional garden favorite for all the right reasons. Biting into a freshly picked, sun-ripened strawberry is like getting a little taste of summer sunshine. Read on to find out all the essentials for growing strawberries to keep them flourishing in your home garden year after year.

Planting strawberries is incredibly straightforward with the proper growing conditions. They’re fabulously versatile plants. Once they get established, you’ll enjoy a bountiful berry harvest for years to come.

It’s possible to use strawberries as a ground cover or allow them to trail over a retaining wall. Or, try growing strawberries in containers or hanging baskets. They also make excellent companion plants around your vegetable garden.

Strawberries are not only sweet and delicious, but they’re also exceptionally nutritious. They provide essential nutrients like vitamin C, vitamin K, antioxidants, fiber, folic acid, potassium, and manganese. These delightful berries promote digestive and heart health, regulate cholesterol and blood sugar, and help to lower blood pressure.

How Do Strawberries Grow?

Strawberries are cold-hardy perennial plants in USDA planting zones 2-8. They go dormant in the winter and come back the following year, and the cold dormancy period triggers their fruiting process. Under ideal conditions, strawberry plants will continue producing fruit for up to four or five years.

In zones 9 and 10, they usually get planted as cool-season annuals. When selecting which strawberry varieties to grow, be sure to choose the ones that are best suited to your growing climate.

Most gardeners purchase potted strawberry plants or bare root specimens from a plant nursery. Others prefer growing strawberries from seed, although it takes a bit longer.

Once the plants become established, many types of strawberries produce “runners,” or horizontal stems that grow new clones or daughter plants. The clones eventually grow roots and begin to establish themselves while still connected to the mother plant. For increased fruit production, trim the runners regularly and only allow each plant to produce up to three new clones per year.

Growing Strawberries from Seeds

If you’d like to grow strawberry plants from seeds, you’ll need plenty of patience. Start them indoors in late winter or early spring, 12-14 weeks before your area’s average last frost date.

Strawberry seeds need to be cold-stratified to germinate, meaning they must get exposed to wintery conditions before breaking dormancy. If you didn’t purchase pre-stratified seeds, place your strawberry seeds in a sealed plastic bag or mason jar and refrigerate them for four weeks. Then, take the seeds out of the fridge and leave them out in the sealed container at room temperature for 24 hours to warm up.

Fill a seedling tray with nutrient-rich potting mix and lightly press several strawberry seeds into the soil surface of each cell. Don’t cover them with soil. Since strawberry seeds are so tiny, it’s helpful to use a moistened cotton swab to pick them up, then scrape them into the cells with your fingernail or a toothpick.

Strawberry seeds take between one and six weeks to germinate. They germinate best when the soil temperature is 50-60℉. To avoid disturbing the newly planted seeds, mist the soil lightly with a spray bottle to keep it damp but never soggy. Cover your seedling tray with a humidity dome or sheet of plastic to hold in moisture.

Once your new strawberry plants sprout, move them to a sunny south-facing windowsill that gets six or more hours of bright sunlight throughout the day. If you don’t have a sunny spot available, consider supplementing natural sunlight with a grow light. Once you notice roots emerging from the cells’ drain holes, transplant the seedlings into small peat pots, so they don’t become root-bound before planting them outdoors after the last danger of frost has passed.

Transplanting Strawberry Seedlings

Alternatively, strawberry starts are readily available as bare-root plants or potted seedlings at most retail garden centers. If the young plants are already growing in pots, simply transplant them in mid to late spring.

Bare root plants get sold when still dormant and don’t come planted in soil. To prepare them for planting, soak the roots in clean, cool water for about 20 minutes to rehydrate them and bring the plant out of dormancy.

Ideal Conditions for Growing Strawberries

Most varieties of strawberries need full sun to produce fruit, with at least six hours of direct sunlight daily. However, there are also a few strawberry cultivars that can grow in the shade. If you grew your strawberries from seeds, they might not produce any fruit in the first year.

Because strawberry plants have a relatively shallow root system, they can thrive in many different locations. Some gardeners plant them as an attractive, low-maintenance ground cover or border plant. Others prefer growing strawberries in containers or hanging baskets.

Keep your strawberries consistently watered, giving them one to two inches of water per week or more during particularly hot or dry weather. Use a layer of mulch around your strawberry plants to retain moisture, suppress weed growth, and protect the soil from erosion.

Give your strawberry plants ample space to send out runners and produce daughter plants in the coming years. Allow approximately 18 inches of space between each plant. If you’re growing strawberries in pots or hanging baskets, plant them at least eight inches apart to avoid overcrowding as the plants mature.

Best Soil and Fertilizer for Growing Strawberries

Strawberry plants grow best in soil that’s well-draining and rich in organic matter. Strawberries prefer slightly acidic soil, with a pH level between 5.5 and 6.5. When growing strawberries in containers, use a 50/50 mixture of high-quality potting soil and organic compost.

Strawberries tend to be heavy feeders and benefit from regular fertilizing. When transplanting strawberries into your home garden, raised beds, or containers, add one tablespoon of all-purpose organic fertilizer to the bottom of the planting hole. For the best results, fertilize your plants every four to six weeks throughout the growing season.

How to Grow Strawberries in Raised Beds

Planting strawberries in raised beds is advantageous for numerous reasons. It’s considerably easier to maintain light, well-draining garden soil when you’re not walking on it. Raised bed gardening also allows you to tailor your garden soil to different plants’ needs, like soil pH and fertilizer content.

Strawberries tend to suffer when competing for ground space and nutrients with grass and weeds. Raised beds minimize the opportunities for grass to invade. However, you might still get a few wind-blown weed seeds making their way in. Similarly, growing strawberries in raised beds helps prevent their long runners from spreading to unintended places around your garden.

Harvesting Strawberries

Knowing which strawberry varieties you planted is essential at harvest time. Some cultivars produce throughout the whole season, while others only fruit at specific times.

Everbearing strawberry plants produce two or three rounds of fruit during the growing season. Expect the first berry crop from your everbearers in late spring to early summer, the second crop in midsummer (usually just in cooler climates), and the final harvest in late summer or early autumn.

Day neutral strawberries will continue fruiting throughout the whole growing season. Some gardeners recommend removing the emerging flower buds on day-neutral varieties for the first few weeks after transplanting. Doing so encourages the plant to direct its energy toward growing larger. Once the plant has roughly doubled in size, allow the flowers to mature.

June-bearing strawberries produce a single, abundant yield of fruit in late spring to early summer. June-bearing cultivars set their flower buds the previous fall, and the flowers bloom in early to mid-spring for a June harvest.

June-bearers are particularly susceptible to damage from late spring frosts. Use a frost cloth or row cover to protect them. June-bearing strawberries also tend to be more heat tolerant than everbearing varieties.

Strawberries are light green when they first emerge, then usually turn from white to red as they develop. However, a few types of strawberries ripen to white or yellow. When white alpine strawberries ripen, they grow plump with more space between seeds, have a soft texture, and easily separate from the vine with a gentle tug.

Strawberries won’t ripen further once they’re off the vine. As such, it’s crucial to wait until they’re fully mature before harvesting. Immature strawberries have a tart flavor and a firm, sometimes mealy texture.

Companion Plants for Strawberries

Companion planting is a practical garden design approach that pairs compatible plants to utilize their mutually beneficial qualities and create a healthy, interactive garden ecosystem. Certain plants attract beneficial insects like pollinators and predators, repel pests, and enhance the flavor and overall growth of nearby plants. However, some plants are incompatible and must grow in separate areas.

Strawberries make fantastic companions for numerous other plants, both in an edible garden and around ornamental beds. Since they have a shallow root system, they’re ideal for interplanting with taller crops like asparagus, rhubarb, or sunflowers to act as a living mulch.

Aromatic herbs like basil, borage, dill, parsley, sage, and thyme attract pollinators as well as predatory insects. Their strong scents also repel pests like aphids, flea beetles, spider mites, thrips, and whiteflies.

Legumes like beans and peas act as powerful nitrogen fixers. They have a unique, symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria that allows them to convert atmospheric nitrogen, which most other plants can’t consume, into ammonium nitrate that’s readily absorbed by plants’ roots.

Members of the Allium plant family, including chives, garlic, onions, and shallots, effectively repel pests like aphids, carrot flies, flea beetles, mosquitoes, deer, and rabbits. However, alliums must grow away from legumes as they stunt each other’s growth.

Leafy green veggies like lettuce and spinach make excellent companions for strawberries. This combination reportedly improves the flavor of all three crops. The large lettuce and spinach leaves may also help hide berries from hungry birds.

Avoid planting brassicas like arugula, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and turnips near your strawberries. These plants reportedly stunt one another’s growth.

Strawberries are highly susceptible to verticillium wilt, which is a soil-borne fungal disease. They should stay away from other similarly vulnerable plants like eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, melons, and pumpkin to help keep your garden as disease-free as possible.

Common Pest and Disease Problems when Growing Strawberries

Although strawberries are generally low-maintenance, there are several commonplace pest and disease issues to monitor for. Mildew and other plant diseases easily spread around the garden through water splashing on leaves. Using drip irrigation or a soaker hose helps to minimize this problem.

We’re not the only ones who find strawberries irresistible. They’re also a favorite snack for birds, slugs, rodents, and numerous insect pests. In rural areas, it’s not uncommon for passing deer to mow down an entire strawberry patch.

Protect your plants with bird netting or floating row covers. Companion planting is also helpful for deterring strawberry pests. To repel slugs and snails, scatter crushed eggshells or coffee grounds around the base of the plants.

Strawberries are self-pollinating, which means their flowers have both male and female organs, and pollen gets transferred by the wind. Nonetheless, a bit of pollination help from insects doesn’t hurt. If you notice your plants have diminished fruit sets or grow them in an enclosed area where they don’t move with the wind, you may need to hand-pollinate your strawberries.

Strawberries are easy and satisfying to grow at home. Your initial efforts will be rewarded by a bountiful harvest of sweet, juicy berries for years to come. Whether you’re growing strawberries in a traditional garden plot, raised beds, or containers, be sure to provide your plants with rich soil, plenty of water and sunshine, and monthly doses of fertilizer.

Do you have any questions or suggestions about growing strawberries? Please post them in the comments! If you found these strawberry growing tips useful, please share this article about how to grow strawberries with your fellow gardening enthusiasts.