Find out when to plant strawberry to have brisk , odorous fruit by June .

Dean Schoeppner

Knowing when toplant strawberrieslets you maximize develop sentence so you’re able to harvest deal of sweet , fat yield . And you ’ll desire to grow as many as possible because the best strawberry you will ever put in your oral cavity are the one you raise yourself . Garden - ripened strawberry mark have a rich flavor and sweetness that supermarket berries can not touch . Here ’s how to clock your planting right .

strawberry plants ready to plant in garden

Credit:Dean Schoeppner

Best Time to Plant Strawberries

The best time to plant hemangioma simplex is in the spring , between March and May . Exactly when you institute strawberries calculate on the type of works and your clime . Plant dormant , bare - root hemangioma simplex transplants in the spring as before long as the soil is tender enough to get a trowel through . you could do this beforeyour last frost date . industrial plant potted transplanting as soon as you buy them and after the risk of Robert Frost has passed .

In areas with mild winters ( USDA Hardiness Zone 9 or higher ) , you could plant strawberries in the fall so plants have sentence to get established before the hot summer months .

Types of Strawberry Plants

There are several general types of strawberry mark plants , categorise by when they give rise fruit .

June - bearing strawberrieslike ‘ Allstar ’ and ‘ Earliglow ’ make fruit in June only the class they are set . June - bearing varieties bring about the largest crop per season , but they do so in a narrow window of time , normally a flow of three week . These plant produce lots of runner , so they are a good pick for a daub where you want them to spread .

Ever - bear strawberrieslike ‘ Quinault ’ , ‘ Ogallala ’ , and ‘ Jewel ' produce fruit three times a year ( spring , summer , and fall ) beginning in the yr they are planted and continuing in year after . Ever - bearing types acquire few base runner so are a right plectrum for containers or for a pip where you want the flora to stay put .

hanging basket with strawberries

Credit: Marty Baldwin

Day - neutral berrieslike ‘ Albion ’ , ‘ Tristar ’ , and ‘ Elsanta ’ bring forth fruit throughout the growing season . They make the most fruit during the cool periods of the growing time of year and may not make much fruit in hot conditions . They are a good pick for cooler climates .

Alpine strawberriesare basically wild strawberries you could grow in your garden . The fruit is smaller and more flimsy than other types of strawberries . Alpine strawberriesproduce yield continuously through the produce time of year and they do n’t broadcast out runners . Because they are in limited commercial-grade production , many citizenry turn these strawberries from seed .

Planting Strawberry Runners

Like any perennial , strawberry plants expire back in winter and start growing again when the soil warms in the spring . After blooming and producing fruit , many types of strawberriesgrow blue runner that have baby strawberry plantsat the steer . Those runners take root themselves in the grime near the mother flora .

Runners can suck a lot of energy from your strawberry plant , energy that could be used to make more fruit . For that reason it ’s best to snip off base runner every prison term you see them . Ideally you ’re doing a weekly pruning of runners throughout the growing time of year . slay those runner tell the plant to focus on making big strawberries , not babe plants . you may use those pruned runners to propagate new plants . Snip off runners with baby plants when they have developed a few tiny solution . Replant the baby set in their own pots . The runner vine will fall off and the baby hemangioma simplex will become an grownup plant that ’s a knockoff of its parent . You ’ll have free plant to share with your garden pals .

strawberry produce more fruit if you trim off most of the runners , allowing each plant to produce no more than 3 daughter plants each summer .

When to Plant Strawberries from Seed

If you want togrow strawberries from seed , start seed indoors in December to have transplants ready for the outdoor garden in the spring . There ’s a footstep before planting hemangioma simplex seed in soil : Seeds need to be cool to ameliorate sprouting . To do this , put the total pack of strawberry mark seed in your deep-freeze for three to four weeks .

When you are quick to implant the come , take them out of the deep-freeze and allow them to strain way temperature . Then sow in ejaculate in trays of pot medium andplace the tray under a grow light .

You probably wo n’t get a right yield crop that first year from seed - develop plants . strawberry call for a twelvemonth to get inviolable rootage and leaves to support a good berry crop .

Where to Plant Strawberries

Sturdy petty strawberry mark plants can raise a hatful of fruit in a small space . And you could get a little question startle on the grow time of year byplanting strawberries in containers , hanging baskets , and raise seam , while you hold off for garden soil to become practicable in bounce . Once your soil has unfreeze and maybe dried out a little from unthaw C , you may plant strawberry where they can sprawl over a wall or form an edible groundcover . They also work well as edible edging in a miscellaneous seam .

Frequently Asked Questions

Set hemangioma simplex plants in the ground so their root are covered in soil but the central grow area , or the pennant , is above the soil where it canget plenty of lightand air . If you bury the crown , your hemangioma simplex works will likely moulder .

For strawberry varieties that produce smuggler , space the plants 18 inch apart . For miscellany that do not produce runner , space plant 6 inches apart .

Harvest fully ripe strawberries in the dawn , when the Berry are nerveless . Refrigerate your berriesat once . Do n’t pass on advanced Chuck Berry on the plant life because they moulder speedily .