Tips For Growing Strawberries

Luscious red strawberries

Imagine eating luscious red strawberries fresh from your

garden still warm from the sun. What a treat and that treat

can be yours.

 

Here are easy tips for growing strawberries.

Strawberries need at least six hours of sun a day to flower

and set fruit. Keep that in mind when selecting a site for

your berries. Strawberry pots, those big pots with little holes

in the sides are not ideal for strawberries because they dry

out too fast.

 

Strawberries prefer rich soil. Dig down about six inches with

a sturdy shovel and turn the dirt over. Remove rocks and

twigs and sprinkle in a slow release fertilizer per package directions. Add a bag of compost or well rotted

manure for every 8 square feet of your strawberry patch. For example if your patch is 12 feet by 12 feet you

would need 4 bags. Spread the compost evenly and then turn over the soil again to mix the fertilizer and

compost into the soil.

Plant strawberry plants about 12 inches apart. Strawberries grow quickly into a bush about a foot around.

Water well. Every month use a liquid fertilizer that feeds the foliage (leaves) as well as soaking into the

ground. Strawberries have small white flowers between the size of a dime and quarter with yellow centers.

Each plant can have from 3 or 4 berries to a dozen. Depending on the variety of the berry you buy, you can

have all the berries setting and ripening at once to berries that ripen continuously over the summer.

 

Don't over water your plants especially after the berries have set. Mud around the fruit can cause the fruit to

rot. Test the soil to see if it needs water by inserting your finger into the dirt. If the soil is still moist up to within

an inch of the surface you can wait to water. If it's dry then water. It's best to water deeply less often. That

encourages the roots of the plant to reach down into the soil.

When the berries are showing a blush of pink think about how

you're going to discourage birds from eating the berries. This can

be accomplished with netting held over the berries by tying the

net to posts about one foot off the ground. Or you can try using

tinsel, yes the kind you buy for Christmas decorations or

specially made foil that grape vineyard use.

If slugs or snails are a problem in your area , Set out jar lids filled

with beer in the evening. The slugs and snails love beer, will fall

in and drown.

Don't spray the flowers with insecticides. You risk killing the bees

which pollinate the flowers turning them from flowers into berries.

Use a strong spray from your garden hose to knock any bugs off the plants.

Berries don't ripen any more after being picked so wait until your berries are a bright crimson red before

picking.

Follow these easy tips from Easy Garden Care and you'll have lush sweet strawberries fresh from your

garden.