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Growing
Strawberries Information And Pointers
- In addition to the traditional strawberry patch,
there are as many ways to grow strawberries as there are to eat them! Grow
strawberries in a bed, hydroponically, as a ground cover, as an ornamental patio
plant, or in a hanging basket.
The Major Strawberry Categories
The major part of growing
strawberries is the knowledge of how different varieties of strawberries grow.
Cultivated strawberry plants, or (cultivars) fit into one of three groups.
June bearing strawberries yield a
large crop of strawberries near the end of spring. The main plants produce
runners that root and grow into matted rows. The disadvantages of this type of
strawberry plant is that they only produce fruit once during the year, and the
first year you have to pick off all the blossoms from your strawberry plants so
that they can become well established.
Strawberries know as ever bearing
are not ever bearing, but will yield a harvest two times during the growing
season, one in spring and another in autumn. The first year, pick off all the
blooms from ever-bearing strawberries through to the end of June. Your
strawberries will bloom again and produce fruit in fall.
Strawberries know as day neutral
often turn out a harvest of smaller strawberries that are very sweet during the
majority of the season. Pick off the first set of blooms and let the fruit set
and you will get strawberries all summer long.
The Alpine Strawberry
The wild strawberry is a close
cousin of the Alpine Strawberry. The Alpine Strawberry is the only strawberry
that is frequently propagated from seed; the Alpine strawberry makes an
exceptional ground cover with fragrant blossoms and delicious white or red
berries. The Alpine Strawberry seeds its self from its own seeds, and produces
strawberries during the entire growing season.
Buying Strawberries
Autumn is the best time of the
year to buy your strawberry plants. At the end of the season, you can find
strawberry plants at cheaper prices, or order strawberry plants to be delivered
in spring. Additionally, your nursery might offer you wholesale strawberry
plants in bundles containing as many as twenty-five plants. Many nurseries have
a limited amount of space and frequently accept orders for wholesale plants on a
first-come basis. Often their stock is gone before spring.
The majority of strawberry plants
winter-over if you keep them in an unheated garage, or cool basement. For
additional protection, cover the roots with wood shavings, soil, or sand.
Ordering or buying your strawberry plants during the fall guaranties that you
will have them to plant in spring.
Selecting Your Site
You should plant your
strawberries in the sunniest place you have. Though you can get a crop with as
few as six hours of direct sunlight each day, you will get the biggest harvest
and superior quality strawberries from plants that get full sun all day long.
Strawberry plants have shallow
roots that are no match when it comes to competing with shrubs, trees, weeds, or
other types of plants. Turn over your garden bed in the fall to get rid of most
of the weeds that produce troubles during the growing season. Select a spot that
is away from larger trees, which can spread its roots into your strawberry bed.
As well, be sure to place your strawberry bed away from any area where you have
been growing tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, or eggplant. These plants can carry
verticillium wilt, which is destructive to strawberries.
Strawberries will not flourish in
water soaked soil, but they do require a moist location. Add a good quality
supply of nutrient rich organic material to your soil to improve drainage,
aeration, and to add to the moisture-holding ability of your soil. In the
spring, when the frost is no longer in the ground and you are able to work the
soil till the bed again. Now you can plant your strawberries.
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