Growing Strawberries: Tips on How to Grow Beautiful Strawberries Organically

Growing strawberries is easy when following our tips on how to grow strawberries and growing guide for growing organic strawberries.

Strawberries have one of the highest levels of pesticides when grown commercially. We don't need commercial pesticides to grow beautiful strawberries. And we will show you just how below.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Climate

Strawberry growing can take place in a wide variety of soils and climatic conditions from the topics to cooler climes.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Soil & Conditions

The ideal soil for strawberries should be rich and slightly acidic, with plenty of well-rotted manure and compost to keep the moisture in. However, the soil should also drain well, and not be soggy. Ideally the bed should be prepared about 5 months before planting the strawberries. However, if you prepare it a month before planting, that is fine too.

They should be planted in an open sunny area where they will crop profusely under the right conditions. However, they will also tolerate some shade although they don't like dense shade. Keep strawberries moist. You'll need to water your strawberries twice a week, unless it rains.

Of course, you can also grow strawberries very successfully in cut down wine barrels, in hanging baskets they make a lovely show, in strawberry barrels or just in pots and containers on your veranda or patio.

Sufficient potash is vital for a good crop. Wood ash, not coal ash, is mixed into the soil at the rate of 1 oz per square yard or seaweed meal at the rate of 3 ounces are great for encouraging heavy cropping. Liquid seaweed is an excellent foliate feed for strawberries, especially during their crucial flowering period. They also like fish fertilizers or a manure tea made with poultry manure.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Best Planting Time

Where winters are very cold one should wait until the frosts have passed and plant in early spring. However, if you don't have to worry about severe winters and your climate is mild, you can plant out in late summer, early autumn where the plants are left to fruit the following summer.

If plants are planted in the spring, any flowers that emerge should be picked off to allow the plants to build up their strength for when they fruit the following year. Not only will the yield be greater the following year if this is done, but the number of runners that the plants will throw out will be greater too. Thus creating a greater opportunity for increasing the size of your strawberry patch.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Grow by Seed

Although you can get strawberry seeds from your local garden center it takes some time to get them to a stage whereby you will benefit from picking your first harvest. However, if this is your only option, sow your seeds in early spring.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Grow by Runners

The strawberry plants that you buy from the nursery will send out runners after they have cropped. More often than not they find their own patch of soil and send down roots without any help from the grower. This type of growing will result in a very densely planted strawberry patch.

However, if you like your strawberries to be in regimented rows, select 2 or 3 of the best runners and cut off the rest. Place each new plant at the end of each runner in a small pot filled with good potting mix and compost. Once the plants have established their roots cut off the runner from the main plant, remove from the pots and plant out in their rows as before.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Plant Care

After you have planted your plants out they should be well watered in. Water daily until they are well established and then water at least 2 - 3 times a week depending on your climate and weather. At no time should the soil be allowed to dry out.

If you live in an area where the climate is severe in winter your strawberry growing will be affected. To prevent too much harm to your roots and crowns use straw to protect the plants. Apply layers of straw around the plants before the temperature falls to -7ºC or 20ºF.

You may also resort to putting cloches around your plants to give them protection from the cold.

Straw is also good to use when your plants are fruiting in the spring and summer. This keeps the fruit off the soil preventing them from spoiling and away from chewing insects who might get round to spoiling a good part of your crop.

Finally, your other enemy will be the birds. They just love to be tempted by those red, glossy berries and will do quite a lot of damage if you don't deter them. You can do this be putting up canes of bamboo with tin foil strips attached to the tops, scarecrows, netting or even criss-crossing strands of cotton across your plants.

To prevent the plants from being attacked by viruses and disease, it is wise to cut off all the leaves of each plant to about 10 cm above the crown after the fruiting season. These should be removed and burned, rather than put into the compost heap to prevent any contamination next season. Remove the straw as well, and burn that too. This is important if you are growing perpetual varieties that will crop year after year.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Diseases

When learning how to grow strawberries it is also important to know what diseases and pests your plants are likely to be attacked by. If your leaves suddenly become brown and distorted it could be that your plants have a virus. The only option here is to dig up the affected plants and burn them.

Strawberries can also be affected by mildew. When this happens you will see that the leaves are covered in a fine whitish-grey powder, and the leaves will start to curl. If this happens, treat the plants regularly with a milk spray (one part milk to nine parts water). Full sun and good air circulation reduces powdery mildew.

The disease botrytis, or grey mould, can also affect the fruit and leaves. Treat by removing the brown or soggy fruit. Reduce watering immediately. If this doesn't stop the spread, carefully remove so as not to spread the botrytis spores and burn.

GROWING STRAWBERRIES: Harvesting

The berries are ready to plant when they are red and have a gloss to them. Pick the fruit on a dry day when they are fully ripe. Reduce damage to the plants by removing the fruit by pinching them by the stalks, and leaving a short stalk and calyx.

As you can see learning how to grow strawberries is not that difficult.


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