Growing Strawberry Plants

Fragaria : Rosaceae / the rose family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
        P P            

(Best months for growing Strawberry Plants in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • P = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • Easy to grow. Plant with crown (of roots) just covered.. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 68°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 12 - 39 inches apart
  • Harvest in approximately 11 weeks. Strawberries bruise easily when ripe, handle carefully. Pick with a small piece of stem attached..
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Better in a bed on their own to allow good sun and air circulation
  • Avoid growing close to: If you are using rotation beds, avoid putting strawberries where you have grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant
  • Ripening fruit
  • Strawberry plants

Strawberries are low-growing leafy plants which grow 12 - 15 cm (about 6 inches) tall and will spread to about 50 - 100 cm (20 - 40 inches). They have five petalled white or pink flowers. The flowers are followed by the delicious red fruits (which have their seeds on the outside).

Later in the season the plants send out runners like thin stems across the garden which will take root to form new plants. Cut them off and leave the parent growing. You can transplant the runners or let them grow where they rooted to produce new plants.

At the end of fruiting, trim off old yellow leaves and clean up any mouldy fruit still attached.

Strawberries like well drained soil with plenty of humus. To prepare your bed, dig in some compost before planting and possibly use a liquid fertiliser during the growing season. Well fed strawberries taste better.

To protect the fruit from moulds and mildew use some form of mulch around the plants. Straw, pine needles, or black plastic are all suitable. Mulch will also help suppress weeds.

Protect your plants with some sort of netting or bird scarer or you will lose most of your crop!

Strawberry plants often need replacing after a few years as they get affected by viruses and stop producing well.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Strawberry Plants

Pick strawberries and eat them straight from the garden warm from the sunshine - delicious!

Strawberries can be used in any dessert needing soft fruit or berries. Summer pudding (which also has raspberries and blackberries or boysenberries), mousse, trifle, dipped in melted chocolate or just with cream.

Sprinkle a bowl of strawberries with balsamic vinegar and a little sugar to enhance the flavour and colour.

A quick jam of diced strawberries cooked in the microwave with an equal weight of sugar until completely soft won't keep but can be used right away.

Your comments and tips

01 Mar 24, Anne (USA - Zone 9a climate)
Any variety suggestions for growing strawberries in Las Vegas?
29 Feb 24, dan (USA - Zone 10a climate)
I've ordered stawberries (Seascape and Mara Du Bois) grown in hanging baskets. I'd like to include companion plants, any thoughts? Thank you in advance.
10 Nov 23, Denise (USA - Zone 5b climate)
New to gardening. I have several strawberry plants in raised planters that I planted in early summer. Wondering if I should bring them in to our attached garage to protect them from freezing this winter? Thanks!
12 Oct 23, Gayle in Mississippi (USA - Zone 8b climate)
Hi! Can someone suggest a place to buy strawberry plants. I started some from seeds, but only 3 sprouted, so I need more. I live in zone 8b, which has some hot summers. I'm looking for hardy super sweet strawberries. Thank you.
01 Oct 23, Anonymous (USA - Zone 8b climate)
I saved seeds from strawberries, planted them inside under lights, they sprouted after a long wait and are growing. Plants are tiny and growing very slow. How big should they be before planting outside? It's Oct 1st, zone 8b here. Thank you
03 Oct 23, Anonymous (USA - Zone 8b climate)
Try late October. They should have 6-8+ leaves. Protect them from the sun the first week or two.
05 Oct 23, Gayle (USA - Zone 8b climate)
Thank you! I'll do that.
30 Aug 23, Laura Geisel (USA - Zone 10b climate)
I have ever earring plants, which are new this year. How do I care for them in the fall/winter? And when will they start producing again next year? Thx
13 Jul 23, Ellen (USA - Zone 8b climate)
After plants have made fruit, how to I care for them in the hottest time of the year (July & August)? Then how to I care for them during winter?
13 Jul 23, (USA - Zone 8b climate)
After the fruiting period, it's best to trim off any old yellow leaves and remove any mouldy fruit that may still be attached. This helps maintain plant health. Over winter applying a layer of mulch around the base of the plant provides insulation, helping to regulate soil temperature and retain moisture.
Showing 1 - 10 of 339 comments

Your title says strawberries - your question is regarding peaches. You seem to have two issues. The first chilling hours -- which the net (FTN) defines as: Chilling hours are the minimum number of hours that a peach tree needs to get, specifically, nighttime temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to produce a good crop of peaches.. If the hours are not met (say in a warm winter), the blossoms mostly just fall off the trees and do not set fruit. Additionally you mentioned humidity which for peaches is leaf curl: (FTN) Peach leaf curl is a fungal disease of peach and nectarine. It is favoured by prolonged wet, cool weather in the spring as new growth is developing. Infected leaves become thick and curled with red and yellow discolouration. Infected leaves eventually drop. Again FTN Peaches with the fewest chill hour requirements are all yellow freestones. Cultivars needing 100 chill hours or less, the lowest requirement, include Gulf Queen (Prunus persica “Gulf Queen"), Mid Pride (Prunus persica “Mid Pride”), Bonita (Prunus persica “Bonita”) and Ventura (Prunus persica “Ventura”). Also Eva's Pride. additionally: With one exception, white peaches with low chill requirements are all freestones. At 200 chill hours, Tropic Snow (Prunus persica “Tropic Snow") has the lowest requirement. If you think a nectarine might work then: Desert Delight is a good choice --- but it seems to me that you might want to think about persimmons.

- Celeste Archer

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