Strawberries
3 messages in this thread
I live in Central New Jersey and would like to put in a smallish strawberry
bed. When is the right time to start them? Should I buy plants or start
from seed? I have not grown strawberries since I was a teenager and don't
remember a darn thing except that I grew them from holes drilled in a wooden
barrel… (that's another story, I'll post that one someday)
Peter L. Berghold
I would start from plants, and my favorites are Tribute and Tristar,
because I am lazy….
Hello Peter,
Shep is right about starting from plants…
You can usually find strawberries available bareroot (without soil) – make
sure you don't let the roots dry out before you get them into the ground.
Before planting, trim away any old leaves and trim the roots to be about
four inches long. Plan the spacing of the strawberries in your garden
before planting. You do not want to plant them too close because
strawberries send out runners and can become overcrowded. If overcrowded,
the yield is reduced. A good spacing is about 14 inches apart, allowing
some space for the runners to fill in. The planting depth is very
important – if planted too high, the roots will dry out while too low with
soil covering the crown, they will rot.The correct depth is right where the
crown meets the roots. Strawberries have a shallow root system, mulch will
help keep them evenly moist (and keep the weeds down).
Alison