![]() Look for warm spots without the risk of frost pockets so the delicate spring flowers can survive. Optimally, you should test the soil quality of your proposed location a year in advance to allow time to amend it as necessary, either by adding lime (to raise the pH) or sulfur (to lower it). These plants require full sun and well-drained soil with a pH between 5.5-7.5. Your strawberries selected, it’s time to prepare the patch.Ĭhoose carefully, as strawberries are perennials that will thrive in the right garden plot for years to come. How to Prepare the Soil for Strawberry Plants Strawberries are excellent self-propagators (more on that later), so it’s simple to scale up your patch over time. Assume you’ll get less than this the first year you harvest and that the bounty will pick up over the three to five summers after.Įven so, it’s best to err on the side of planting too few plants so you don’t get overwhelmed your first year. Plan to harvest approximately 1-2 quarts of berries per June-bearing plant and slightly less for ever-bearing. It’s best to calculate how many quarts you’ll want ahead of time so you can plan accordingly. There’s nothing worse than putting time and attention into your strawberry patch only to find out you underplanted and end up with a scant handful of berries for your efforts. Many gardeners plant a mix of both types to enjoy the best attributes of each. Some of the best ever-bearing strawberry varieties are Albione, Alpine, Eversweet, Festival, and Ozark. ![]() The plants are typically more compact, which makes them well-suited for growing in planters. These berries also tend to be smaller and slightly less juicy than June-bearing. This makes the fruit ideal for those who want to snack on it fresh all season long, though you’ll need to commit to harvesting fruit every few days. Popular June-bearing varieties include Douglas, Chandler, Sequoia, All-Star, Chandler, Jewel, Mojave, and Seascape.Įver-bearing strawberries, in contrast, produce a slightly smaller harvest over the entire summer. You’ll get more berries per plant on average, and the concentrated ripening time makes it convenient to use the berries for jams and other recipes. June-bearing plants produce all their fruit over a three-to-four-week period in the early summer. Most strawberry varieties are split into two categories: June-bearing and ever-bearing. However, finding success with strawberries comes down to careful preparation-including planting the best varieties for your interest. Strawberries are a hardy perennial that thrives in USDA plant zones 3 through 10. How to Choose the Best Strawberry Varieties Lay the groundwork this spring, and you’ll harvest pales of ruby-red berries for growing seasons to come. It’s easier than you think to start a home strawberry patch. Nothing tastes better than those first strawberries of the season. ![]() These delectable berries are too delicate to travel far, and most taste best eaten within hours of picking them. Take one bite of a sun-ripened berry, and you’ll never be satisfied with watery commercial varieties again.įresh strawberries are expensive-and deservedly so. Few things taste better than the summer’s first fresh strawberry.
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