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Photo by Clemson Extension Service
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Open strawberry flowers are sensitive to a late freeze or frost and should be covered for protection.
Photo by Clemson Extension Service
Much like tomatoes, homegrown strawberries have flavor you won’t find at the supermarket. The sweetness of backyard berries simply isn’t possible in fruit that must be shipped long distances and stored on grocery shelves.
If you’ve visited a strawberry farm, you’ve probably seen strawberries growing in rows of black plastic. Known as the annual hill system, this high-input method allows commercial growers to produce strawberries as an annual crop—planted in fall, harvested in spring, then removed. But to grow them as perennials that can produce for several years, home gardeners should opt for the older—but slower—matted row system.
In the matted row system, planting takes place in spring, and harvests begin a year later. This system tends to be more successful in the Upstate and Midlands than in the coastal plain, where it is susceptible to certain diseases.
March and April are good months to plant matted-row strawberries, if you have a site ready to plant. Otherwise, plan to spend this year preparing next spring’s strawberry bed. Select a full-sun location, and avoid wet sites—strawberries don’t like poorly drained soils. Consider planting in raised beds or planters on heavier soils. Avoid sites where strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or potatoes have grown in the last five years, due to the threat of the soil-borne disease verticillium wilt.
With your site selected, get your soil tested for pH and nutrient recommendations. Strawberries perform best with a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5 and will adapt to sandy or clay soils, but adding organic matter will benefit any strawberry bed. Rotted leaves, compost, pine bark fines and peat moss are all good amendments. Till them into the soil, along with lime applications, in the fall. But wait until next spring, just before planting, to add other recommended nutrients.
Next, choose a strawberry variety suited to your region (see “Best S.C. berries”), and order certified disease-free plants in time for spring planting. Typically, these come in bundles of 25 bare-root plants, enough for a 75-square-foot bed. A week or two before planting, till your soil again and add any recommended fertilizers.
Space your plants 24 inches apart, in rows 36 inches apart. Don’t worry if it looks sparse—runners will quickly fill the bed. Spread the plants’ roots out well, and cover them so crowns are just above the soil surface—proper planting depth is critical (see illustration of proper planting depth). Water well to settle the soil around the roots.
Soon after planting, your new plants will try to flower, but don’t let them. You must remove all of the first year’s flower buds. A full, healthy bed is vital to future yields, and fruiting the first year will interfere with root and runner establishment. Be patient—your labors will be sweetly rewarded the next spring.
Mulching beds with clean straw will conserve moisture, insulate soil from summer heat and help keep the area weed free. Keep the plants well irrigated the first year. Side-dress with a calcium nitrate fertilizer a month after planting, then again between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15.
Strawberry flowers come early in our state, so in late winter, be alert to a freeze or frost, which can damage open flowers. Protect your plants on cold nights with a couple inches of straw or row covers over plants.
Remove mulch and covers during warm spells as the plants resume growth, and remove entirely once the threat of frost has passed.
Once you finally taste the fruits of success, take steps to keep the bounty coming. Early-summer chores include thinning your beds to reduce crowding, leaving the strongest daughter plants in place, and fertilization. Detailed guides for the best methods can be found at Clemson Extension’s Home & Garden Information Center. Your persistence will pay off, year after year, in healthy, abundant berries.
S. Cory Tanner is an area horticulture agent and Master Gardener coordinator for Clemson Extension based in Greenville County. Contact him here.
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Get More
Learn how to create richer garden beds with cover crops by “Growing healthy soils."
Find out how to use row covers to protect your harvest in “Stretch your growing season."