Strawberries are one of the most reliable fruits you can grow in our area. A plentiful amount of fruit can be produced in a small area. Two types of strawberries, Junebearers and everbearing, can be grown.

June bearing varieties produce their entire crop in late June and early July. Honeyoye, Redcoat and Glooscap are all good June bearing varieties. Everbearing strawberries produce a crop in late June and early July with a second crop starting in late summer and continuing until freeze-up if conditions are favorable. Ogallala and Fort Laramie are two good everbearing varieties.

Strawberries prefer a well-drained, loamy soil but will produce on heavy clay or light sandy soils. Well rotted manure at the rate of a half-bushel per square yard may be applied before setting in the plants. Early spring is the best time to plant. Strawberries may also be planted in late summer provided there is enough soil moisture available to get the plants established before winter.

Use only vigorous young plants when starting your new patch. Young plants can be distinguished from old ones by their light colored roots. Your best bet is to buy healthy plants from a reputable dealer. Unthrifty, old strawberry plants received from friends or neighbors may be diseased.

Strawberry plants should be planted so that all the roots are underground but the crown above ground. Trim the roots before planting and water well after planting. The matted row system is most commonly used in home gardens. The rows are spaced 3-4 feet apart and the plants set 18-30 inches apart in the row. You, then allow the runners to form a mat 15-18 inches wide with plants 4-6 inches apart. Don't allow the plants to become to thick. Many gardeners do and as a result get small inferior berries.

If you are planting everbearing varieties, keep the blossoms picked off until the 15th of July, then you can allow the plants to flower and produce fruit. If you've planted June bearers. don't allow them to fruit the year they are planted.

This page was last updated May 2003

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