Strawberries are a delicious fruit that you can grow in your home garden. A bowl full of juicy strawberries can provide over one hundred percent of Vitamin C you need for your daily intake. This easy to plant fruit is low in calories and contains no fat. The taste of your strawberries will depend on the type of strawberries you have planted, what kind of weather you have had, and when you decide to pick your strawberries. It does not matter what stare you live in because strawberries can be grown in every state within the United States.
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The Best Time to Plant
You will want to plant your strawberry plants early in the spring on a dry day. March and April are preferable months to plant because you want to get your strawberry plants in the ground before the hot summer months arrive. This will give your plants time to settle and to grow. Once your strawberries are planted the growing season for them can last into the fall.
Suitable Planting Spot
Strawberry plants will need to be planted in a place where they can get direct sunlight. They need several hours of sunlight to be able to grow. You will want to find a garden spot for your strawberries that has the proper balance of pH (acidity) in the soil. A garden soil that has at least a 5.8 pH will be good for producing wonderful strawberries. Previous planting spots of eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes are are not good places to plant your strawberries. Planting your strawberries where these different types of fruits and vegetables have been planted before will give your strawberry plants a disease called Verticillium Rot.
Types of Strawberries
There are three different types of strawberries that you will want to consider when planting your strawberry garden spot. These types include June bearing, everbearing, and day neutral strawberry plants. There are fruit bearing differences for each type of fruit. June bearing strawberry plants only produce fruit once in the spring. Picking time for this larger version of strawberries last up to 3 weeks. Planting everbearing strawberries will give you more strawberries because these types of plants produce fruit not only in the spring but in the summer and fall as well. Day neutral strawberry plants will produce strawberries as long as your growing season lasts. You will find that everbearing and day neutral types of strawberries have small fruit and that they are great for small garden spots.
Choosing a Strawberry Variety
There are many varieties of Jun bearing, everbearing, and day neutral strawberries from which you will be able to choose. The strawberry plants that you choose to plant in your garden should be based on whether you are going to preserve your strawberries or not. Earligrow and Tribute are two varieties of strawberry plants that are resistant to disease. Choosing these varieties of plants will give your strawberry plants a better chance of producing luscious fruit.
Strawberry Planting
June bearing strawberries have several runners and are planted best in matted rows. You will want to make sure that your rows are at least two feet apart from each other so that the plants will have enough room to grow properly. Once you have your rows made, plant your June bearing strawberry plants twenty inches apart down your row and a quarter inch within the soil so that all roots are covered.
Planting in hills will be the best option for you when you are planting everbearing and day neutral types of strawberries. With this option you should remove the runners from your plants so your main strawberry plant is the only one left. Form multiple rows of plants that contain a minimum of two plants in each row. You need to plant your plants within the rows twelve inches apart. Make sure you leave two feet of space between rows so you will be able to get through your garden to weed and pick your strawberries.
Once your strawberry plants are in the ground make sure that they are adequately watered and fertilized.
Experienced and non experienced gardeners alike will enjoy planting strawberries in their home garden. With a little time and effort you will have enough strawberries for you and your family to use for deserts, preserving, or for just eating them fresh off the vine.
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