How to Plant, Grow, and Care for ‘Albion’ Strawberries

‘Albion’ Strawberries are wonderfully sweet and easy to grow. They produce sweet, deep red berries throughout the growing season. The large berries are super plump, juicy, and flavorful, making them ideal for desserts, jams, or for eating fresh off the plants. 

If you’re a first-time strawberry grower, you can grow these productive strawberries easily in containers, hanging gardens, vertical planters, or garden beds. They’re resilient to many diseases and handle high heat and humidity. 

Let’s dive into how to plant, grow, and care for these mouth-watering strawberries. You’ll enjoy the beginner-friendly ‘Albion’ strawberry plants with just a little maintenance and care. 

What Is It?

‘Albion’ is a gorgeous variety of strawberries that produces large, flavorful fruits. They have a conical shape and bright red color. The berries are flavorful and high in nutrients such as Vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants. 

Because they’re day-neutral everbearing, you’ll enjoy harvesting ripe fruit throughout the season. They are excellent in desserts, salads, or eaten fresh. 

If you’re a beginning gardener, you’ll love these easy-to-grow plants. They thrive with very little care or attention. They’re also resilient to many pests and diseases. 

Characteristics

These small herbaceous perennials grow radially from a central plant. They can adapt to many soil types and containers like vertical planters and hanging baskets. As they grow, they spread out by creating runners that continuously find new sources of water and soil. Each baby runner can be propagated into a brand new plant. 

Native Area

Strawberry plants are native to the Americas. The genus has been harvested by Native Americans for millennia. In the 17th century, Europeans first documented their encounters with the delicious fruits. You can still find these wild ancestors growing in fields from the Northeast to the Northwest.

When breeders got hold of the South American wild strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis), they bred it with the North American Fragaria virginiana. They created the species we know and love today, Fragaria × ananassa. These modern strawberries became garden and commercial staples around the world. 

‘Albion’ varieties were first cultivated in 2006. They’re a cross between the varieties Cal 94.16-1 and Diamante. From their home in California, they quickly grew in popularity and soon became one of the dominant strawberry varieties grown commercially and in home gardens. 

Planting

Planting ‘Albion’ strawberries is super easy, even for beginning gardeners. They thrive in most growing conditions and can tolerate both warm and cold temperatures once they’re mature. Below are some helpful pointers for getting healthy and delicious berries in your garden this year. 

Transplanting

Transplanting your strawberry crowns is incredibly easy. However, it’s important to pay attention to the depth you plant them in the soil. 

Keep the top part of the plant where all the leaves are growing above the soil line. The crown, where the roots and stems meet, should be buried shallow in the soil. If it’s buried too deep, the leaves will have trouble emerging from the soil. 

Keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. When I started growing these plants for the first time, I often overwatered them, which led to serious root rot problems. Give them plenty of direct sunlight and watch for signs of transplant shock. 

Growing From Seed

Strawberries are best grown from bare root crowns or plugs. Crowns are bundles of crowns with bare roots. Plugs are tiny seedlings that are rooted in the soil. Both are easy to plant and simple to cultivate. 

However, if you’re looking for a challenge in the garden or you have tons of healthy seeds to use, you can also grow these strawberries from seed. You can collect seeds from your own varieties or get them from fellow gardeners. You may also find healthy ‘Albion’ seeds online or at some local nurseries. 

The easiest way to collect them at home is by making fresh juice or smoothies. Strain the pulp and gather the fresh seeds. Give them a good rinse and set them in a dark, dry place for 2 weeks to dry. Make sure they stay nice and dry, or they could rot. 

After drying, put your seeds in the refrigerator for cold stratification for 4 to 6 weeks. The seeds need this period of cold to break through their dormancy before planting. 

After cold stratifying, plant them in a tray or small container in loose, well-drained soil. Place them on a heat mat to warm the soil to over 75°F (24°C). You should see your first ‘Albion’ strawberry seedlings emerge in a few weeks. 

How to Grow

Once you have your starters, these plants are incredibly easy to grow. Simply give them enough care and attention throughout their growing season, and they’ll flourish in your garden. 

Light

Like other strawberry plants, ‘Albion’ varieties need plenty of light to produce their large fruit. Aim for giving them at least 6 hours of direct sunlight a day or more. 

They thrive in areas of the garden with full sun and little shade. As ground cover, they’ll spread quickly in garden beds or even yards. 

If you grow your plants indoors, place them near a south-facing window that gets plenty of direct sunlight. You can also grow them under grow lights if your space lacks direct light. 

Water

Give your plants plenty of water throughout their growing cycle. It’s best to use an irrigation system in your garden beds or containers. These systems allow you to control the amount of water you give your plants without overwatering. 

Vertical planters like these work remarkably well for these plants. These hydroponic systems maintain consistent watering without leading to soggy soil. Other hydroponic systems, such as ebb and flow, are also ideal for these plants. 

Avoid watering your plants from above. This can lead to leaf diseases and mildew. Try using soaker hoses or set up drip irrigation around the soil and beds. Always watch for signs of overwatering, which can lead to diseases such as root rot. 

Soil

Plant your strawberry plants in well-drained soil amended with plenty of organic compost. Keep the soil pH between 5.5 and 7.0. Avoid planting in clay or soil that’s poorly draining. 

The best soil type for containers is a simple organic potting mix. You can experiment with the mixture, as long as the soil is slightly acidic. 

These plants benefit from heavy mulching after planting. Mulch helps cultivate a healthy ecosystem of microbes and insects in the soil. It also helps seal in moisture in the soil without waterlogging your plants. 

Temperature and Humidity

If you live in zones 4 through 9, you can grow your ‘Albion’ strawberries as perennials. In colder and hotter climates, you can grow them as annuals. 

As seedlings, these low-lying perennials need warm temperatures above 60°F (16°C). ‘Albion’ varieties can handle high heat better than many other varieties. If you live in a hot region such as Southern California or Arizona, these species will be easy to grow. 

Although they can handle some heat, these varieties are also tolerant of cold temperatures. If you cover them with mulch, mature plants in their dormant phase should be able to handle below-freezing temperatures, and their roots will survive into next season. 

Fertilizing

These plants are heavy feeders, and timing your feeding times is very important. The best time to feed your plants is right before they start flowering. It’s also good to feed them right after planting, as the plants are young. 

These plants need a well-balanced mixture of macro- and micronutrients. Fertilizers such as organic liquid kelp fertilizer work magically to promote massive blooms and healthy fruit. Liquid fish fertilizers are also great choices. 

Always follow the label’s directions so you feed them the right amount. From flowering until the time they set fruit, it’s good to feed your plants once or twice a year. Because ‘Albion’s fruit’s throughout the growing season, they’ll benefit from feeding in summer and fall until they reach their dormant season. 

Maintenance

Strawberry plants, including ‘Albion’, are very easy to maintain. The most time-consuming part of their upkeep is also the most fun: harvesting! As they produce fruit, keep up with harvesting their juicy red fruits. This will encourage more growth and more flower production. 

Not only does it provide you with consistent fruit throughout the season, but the more they flower, the more pollinators they attract. You’ll spend a lot of time harvesting these productive varieties. 

The next important step to keeping these plants healthy is weeding. That’s why it’s important to mulch the areas around your plants well. This helps suppress weeds before they take control of your garden beds. These plants don’t like competition, so keeping your containers and beds weed-free is important. 

Propagation

The best way to propagate your plants is by removing their runners. Runners are small offshoots that form from mother plants. As the strawberries grow, they send out long stems radially from their mothers. Once the stems reach an open patch of soil, they start producing roots and new growth. Soon, these become new plants identical to the parent.

Trim off all but a handful of runners from the mother plants. Leave a few runners to establish themselves in the soil. Choose the healthiest runners and use clean pruners like these to clip them away. 

Plant the runner clippings in well-drained soil. Keep the new plants moist but avoid waterlogging their soil. Space the runners out over 1 foot between each plant. This should give them enough room to grow in their new home. 

Harvesting and Storage

Once you start to see your first strawberries appear, wait until they become bright red before harvesting. Young berries are incredibly sour and have vitamin C levels similar to citrus fruits. 

As mentioned before, harvesting your fruit throughout the growing season is beneficial to your plants. It encourages new growth and flower production, leading to even more fruit. 

After harvesting, fresh strawberries will store for about a week in the refrigerator. You can keep them in the freezer for even longer. Sometimes, frozen berries can taste even sweeter, especially when you use them in pies and smoothies. 

Common Problems

‘Albion’ varieties are very resistant to diseases compared to other varieties. However, that doesn’t mean they’re disease-free. It’s important to keep up with their health and environment as they grow. Below are a few common problems to look out for in your plants. 

Pests

The most common pests to worry about are birds and other animals. These sweet fruits are hard to resist, for animals and humans alike. To protect them, keep floating row covers on your garden beds. Cats and other domesticated pets can help scare away hungry critters. Scarecrows and other distractions like bells and wind chimes can help scare away predators before they destroy your crops. 

Snails and slugs are also vicious pests to watch out for. They often live in mulch or leaf litter. The best way to prevent them is to avoid overwatering. Citrus rind traps are also effective in controlling these pests. 

Aphids, mites, tarnished plant bugs, and leafrollers are also attracted to strawberries. Provide proper nutrition and moisture to keep aphids and mites away. Hand pick tarnished plant bugs and leafrollers, and remove the foliage they damage. If nematodes become a problem, rotate your strawberries to another area, and treat the infected area with beneficial nematodes ahead of the season.

Diseases

The most common diseases are rots like root rot and fruit rot, as well as gray mold. This is common when your plants get too much moisture. Mulch helps prevent fruit rot. Root rot is best prevented by not overwatering. Soggy soils are the perfect conditions for root rot to form. 

Blights are also a problem for many strawberry plants. ‘Albion’ strawberries have great disease resistance to wilts such as verticillium wilt. Always avoid watering from above and space your plants out to increase aeration. 

Frequently Asked Questions