9 Tips for Bigger, Sweeter Homegrown Strawberries
Strawberries are delicious, nutritious, and easy to grow! They sprout off perennial rosettes that need some care to perform their best. Follow these nine tips from seasoned grower Jerad Bryant and you’ll have bigger, sweeter homegrown strawberries in no time.
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Growing bigger, sweeter strawberries depends on the variety and your garden setup. These fruiting perennials can thrive in raised beds, containers, and in the ground. They love free-draining soil, direct sunlight, and consistent moisture.
When strawberry plants don’t receive enough care, they may sprout small, bitter berries. Rather than giving up on the plants, determine what they need so they’re productive again. Most require some fertilizer, while others may need some renovation.
No matter how you grow strawberries, these tips will help your plants produce bigger and sweeter yields come harvest time. Grab a harvest basket and some snips and prepare to harvest your homegrown fruits. Once you grow them at home, you’ll never look at grocery store strawberries the same again!
Red & Yellow Strawberry Blend
Red and Yellow Wonder Blend Strawberry Seeds
Select Productive Varieties
Most strawberry plants fall into one of these three categories:
- June-Bearing
- Ever-Bearing
- Day-Neutral
June-bearing varieties are incredibly productive over a short harvest window. They generally fruit in June, though some growers in cold regions can expect harvests as late as July. Ever-bearing types produce two crops a year, while day-neutral cultivars flower and fruit so long as the weather is favorable.
If you grow strawberries for making jam or freezing, choose June-bearing varieties. They’ll fruit over a month-long period, allowing you to preserve or freeze the harvest all at once. Day-neutral types are preferable for fresh eating because they fruit throughout spring, summer, and fall.
Some varieties may have the wrong label. Many nurseries confuse day-neutral and ever-bearing types. You may have to research your cultivars to discover which type they are.
Grow Native Strawberries
Native strawberries are tough specimens! Though their fruits aren’t as large and juicy as cultivated varieties, they’re incredibly sweet and delicious. Consider them delicacies, as they taste great in salads, charcuterie boards, or fresh off the plant.
Three main native strawberries exist for North American growers:
- Beach Strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis)
- Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
- Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
Choose beach strawberry in the West, wild strawberry in the East, and the woodland species throughout the U.S. Some cultivars of the woodland species, like ‘Mignonette’ and ‘Semperflorens,’ are runnerless, meaning they don’t produce runners. You’ll have to divide them in the fall or spring to multiply your supply. The runnerless varieties are ideal for borders where you don’t want the plants to spread.
Care for June-Bearing Types
June-bearing types require specific care techniques because of their short harvesting window and tendency to produce dozens of runners. The best growing style for these types is a matted row system where the runners root freely in a raised bed.
Let your plants flower and produce fruit, then harvest all of the fruit in June. After harvesting, chop off all the remaining leaves. The bed will look bare, but this annual chopping helps rejuvenate the plants. They’ll sprout new leaves over spring and summer.
If you want bigger, sweeter berries next season, fertilize these strawberries in August before fall and winter arrive. They’ll sprout anew in spring, and you’ll repeat the care cycle after they fruit in June. Remove any unruly runners that sprout in walkways to keep a tidy path.
Add Fertilizer
Fertilizer is important for day-neutral and ever-bearing types, just as for June-bearing ones. Use an organic fertilizer with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Avoid mixes with more nitrogen than phosphorus or potassium, as it’ll lead to leaf production at the expense of flowers and fruit.
Fertilize day-neutral and ever-bearing types with a low dose of organic fertilizer once a month when new growth emerges. This occurs in April, May, and June in most regions, though it can be a month sooner or later depending on your growing zone. Stop fertilizing after they produce flowers and fruit.
You may fertilize these two types again in August if they look like they need nutrients. Weak, hungry plants will have yellow leaves and poor growth.
Snip the Runners
Runners are perfect for propagating more plants, but they draw energy away from the main plant. This leads to smaller fruits and weaker tastes, as the plants lack sufficient nutrients to grow big, juicy fruits. This is difficult for June-producing types, so most growers avoid removing their runners.
Day-neutral and ever-bearing cultivars produce few runners. Though they’re small in numbers, they draw energy away from fruit production. Snip them off as they appear.
You may let the runners grow if you’re trying to propagate more plants; otherwise, snip them off to encourage large, juicy fruits.
Practice Crop Rotation
Crop rotation discourages pests and diseases from building up in the soil. Many critters build their numbers over many years, and they require their host plant to thrive. By rotating where you grow your crops, you deprive the pests and diseases of their hosts and cause them to die out.
Rotate your plants every four years in early spring or autumn. Dig up the individual rosettes and transplant them to a similar site with full sun, consistent moisture, and well-drained but fertile soil.
After moving your fruiting crops, plant cover crops that improve soils like oats, barley, or legumes, or grow vegetables that thrive in your region. They’ll insulate and protect the ground until you’re ready to move the strawberries back after another four years.
Ensure Consistent Moisture
Consistent moisture is key to successfully growing these bigger and sweeter strawberries! Regular irrigation helps the roots stay cool and moist during the growing season. Because these fruiting crops prefer consistent moisture, well-drained soil is key to helping them thrive.
When you regularly water soggy dirt or loamy clay, the soil grows heavy and dense. Your crops will struggle to grow healthy roots. They may decline from root rot, fungal leaf spot, or other conditions common in wet sites.
Rather than drowning your plants, give them the soil they need to thrive! A loamy mix with plenty of organic matter is ideal. Incorporate compost, leaf mold, or similar organic mulches into poor soils to improve them.
Provide Plenty of Sunlight
Full sun is vital to fruit production! Without enough sunlight, the fruits become small, weak-tasting, and less abundant. Avoid sites with partial shade, as they require six to eight hours of daily direct sunlight to produce well.
Excessive sunlight may cause issues for crops in hot zones with extreme temperatures. Provide afternoon shade in these regions to protect your crops from sunburn. These hot zones include gardens in Florida, Southern California, and the Southwest.
Mulch the Site
Weak strawberry specimens attract pests and diseases. Rather than removing things from the soil, add mulch to the site to insulate, protect, and feed the soil. Some mulches, like compost, have ample plant nutrients inside. You’ll have to use less fertilizer when you mulch the site with compost.
Other benefits of mulching include weed prevention and suppression. When you cover the topsoil, you prevent weed seeds from sprouting near your tender crops. The mulch also absorbs water and conserves it during droughts, allowing strawberries to thrive despite heat waves.
When mulching, avoid covering the crowns of your strawberries. Place the material around each rosette so it covers the space in between. Apply it in a two to three-inch-thick layer for best results, and do so twice a year after the previous application breaks down.
