Can You Grow Strawberries at Home?

People are shifting towards growing their own fruits to make sure that they are chemicals-free. When you grow them yourself, you can control the number of pesticides and artificial enhancers added to the soil. One of the most popular fruits is strawberries, owing to their irresistible taste that adults and children alike love.

You can eat them alone, with cream and chocolate, or turn them into a homemade jam. Strawberries are also easy to plant as they fit anywhere, regardless of the space you have. To aid you in the gardening process of this juicy fruit, we will provide you with a simple guide that is easy to navigate. 

Optimum Time for Strawberries

First of all, you need to target the season where strawberries thrive. Early spring is the optimum time because the soil becomes warm, and the rain is not too heavy nor scarce. Some farmers recommend autumn as well because the conditions are pretty much the same. They die back in winter because it gets too cold for them to survive, so steer clear from this season if you want to have a ripe harvest. 

Places to Grow

If you are wondering whether the available space is enough to grow berries, well, you can plant them in a pot or a garden, so you don’t need fields to accommodate them. You can either start from seeds or add a plant in the soil. In case you use seedlings, you need to be careful while impeding the roots because they are short, and if you push the plant too deep, it may suffocate.  

You should consider some factors before jumping headfirst into planting strawberries. First of all, they need to be planted directly under the sun to produce large yields. If you cannot find a bright place at home, you can buy artificial growing light. The home growers from this gardening website share insights on the amount of sunlight needed, as well as advice on what type of soil you should use. You don’t have to give up even if you live in an apartment building because you can grow strawberries in pots.

Another point to consider is to make sure the plant is away from any tall root systems because these may compete with the strawberries and absorb the moisture from the soil. Even though water is highly needed, you have to ensure the presence of a good drainage system because they will rot if they stay too long in standing water. If there are no draining methods, you can elevate the strawberry bed above the level of the soil or create holes at the bottom of the used container. 

Care Regimens According to Types

Strawberries come in different types, but the most common ones are day-neutral, June-bearing, and everbearing. Each one of them requires a set of requirements and produces different numbers of fruits. You choose the most suitable one to grow according to the similarity in the conditions between their needs and those you can create at home. 

Day-Neutral Strawberries

Day-neutral strawberries are a new type where the amount of sunlight isn’t an issue for it. They will yield large crops as long as the temperature is between 50 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It has subtypes that can be grown together at the same time so you can enjoy the different flavors. Moreover, they won’t ripe at the same time so that you won’t harvest them all at once. 

June-Bearing

If you are a patient person, you can go for June-bearing strawberries as they don’t produce any fruit until the second season. They take a lot of time to develop a root system and to get accustomed to the surrounding conditions. They can survive in hot climates, so if you live in a place where summer takes up most of the year, this kind is for you. 

Everbearing

Some people measure the success of gardening by the number of fruits produced. Well, everbearing strawberries bloom from two to three times per year. You will get to enjoy the abundance of fruits in your garden, especially the second time. A pro tip, you should replace old plants every four years because they lose their ability to produce a steady yield until it gets cut off completely. 

Home-grown strawberries taste significantly better than ones you may buy because they are free of any additives. Growing them is an easy and simple process because all they need is sun and water without any special requirements. Moreover, they will produce fruits regardless of the available space.