How to Get Large Yields of Strawberries

Choose a good site for the strawberries. Strawberries prefer lots of sunlight, significant amounts of organic material, and water but not continual soaking. You may wish to add manure or compost to the site ahead of time. Choose an area that drains well or build elevated planting beds. You should not plant a new crop of strawberries where you previously had tomatoes or other plants susceptible to wilt.

Select a sunny location for your strawberries. Though strawberry plants will grow with less than a full day of sun, large yields require lots of sunlight.

Plant a cover crop the season before planting. This cover crop can be tilled into the soil before strawberry planting in order to provide more organic material.

Decide when you will plant your strawberries. You may plant them in August for harvest the following summer, but they will need to get established before first frost. You can also plant strawberries in spring and spend the summer removing blooms and encouraging the plants to become very well established. If you plant in spring, you will not harvest until the following spring or summer depending on your climate.

Test the soil to determine how much fertilizer and what levels of fertilizer need to be added. Add fertilizer if needed before planting.

Plant your strawberries with the crown of the plant sitting on the soil surface. Provide wide rows about 18 inches across so that the offspring produced by the original plant will have enough space to spread.

Mulch between rows with straw or hay to conserve moisture. As your original mulch layer depletes due to decomposition, add more.

Protect strawberries from late spring frost using mulch and row coverings if needed.

Check that strawberries receive proper watering. Rainfall and watering combined should be between one inch and 1.5 inches per week.

Fertilizer may need to be added as the strawberries grow. Your soil tests will aid in determining how much to add. Too much fertilizer is just as big a problem as too little. The wrong balance of fertilizer components can cause leafy plants and few blossoms, reducing yields.

Leave several inches between the crowns of plants you allow to sprout from the original plantings. Once the offspring have filled in to about five or six plants per square foot, eliminate all future offspring by snipping them off. This will increase your yield. Each plant needs space in order to receive adequate water and nutrition for production.

Apply a new layer of mulch when winter approaches. The winter layer of mulch will need to be thick enough to protect strawberry crowns through your cold season.