How Commercial Strawberry Plants Are Cultivated

Soil Preparation

• Planting can take place any time after strawberry harvest through to spring and will depend on your location, but the soil must be well prepared in advance. Strawberries grow well in a slightly acidic (5.3 to 6.5 pH), well drained, sandy loam soil with an abundance of organic matter although they tolerate heavier soils. A green manure crop planted and plowed in the previous season will improve the soil. Plants require full sunlight for the fruit to develop to their peak. Strawberry plants tolerate cold winters and frozen soils, putting out new growth in spring.

Planting

• Strawberries are sometimes planted into plastic as a means of weed control and in cooler regions, of warming the soil and so accelerating the harvest. Other growers use the matted or space matted row production method in which the runners are allowed to fill between the original plants which are planted two to three feet apart. The space between the matted rows are then tilled to control weeds.

Crop Mainenance

• Before the strawberry crop is planted, weeds must be eradicated and this can be done by herbicides and tilling. Once the crop is planted, hand weeding, hoeing, tilling and spot spraying are all used to maintain a weed-free crop.

Renovation

• After harvest, the plants are renovated by mowing off the top growth. In August nitrogen should be added at the rate of 30 lbs. per acre after the first harvest. Plants should be restricted to six plants per square foot to avoid overcrowding, which can promote fungal disease. A late fall herbicide is sometimes applied to deter spring weed growth.