How to Grow Strawberries in the Mid-Atlantic

Choose an area that features full sun and offers a sandy loam soil for growing your Mid-Atlantic strawberries. Collect a sample of the soil and take it to your local extension office for testing to make sure the pH level -- or the level of acidity and basicity -- is between 6.0 and 6.5. Follow the recommendations of the soil test results concerning amendments to purchase and add to the soil to prepare it for growing strawberries.

Dig a hole in the ground that is large enough to hold your entire strawberry starter plant. Trim the roots so that they are about 4 inches long. Add amendments such as peat moss to the soil you removed from the planting hole, according to your soil test recommendations. Return this amended soil to the hole, situating the plant so that the location where the roots meet the stem is even with the soil surface.

Repeat Step 2 to plant other strawberry starter plants. Keep the plants about 12 inches apart in a row and put rows a couple of feet apart.

Give your strawberry plants an inch of water each week using a watering can if adequate rainfall is not present. Apply mulch to the soil located on top of your strawberry plants’ roots, as the mulch helps the soil to retain water, chokes out weeds and also protects the roots from extreme outside temperatures.

Provide your strawberry plants with a pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer for each 25 feet of row, following the manufacturer’s instructions. Cut off any flowers that form on the plants before July 1, as this further stimulates plant growth.

Apply an insecticide to your strawberry plants if you spot insect pests such as slugs, leafhoppers, sap beetles or bud weevils. Give the plants an herbicide as well if diseases such as verticillium wilt or gray mold occur.