How Much Sun Can a Strawberry Plant Have?

Light Needs

• Like most fruit-producing plants, strawberries need full sun in order to produce a maximum crop. Strawberries should receive at least eight hours of full sun each day. When planting strawberries, your concern should be choosing a site that receives enough light. You don't need to worry that a site receives too much light.

Function of Light

• Light serves an essential function for plants, which explains why you want your strawberries to have access to plenty of it. Unlike animals, plants don't eat; they manufacture energy for themselves using energy from the sun to power a metabolic process called photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, the plant produces sugar, which it uses as energy. For this reason, strawberry plants grown on full-sun sites will grow taller and denser. For fruiting plants like strawberries, sunlight plays an additional role -- it allows plants to manufacture the sugars that sweeten their fruits. Once manufactured in the leaves, strawberry plants transport these sugars to the berries. Less light means less sugar and fewer sweet fruits.

Soil Needs

• If you have a full-sun site for your strawberries, you attention should go next to preparing the site in other ways to maximize the quantity and quality of the berries that you produce. While strawberries will grow on just about any soil, the plants perform better on some soils rather than others. Most importantly, choose a well-drained site. Too much water around the roots of your plants can stunt growth and encourage disease. To improve the drainage of your soil, work in an organic material like compost or aged manure into the top 6 inches of soil. Plants will begin producing earlier on light or sandy soils; however, these soils can present disadvantages. Early production could mean exposure to frosts. Sandy soils also drain quickly, meaning you may have to work harder to keep the plants adequately watered and fertilized.

Water Needs

• Water is also a necessary ingredient for photosynthesis, so good growth and sweet fruits require you to provide your plants with abundant water during the growing season. Strawberries need between 1 1/2 and 2 inches of water during the growing season. If spring rains don't meet their needs, you'll need to supplement with irrigation.