Strawberries are one of the fruits that can be found in many gardens. The small red berries, which strictly speaking are not berries at all, are also being spotted more and more often on balconies. One reason: Strawberries are easy to care for and not particularly demanding. But above all, they are pretty tasty. And in order for your own harvest to work, you should not miss the right time to plant. Because that depends on how many fruits ultimately end up in the basket. Now there is no one perfect time to plant strawberries. This has to do with the different breeds and varieties. The article reveals which ones should be planted in the ground from May, when single-bearing garden strawberries should be planted and which variety can be added to the bed or balcony box between March and September.
If you missed the opportunity to grow your own strawberries, you’ll quickly find them in shops in spring. They sell pre-grown young plants in pots for little money. These are perfect for planting up until May. Monthly and wild strawberries, also known as snack strawberries, are also best planted in spring, i.e. up until mid-May. This is particularly interesting for those who want to plant a small orchard on their balcony. Important: The earlier you plant the strawberries, the sooner the first fruits will ripen. With seedlings planted in May, you can still look forward to sweet surprises in September and October if you take care of them properly.
The vast majority of home garden strawberry varieties are single-bearing. This means that they only produce fruit once per season. They are highly aromatic. One of the most popular and tastiest is “Mieze Schindler”.
Experts recommend the end of June to August as the classic planting time for large-fruited (and single-bearing) garden strawberries. But you should know that the first fruits can only be eaten in the summer of the following year. For very forgetful gardeners, so-called Frigo strawberries could be the right thing. Because they don’t really care when they are planted. Frigo plants are removed from the mother strawberries in winter and then stored for several months at just below zero degrees. They can be planted at any time and bear the first ripe fruit after just eight to ten weeks.
If you want to harvest and snack on strawberries several times a year, you should plant the corresponding variety (for example “Süße Brumme”) in humus-rich soil in April, if possible. Then you have a good chance of being able to bake a strawberry cake with your own fruit in the same year.
As already mentioned, strawberries are not particularly demanding. Nevertheless, it makes sense to bed them in nutrient-rich soil, especially in the first year. In the garden, plenty of humus, for example well-ripened garden compost, should be incorporated into the strawberry bed. About four liters per square meter is a good and sufficient amount. Special berry soil with all kinds of substrates does not harm the strawberries. Because the collected nuts are very frugal, they can usually survive without this special treatment.
When planting, you should make sure that the offshoots or young plants have enough space. Leave the seedlings about 10 inches (25 centimeters) of space within the row. If possible, there should be 40 centimeters of soil between the rows. You should also pay attention to this when planting:
Strawberry plants that bear multiple crops in particular tolerate one or two special treatments over the course of the gardening year. Organic berry fertilizers for these varieties should be thoroughly raked into the soil every two weeks. Attention: With special long-term fertilizers, a nutrient treatment at the beginning of the garden season, when the first flowers are visible, is sufficient. Too much fertilizer stimulates leaf growth and often delays flower formation. So you achieve exactly the opposite of what your goal is.
Sources: My Beautiful Garden
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