How to Plant Strawberries: A Complete Organic Growing Guide

A true taste of summer: strawberries are a must-have in all home gardens! I just can’t get enough of these sweet, fragrant fruits.

Strawberries are hardy perennials that will keep coming back after winter each year. You can grow them from seed, bare root plants, or starts from runners. You can plant them in the ground, in a raised bed, in a pot, or in a vertical planter.

So why not plant some in your garden?! I’m not just going to tell you how to plant strawberries; I’m going to share pro grow tips for growing incredibly productive strawberry plants. 

I cannot stress enough that understanding chill hours is critical to growing any type of perennial fruit! Whether that be growing an apple tree, a blueberry bush, a strawberry, a peach, or a cherry—chill hours matter.

Chill hours are the amount of hours at or below 40°F during the winter that resets the fruiting cycle for that perennial. June-bearing strawberry varieties require 400-600 chill hours. They will not do well in Florida, Texas, Arizona, or any warm place that doesn’t have long periods of winter weather.

In warmer climates, you need to grow everbearing varieties because they do not require chill hours to reset. They will grow perpetually and continue to produce fruit throughout the growing season. 

Varieties like Mara des Bois or Seascape Everbearing strawberries are wonderful for those of you who live in areas with fewer than 400 chill hours. I can grow everbearing strawberries here in Michigan as well, but won’t get as much fruit as someone down south.

There are also strawberry varieties grown for certain climates. For us here in Michigan, AC Wendy and Jewel strawberries are phenomenal varieties! They are June-bearing and yet tolerate our hot, humid summers better than varieties like Honeoye, which isn’t very resilient against powdery mildew.

Taking someone’s advice from the internet on which variety you should grow is a recipe for lots of regret! To select the best types of strawberries to grow in your garden, do your research to understand the nuances of varieties and match them to your growing conditions.

Strawberry Plant Anatomy

All strawberry plants will form runners (or stolons). They send out runners after they’ve finished flowering and fruiting. Those runners have little baby plants on them that are genetically identical to the mother plant. With just a bit of soil contact, those baby plants start setting down roots and growing a whole new strawberry plant.

The runner is the lifeline between the mother plant and the baby plants, but once the baby plants are rooted, they no longer need that support. If you don’t cut the runners, the connections remain and will dramatically reduce the energy the mother plant will have to produce fruit and grow.

Simply take scissors and clip all the runners during the main growing season. This will guarantee better fruit production the following season.

It is a big mistake not to clip those runners! This is one reason that I advocate having nice, neat rows of strawberries. If you have too many strawberries in a bed, it is challenging to find and clip the runners.

Pro-Tip: All of those runners are free plants! Remember, there is no need to purchase the full number of strawberry plants you want. One plant will propagate into three or four, and those three or four will become 14 to 16, and these can quickly grow into hundreds.

When to Plant Strawberries

If you are growing strawberries from seed, it is important to properly time your seed starting. Start them indoors 6 to 8 weeks before your last frost date. I start strawberries from seed in February (you may be surprised to learn what else I plant in February), harden off the seedlings, and transplant seedlings outdoors after the last frost. 

When you buy bare root strawberries, plan to plant them as soon as possible! Don’t wait; they are cold hearty, they will do just fine. They won’t be phased if they get hit by cold weather or even a late frost.

Prior to planting, take your bare root plants and submerge the roots in warm water (around 65°F) to hydrate them. This process takes about 1 to 2 hours. That moisture will be critical to helping the plant break dormancy. 

Once you remove the plants from the water, trim off a portion of the root length. If the roots have started to shrivel or rot, cutting off the excess will help the healthy portion to remain viable. Trimming roots also promotes rapid root growth, helping the plants establish quickly. 

It is imperative that you plant it within hours of soaking it! You do not want to let the roots dry out again.

Prep Your Beds For a Strawberry Patch

As we encourage with all garden beds, be sure to lightly turn in fresh organic matter before planting to start your plants off on the right foot. Organic matter will provide the new roots with nutrients as they emerge from dormancy. 

Strawberry plants like their soil pH slightly acidic, between 6.0 and 6.5, but they can survive in soil ranging from 5.5 to 7.0. You can test the soil pH to see if it's in the optimal range.

How to Plant Strawberries

Follow these steps to plant out your strawberries:

1. Location - Choose a sunny location where your strawberries will receive at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight each day.

2. Prepare the Soil - Ensure your soil is loose and well-draining before planting. Also, amend the soil with compost and for pH if needed.

3. Fertilize the Soil - Add a high-nitrogen fertilizer at the time of planting. (I use ¼ cup of Trifecta+ per plant.) 

4. Plant Spacing - Ideal strawberry plant spacing is 4” to 6” apart. You may want to plant them further apart the first year to allow the runners to fill in the space with new plants. Pro-Tip: Aim to keep plant spacing at 4” to 6” for future years as well; otherwise, your strawberries will be overcrowded. Clip runners and transplant baby plants to a new spot when needed to keep proper spacing.

5. Planting Depth - Plant seedlings and potted strawberry plants at the same depth they were in their containers. If you are planting bare root strawberry plants, dig a hole 6-8" deep and about two times as wide as the crown. Place the roots straight down into the hole, then backfill with soil making sure the strawberry crown stays at soil level. For best results, the hole should be deep enough that the roots stay straight rather than L-shaped. 

6. Water - Strawberries usually require 1 to 2 inches of water per week. Strawberries are 95-97% water, meaning they will produce better, larger fruits if they have adequate water and you protect them from soil evaporation with mulching. 

7. Mulch - I highly recommend mulching your strawberry plants to improve production. Pro-Tip: I prefer to use lightweight pine shaving mulch because it sifts between the foliage without suppressing growth and it contains no weed seed. Straw is not a bad mulch for strawberries; it just isn't the best option.

How to Grow Strawberries

Be sure to clean up dead debris out of your strawberry patch at the beginning of each season! A fresh, clean bed will help you yield a bounty of fresh strawberries.

Don’t let your bed become matted with debris. If you let last year’s dead growth sit and decay, it will block air flow, cause mold issues, and keep the crowns from drying out. More often than not, what kills my strawberry plants is not that they didn’t overwinter properly, but that I didn’t clean the debris out of their bed early enough, and they start to rot. 

Fertilizing

Fertilize strawberries in early spring with a high-nitrogen fertilizer and again in the fall, 30 to 45 days before your first frost, focusing on high potassium and high phosphorus. 

Many people make the mistake of seeing nice, dark green growth on their strawberries in early spring and assume that they don’t need any fertilizer. But if you don’t give them fertilizer at that time, they will grow and flower, and then the leaves will start to look anemic. 

By then, it is too late to fertilize. You’ve already lost the precious window to fertilize and greatly increase fruit production.

There are three different organic fertilizer options that I recommend for fertilizing strawberries in the spring. Blood meal is 12-0-0, so basically pure nitrogen. Fish fertilizer (which can be some really smelly stuff!) is a fast-acting liquid that you can foliar feed to really help get your plants out of dormancy and producing fruit by June.

I personally use the next option, Trifecta+, on everything in my garden, including my strawberry plants (both spring and fall). I really like that it is fast-acting and has slow-release nutrients that will last all season long. Strawberries really do love that!

Mulching Strawberries For Disease Prevention

Mulching strawberry plants is the single biggest pro tip I can give you! They don’t compete well with weeds and will underperform under weed pressure. Start with weed-free soil and use a good-quality wood mulch to suppress weeds.

Strawberries are very prone to fungal diseases. Mulching will also help prevent fungal spots due to splash-up during rain or watering.

Gray mold is a common problem. You may have seen berries that look beautiful on top, but when you pick them, the underside is moldy. Gray mold is caused by the berries sitting on bare soil, where fungal spores can be transferred. 

Again, the answer is mulching. A light colored mulch, like animal bedding pine shavings will really cut down on gray mold. The berries can sit on top of the mulch and air can still flow underneath. 

If you’re seeing little brown, purple, or red spots popping up on your strawberries, that may be common leaf spot. It is a fungal disease similar to blight on tomatoes. It is important to catch it early and keep it from spreading. 

You can control it by picking infected leaves or using a fungicide. A copper fungicide spray will absolutely treat it and knock it out, but mulching will help prevent it from starting in the first place. 

Pro-Tip: My go-to spray for controlling fungal diseases on strawberries is a homemade fungicide solution of 1 to 2 Tbs baking soda in one gallon of water. Add 1 drop of plant-safe dish soap and 2 or 3 drops of vegetable oil. Shake well and spray on plants with a pump sprayer.

Common Pests

Pest animals in the garden are a common problem when growing strawberries, especially birds, rodents, and deer. These blog posts can help you protect your plants:

• How to Keep Birds Out of the Garden

• How to Keep Deer Out of the Garden

• How to Keep Rabbits Out of the Garden

• How to Get Rid of Slugs & Snails

There aren’t many pests that affect strawberry plants in the offseason (when they are not fruiting), but you do want to protect the foliage to keep strong, vigorous growth, so the plants go into dormancy strong.

The most common insect impacting strawberries from mid-July through August is the Japanese beetle. To control Japanese beetles, use diatomaceous earth; it is a very effective method!