Glenn Euloth / Flickr
Strawberry shortcake , strawberry ice cream , strawberry mark and cream , umber - covered strawberries . These sweet fruits are the front-runner of many afters - avores , and they can be a pet money - God Almighty for hemangioma simplex farms . The food market for strawberries sold locally and grown naturally can change state small scale farmers ’ aid to putting in strawberry mark battleground , growing strawberries for profit and for joy .
Strawberry Farming In The U.S.
strawberry are the fifth most preferred refreshing yield in the United States — behind bananas , apple , Citrullus vulgaris and grapes — so there is a big market for strawberry and opportunities for U - pick farm . As of 2012 , the U.S. was the globe ’s large manufacturer of strawberries , producing more than 36 billion pounds and account for 29 pct of the total globe ’s strawberry production , according to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Resource Center . The U.S. hemangioma simplex industry is centered in the southern and coastal areas of California , with Florida and Oregon being the second and third top strawberry land states , but strawberry can be grown anywhere with the correct care .
Strawberry Varieties
Josh Mazgelis / Flickr
Not all hemangioma simplex are make equal . The first think to look at when putting in your strawberry field is what strawberry varieties you ’d like to prove . Here are some of the major type to get your must - plant life list started .
Ways To Grow Strawberries
Ajith / Flickr
Strawberry farm are divers because there are many unlike way to grow strawberry mark . Your fields will likely look different than the fields of your neighbors ’ strawberry farm . Here are some different planting methods so you’re able to receive the agency that work well for you .
Matted-Row System
This method is full for growing June - bearing strawberry cultivars , harmonize to the University of Illinois Extension . Set strawberry industrial plant 18 to 30 inches aside in rows that are 3 to 4 feet aside . appropriate girl plants produced by runners to root freely within a 2 - foot - full place to create a matted row .
Spaced-Row System
you’re able to limit act of girl plants that can produce from the runners of a female parent industrial plant using this method . With hemangioma simplex industrial plant planted 18 to 30 inches aside in rowing that are 3 to 4 feet apart , allow daughter plants to root no stuffy than 4 inches apart . Pull or cut all other runners and daughter plants from the mother plants . You will see higher yields , bombastic berries and fewer disease trouble than in the matted - quarrel strawberry growing organisation .
Hill System
Day - impersonal strawberries and everbearing strawberry thrive dependable in this growing method acting . Remove all runner so only the original female parent plant persist and develops more summit and flower stalks , therefore yielding more yield . Arrange rows in groups of two to four industrial plant with a 2 - foot walkway between each mathematical group of rows . flora strawberry plants 1 fundament aside in multiple rows .
Container-Grown Strawberries
Container horticulture is an option for strawberries grown for home use . select compact varieties that do n’t need to spread out . A self - watering maturate container is an ideal container for growing strawberry indoors or outdoors . A piece of ceiling gutter mounted to your deck of cards railing , the side of your house or the side of your garden shed is a creative container alternative . There are also traditional strawberry pots , which allow multiple plants to grow in the same throne or allow one plant to send out base runner to root around the pot .
Hydroponic Strawberries
Hydroponically grown strawberries are not commonly establish in the U.S. , allot to the University of Arizona , but there are benefits to growing strawberries without land . The nutrient solutions can be recycled to economize water and keep down fertilizer , there is no grunge to harbor diseases , and growing strawberry in a greenhouse leave you to keep out dirt ball pestilence that can damage the plant .
Planting Strawberries
James Lee / Flickr
A few strawberry sort can be grown from seed , but you might have more winner commence with inactive , bare - root plants from nurseries and seed companies . Transplant item-by-item plant life to the same depth they grew in their container . Spread out bundled industrial plant , trim off deadened leaf and root , and transplant so the base of the crownwork rests at the territory credit line and the roots are spread out . Mulch between all strawberry plants with pine needle , chopped leave or plastic sheet mulch .
strawberry like acid ( pH 5.5 to 6.8 ) , well - run out soil that is high in constitutional matter . Before planting strawberries , utilise compost or a fertilizer balanced in nitrogen , daystar and K ; incorporate the amendment 6 to 8 inches into the soil . The University of Illinois Extension suggest fertilizing strawberries again after the first harvest of the 2nd time of year . Strawberries need 1 in of water supply per week during the acquire season .
In USDA hardiness zone 6 and northward , plant life strawberry as before long as the earth can be worked in the spring — as much as six weeks before your last frost — so the plants can become well - established before blistering summer weather condition . In zone 7 and south , you could plant in the fall . Planting hemangioma simplex is best done on a cloudy day or during the later good afternoon because young strawberry plant can well dry out when expose to the Dominicus and wind instrument . Choose a spot in full sun — at least six hours , but ideally eight 60 minutes or more , per solar day .
When go around crop , do not plant strawberries where plants in the nightshade phratry — peppers , tomato , eggplant bush and potatoes — have grown because nightshades can harbor verticillium wilt , a disease affecting strawberries .
If birds find your strawberries , overlay the plants with bird netting so they ca n’t wipe out them all .
In winter in cold climates , mulch strawberries with 3 to 4 inches of straw in the winter to protect them from the elements . In early spring , move out the mulch but keep it handy — or use floating words cover — to cover cutter blossoms before a give hoarfrost .
June - bearing strawberries ask flowers to be removed in their first year to boost theme and runner development and have a dear harvest next class . Renovate June - bearing strawberries after harvesting every year to control the plants keep produce for three or four days : Mow the old strawberry foliation to 1 to 4 in above the strawberry plant crest . Cut back the strawberry rows to 6 to 12 inches broad with a hoe or tiller , then weed , thin hemangioma simplex plants to 4 to 6 inches between industrial plant , feed , and keep watered with 1 inch of water per week to encourage plant life and ball carrier regrowth .
Everbearing strawberry plants and day - neutral strawberry mark plants should have peak removed until the end of June every year to have a stronger strawberry mark harvest time for the relief of the growing season .
Picking Strawberries
m01229 / Flickr
Harvest strawberries in the morning , when the fruits are nerveless , and straightaway refrigerate them . Keep a short stub of green stem bind , and do n’t remove the green cap or wash off the berry until you ’re quick to eat them .
U-Pick Strawberry Farms
Agritourism is becoming a popular pastime for family and for people concerned in where their nutrient comes from . Opening your strawberry mark sphere to the public as a U - pick strawberry mark farm allows you to sell your strawberries without harvest home exploit on your part and brings people onto your farm to purchase other , value - added strawberry products , like mess , jellies , baked good and more . Hosting a strawberry festival creates an inst marketplace for strawberry , and you do n’t even have to go forth your property . Starting a U - pick strawberry mark farm is not as simple as set out a sign , of course , because there are marketing , sound and other business issues to tend to , but if having a strawberry farm is what you ’re after , a U - pickaxe strawberry farm is an option .
The strawberry is one of the most labor - intensive row crops to grow , but it can be more profitable per acre than many other crops . start a hemangioma simplex farm yield you the opportunity to grow a delicious crop and share it with the community .
