I am always so jealous of my friends who grow strawberries. When is the best time to plant strawberries? RC

I agree. I love strawberries and our granddaughter loves strawberries, so I need to get to work on my strawberry garden pretty quick.

The best time to plant strawberry plants is between Feb. 1st and March 15^th, so now is the time. Be sure to check with your favorite local plant vendor, but I checked with several mail order suppliers and strawberry plants are available.

Strawberry plants like locations with full sun. They will grow in shady locations but will produce vegetative growth rather than fruit and it’s the fruit that we want. Strawberry plants are also particular about soil pH preferring a pH of between 6 and 6.5. Most vegetable gardeners try to shoot for a pH of around 7, so if you are going to grow strawberries, you will probably need to make some adjustments to your soil. To know for sure, you can get your soil tested through the OSU Extension office. The test costs $10 and will tell you not only the pH of your soil but also its nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium levels. We have instructions on how to gather your soil sample on our website (tulsamastergardeners.org).

Planting depth is critical for strawberry plants. To plant them properly, they should be planted at a depth where the roots are just below the soil level and covered up. Plants that are planted too deep will rot and plants that are set too shallow will dry out and die, but no pressure.

It’s also important to keep the roots of your strawberry plants moist during the planting, so as you open each of the plant bundles, place them in water to keep them moist. Since strawberries are a shallow rooted plant, you will need to keep them hydrated with about 1” of water per week.

Now here is something that will be challenging for many gardeners but keep focused on the long term. Don’t expect fruit the first year. Actually, work to prevent fruit the first year by removing the flowers. Doing this will help the plants concentrate on growing runners and a vigorous root system. This strategy will increase your strawberry yield in subsequent years.

Also, keep a little space between your plants because each plant has the potential to produce between 30 and 50 runners during this first year of growth.

Something else you will need to consider is what type of strawberries you want to grow. Strawberries can be divided into two groups: June bearing and everbearing. June bearing strawberries will produce their crop between early May and mid-June. To extend your harvest season, you can plant a mixture of early, mid, and late season strawberries.

Everbearing strawberries produce their initial crop of the season at the same time as the June bearing varieties. However, they also tend to produce a few fruits during the summer and then more again in the fall. The best harvests will likely come from the June bearing varieties though.

Somewhere around the first of September, apply a nitrogen fertilizer at a rate of 1.5 pounds per 100 feet or row. This will provide them with the additional nutrition they need to set fruit buds for the next year.

Toward the end of the year after we have had several hard freezes, you will need to apply 3 to 4 inches of straw. Waiting until after the plants have experienced a few freezes will increase their cold hardiness. The straw should remain in place until the plants begin to grow in the spring, usually around March. Starting in March, poke around in the mulch a little bit to check for new growth. Once you see them starting to grow, remove most of the mulch, leaving a little to help preserve soil moisture and provide a barrier between the plants and soil-borne diseases.

In your second year, you can leave the flowers and wait for your strawberries to grow. Fertilizer should be added based on the results of your soil test. If you take care of your strawberry beds, you can expect 3 - 5 years of healthy production.

Strawberries (like most plants) are vulnerable to a variety of disease and insect issues. Insect pests would include aphids, spider mites, grubs, leafrollers, slugs, pillbugs (rolly pollies), and nematodes. Insecticidal soap is an organic pesticide that works great on aphids and spider mites. You can use bacillus thuringiensis for grubs and leafrollers, and beer traps for slugs and pillbugs

Strawberries can also be susceptible to a variety of bacterial and fungal diseases such leaf spots, powdery mildew, leaf blight, leaf scorch fungus, and gray mold, among others. If you do develop fungal disease on your strawberries, an anti-fungal such as copper fungicide would be appropriate. But be sure to rotate your anti-fungals to prevent the development of resistance.

This next recommendation was challenging for me when I first began to grow strawberries because it runs counter to what gardeners like to do; you need to mow down your strawberry plants…I know. This process is called renovation.

To renovate your strawberry beds, you should mow off the leaves about 1 inch above the crowns within 1 week of the last harvest. Doing so later will destroy new leaf growth. I don’t use a mower because I don’t have a large strawberry bed, so I use either hand clippers or a weed eater. It still feels wrong but doing this will help your plants prosper as well as minimize disease. See you in the garden!

You can get answers to all your gardening questions by calling the Tulsa Master Gardeners Help Line at 918-746-3701, dropping by our Diagnostic Center at 4116 E. 15th Street, or by emailing us at mg@tulsamastergardeners.org.

Photo: OSU Ag Services