How to plant strawberries?

As the strawberry is one of the favorite fruits to make mainly dessert recipes, in addition to combining well with ingredients such as whipped cream or chocolate, it is common to find it in stores, supermarkets and nurseries. However, growing it at home is not as difficult a task as you might imagine.

The strawberry is a fruit also known as fragaria or strawberry that comes from the plant that bears the same name. This belongs to the genus of those that are classified as creeping plants, considering their growth style.

As for the experience it offers to the palate, the strawberry has a juicy body that, when bitten, can begin to melt in the mouth, leaving a taste that varies between acid and very sweet. This combination is attractive to many people, which is why its consumption is quite popular and there are a wide variety of recipes available.

On the other hand, it should be noted that they can be easily planted at home if you want to enjoy your own harvest of strawberries. However, before you can get started, you’ll need to choose the type you want to grow.

types of strawberries

Although there are currently more than 1,000 different types of strawberries, due to the hybrid combinations that have been created, three of them stand out as being among the most common as they are easy to find in the sites mentioned above:

Strawberry Mariguette

The Mariguette strawberry is the most common of all. It is juicy, very tasty and one of the most used for sowing, since it can flower several times, to provide a greater quantity of fruits.

charlotte strawberry

This alternative is not very easy to find in supermarkets, so you may have to go to nurseries if you want to plant it. Its fruit has the average size among those mentioned and can be harvested from spring.

wild strawberry

These strawberries cannot be stored, so you will hardly find them in the supermarket. Their size is small, but they are rich in flavor. Also, they would be the right choice to plant if you can’t provide the minimum amount of sunlight.

Plant strawberries at home

Transplanting strawberries is much easier, more effective, and faster than planting them, unless you have high-level experience growing or managing nurseries. Planting strawberries can be quite an art, but doing it at home using the transplant method can also provide a good crop of organic strawberries to eat.

Strawberry Plant Requirements

To know how to plant strawberries properly, you must take into consideration that, despite being easy to grow, it has certain requirements and needs subsequent care, which we will review below:

strawberry season

When to plant strawberries is one of the most important decisions, to help you be in an environment that is suitable for their growth and meets the requirements for temperature and sunlight.

In this sense, you should know that the most successful season for growing strawberries can extend from the beginning of winter to the end of summer, thus taking advantage of the cold temperatures at the beginning.

Substrate type

The recommended type of substrate should have a pH between 5 and 6, since the strawberry plant has a predilection for acid soils. Besides, it must be loose and offer both absorption and drainage, to avoid problems with the level of humidity.

drainage quality

Potted strawberries can grow just as easily as strawberries planted in the garden, though you should make sure the pot has adequate drainage that doesn’t hold excess water. This could cause diseases to the plant, appearance of mold, rot, among other evils.

Sunlight

Ideally, your plant should get about 7-10 hours of sunlight each day to thrive, but it can also tolerate shade if it’s a season without clear skies. However, strawberry plants that grow in shade bear less fruit than those that don’t.

How to transplant strawberries?

If we have caught your attention and you have become interested in growing this delicious fruit, in the following space we will show you the steps to follow so that you can transplant your own strawberries at home and grow them to enjoy all kinds of recipes:

Get the stolons

Growing strawberry seeds from scratch takes time, experience, and more dedication, but it’s all made easier if you use strawberry runners instead.

The stolons are aerial branches or stems that grow from the plant and at its tip will grow leafy shoots, so they are easy to plant for home cultivation. We advise you to choose those that already have leaves, since they are ready to go to the ground.

repose of the branches

Once you get home, soak the roots of the runners in water overnight. This step will help them hydrate so that they stick more easily and can start to grow.

Prepare the substrate

For a successful cultivation of strawberries, you must prepare the substrate properly, meeting all the requirements of this type of planting. In your pot, create holes about 6 to 8 centimeters deep to place the stolon. Close it by adding both substrate and fertilizer, compacting everything and ending by watering the entire pot with enough water.

aftercare

With the use of common watering cans, you can guarantee your plant the hydration and humidity it needs to grow, develop and generate the fruits that you long for. For the most part, you’ll want to water it every 3 days for its first 2 weeks of life, and every 2 days thereafter, preferably early in the morning.

On the other hand, keep in mind that when you grow strawberries at home, they will taste better than those in the supermarket, especially if you make sure to cut them once they have reached maturity, which is usually between 3 and 6 months after being planted.