Care for strawberry plants in spring

Protecting your strawberries producing nicely 12 months after 12 months takes a bit of care. The following tips present you methods to prune strawberries and methods to clear your strawberry beds for the brand new rising season.

We’ve had a strawberry patch for years now. And most years it has achieved very well. Producing plenty of strawberries for us. Yr after 12 months.

Reading: Care for strawberry plants in spring

About 5 years in the past, I moved our strawberries to their very personal raised mattress. They preferred their new house, however I seen a couple of areas have been naked after this previous winter.

There have been plenty of useless leaves and the strawberries simply weren’t taken off like I believed they need to.

So I knew this 12 months I wanted to perform a little strawberry patch upkeep.

Right here’s what I did and what ought to be achieved for your individual strawberries.

Steps to Clear and Prune Your Strawberries

In only a few steps, you’ll be able to rejuvenate your strawberry mattress. Serving to your strawberry patch preserve producing for you 12 months after 12 months.

Step 1 Eradicating Lifeless Leaves

After winter there could be plenty of useless leaves laying in the strawberry patch or mattress.

Eradicating these useless leaves can filter out spores or different gadgets on the leaves. That may unfold illness to your strawberries or make them mould.

And eradicating the useless leaves, removes houses for slugs and different pest. To allow them to extra simply be faraway from the mattress.

You should use your fingers to tug out the useless strawberry leaves or a rake.

A rake will pull up extra of the older plants that could be previous their prime and depart in the newer, smaller plants.

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My most popular technique is to make use of my fingers since my strawberries are in a raised mattress. However both technique will work.

If in case you have an older mattress and need to take away the older strawberry plants that aren’t producing. Use a rake to scrub the older plants and leaves out.

Step 2. The way to Prune Strawberries

After you clear the leaves, you may even see a couple of or fairly a couple of runner vines. These are the vines that go from the grownup plant to the brand new child plants.

And earlier than the rising season you must prune your strawberry runners. That is greatest achieved in late February or early March.

Through the rising season, I normally preserve the brand new child plants in the mattress after which in the spring, I prune them from the grownup plant.

If the brand new child plant is rooted in, there’s nothing extra to do. However whether it is unfastened, be sure you plant it.

Some folks minimize their runners every year and discard the runners. However I by no means do.

Protecting the runners helps to maintain our strawberry patch stuffed with plants which can be youthful and older and producing nicely.

Step 3 Feeding and Mulching Your Strawberry Plants

As soon as your strawberry mattress has the leaves eliminated and the runners have been separated and replanted. It’s time to mulch the strawberry patch.

I like to make use of mushroom compost in my strawberry patch. I lay a layer of compost across the strawberries and as I water it helps to feed the plants.

It additionally helps to maintain the strawberries moist by holding the water in the soil. And defending them from drying out. Which is de facto necessary when they’re setting the fruit.

Some gardeners will say don’t add any fertilizer till the fruit is approaching. Fertilizing too heavy earlier than the fruit is approaching can encourage heavy leaf progress and never a lot fruit.

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I’ve discovered the addition of compost when cleansing the mattress, will help feed the plants with out inflicting them to get too leafy.

A Few Strawberry Plant Care Ideas…

The way to Prune Strawberry Runners

When pruning runners, be sure you minimize the runner vine near the plant. However not so shut to break the roots.

If the brand new child strawberry plant has rooted in, there isn’t the rest to do. If it’s unfastened, plant it.

When is the Greatest Time to Prune Strawberries?

Earlier than the rising season you must prune your strawberry runners. That is greatest achieved in late February or early March.

When is the Greatest Time to Fertilize Strawberries?

The very best time to fertilize your strawberries is after the harvest is finished. As soon as your strawberries end producing.

That’s the good time to present them a lift with a dose of balanced fertilizer. One thing near 12-12-12 in composition.

Ought to I Lower the Leaves off Strawberry Plants?

It’s best to take away any useless leaves however depart the inexperienced leaves on the plant. Solely take away the useless leaves.

These are 3 simple steps to assist clear and prune your strawberries. And get them the vitamins and mulch they should produce nicely for the upcoming rising season.

If you wish to be taught extra about rising strawberries, this strawberry rising information will help. It provides you all the pieces you must develop candy strawberries in your individual yard backyard.

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