Bright red, juicy, sweet strawberries are only harvested by hobby gardeners who take all the important aspects of care into account. So that no central factor escapes your attention, we have put together the following overview.
How to properly care for strawberry plants?
In order to optimally care for strawberry plants, you should pay attention to balanced watering, use compost as fertilizer twice a year, target pruning, prune after harvest and provide protection from cold and dirt.
How to water strawberry plants properly?
Regulating the water balance of strawberries after planting is particularly about balance. Fluctuations in one direction or the other have little benefit to the growth of the fruit. What you should pay attention to:
- water regularly when dry
- do not water the flowers and leaves on the plants
- water ideally in the early morning or late evening
Which fertilizer is recommended?
In the right location with nutrient-rich and humus-rich soil, applying fertilizer twice is enough for magnificent growth. Since chemical preparations have no place on strawberries, compost is considered an ideal source of nutrients. Apply the organic fertilizer in spring and immediately after harvest in a dosage of 3-5 liters per square meter of bed area.
Should strawberry plants be pinched?
If you handle it correctly, you will promote fruit size and harvest yield through targeted pinching. On twice-bearing strawberry varieties, break out the first flowers that will flourish after planting. As a result, harvest two or three of the largest fruits and then break out the remaining inflorescences. This is how you encourage re-blooming and the volume of the next strawberries.
All flowers on trailing and climbing strawberries are pinched out by the end of May/beginning of June. Then let the flowers run wild and be rewarded with a never-ending harvest from July to October.
When and how is pruning done?
If you cultivate perennial strawberry varieties, pruning after harvest makes sense. Before the buds are created for the next season, all tendrils and all withered foliage should be radically cut off. Only the heart bud is spared. Under no circumstances should this aspect of care be postponed until next spring because inhibitors will spread throughout the plant by then.
What protection against cold and dirt is there?
Because the fruits dangle so close to the ground, they are threatened by splashing dirty water. You can effectively protect plants and strawberries with a mulching film. Since the industrially manufactured material is not welcome in the natural garden, the following alternatives are available:
- mulch the soil with straw and hay
- alternatively, spread a layer of sawdust or bark mulch
- In the flower box, a layer of expanded clay protects the strawberries
- Cover bedding plants with a mobile polytunnel (€80.00 on Amazon) until mid-June
- optionally cover with garden fleece overnight
Tips & Tricks
Among the diseases, it is particularly fungal infections that plague strawberry plants. One of the most effective preventive measures is airy, generous planting spacing. It is better to reduce the number of strawberry plants so that the entire crop is spared from mildew and the like.
