Thursday, May 17, 2012

How to Plant Strawberries in a Backyard Garden

Planting strawberries in a backyard garden is a simple process, but successfully growing them will depend on your soil preparation.

Choose a kind of strawberry to plant. There are many varieties of strawberries within three main types: June Bearing, Day Neutral and Everbearing.

Pick a planting area in your backyard garden that has a lot of sun exposure. Preferably, the area should also have a slight slope to help with drainage. The planting area should not be a place where other crops have grown, such as eggplants, tomatoes, peppers or potatoes, because they are sources of root rot fungi that can kill strawberries.

Use a weed or grass spray on the planting area 2 weeks before you plant your strawberries. This should be done in the spring, when the soil is fairly dry. Add organic matter such as manure to enrich the planting area.

Prepare the soil for planting your strawberries. The planting area's soil should have a pH between 5.7 and 6.3. Add some limestone to your soil if the soil is too acidic. The limestone will increase the pH level of the soil.

Purchase strawberry plants from a reputable nursery to ensure your plants are certified as disease-free.

Dig a hole for the strawberry plant. The hole should be 1.5 times larger than the plant's roots.

Place the strawberry plant in the hole and fill in the hole with soil to secure the plant. If you are planting multiple strawberry plants, place them in a row, leaving about 18 inches between each plant. The rows should be 3 to 4 feet wide.

Water the strawberry plants once they are planted. Continue to water the plants on a weekly basis with approximately 1 to 2 inches of water for juicy strawberries.


http://www.howtoplantstrawberries.com

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