This guide will help you ‘Grow Your Own’ strawberries at home.
Our delicious strawberries are very popular across spring and summer – you’ll never taste better than home-grown strawberries! We supply our strawberries as ‘runners’, which are small bare-rooted plants and as ‘tray plants’, with a root ball of compost. We also sell some plants in 9cm pots.
On Receipt
Plant strawberries as soon as possible on receipt – if you have runners you’ll need to soak them for a couple of hours first. Strawberries can be planted in the ground, in tubs or pots or in grow bags. Plant about 20-25cm apart in rows, or one plant per medium-sized pot.
Watering
Make sure you keep your strawberries well-watered – particularly in dry springs. You can do this by checking the compost daily in hot weather – water if the top half-inch of compost feels dry.
Crops
They will crop in the first season after planting – often as little as 60 days after planting – and for around 4 years afterwards. Each plant throws out more runners in summer. Cut these off, so the plants focus on putting energy into fruit. Feed with high-Potash feed when flowers appear, which helps set and swell more fruits.
We stock some unusual and fun strawberry varieties – including Alpines, Pineberry and Framberry – which can all be grown in the same way. For best results, Pineberries will need a pollinator plant – which we supply.
‘Grow Your Own Strawberries’ Care Information
- Plant your strawberries as soon as possible, but only plant outdoors once all risk of frost has gone.
- Plant in a sunny and sheltered position in fertile, free-draining soil. You can improve poor soil by adding compost or well-rotted manure prior to planting.
- Give your strawberries plenty of space. Dig a hole with a trowel big enough to take the roots of the plant. Plant them 45cm (18in) apart, leaving 75cm (30in) between rows – the crown should be level with the soil surface.
- If you plant strawberries too deep, they might rot, but if you leave the crown protruding from the soil, the plant will dry out and die. Firm your plants in well and water thoroughly.
- If you’re planting into a basket, it’s best to limit yourself to three or four strawberry plants in a 30cm (12in) basket. Add water-retaining granules and slow-release fertiliser into the compost before planting.
- If growing strawberries in pots or hanging baskets, feed them every two weeks during the growing season with a balanced fertiliser. When flowering begins, switch to a high-potash liquid fertiliser to encourage good fruiting.
- As the fruits develop, place dry straw or mulching fabric underneath to stop splashes blemishing the fruit.
- After cropping, remove any straw and netting to allow better air flow around the crown of the plant.
- As the summer progresses, keep on top of weeding and continue to remove any runners. Clear away dead foliage as this can harbour pests and diseases over winter.
- Each spring spread a general-purpose fertiliser around your plants along with a mulch of well-rotted manure or compost.
Alpine Strawberries
When you grow your own Alpine strawberries, the plant will produce an abundance of very small & sweet fruits. Fruiting between June and July, plant them from January to May for summer crops in the same year or in the autumn for crops the next season.
Summer Fruiting Strawberries
Plant summer fruiting strawberries between January and May for June harvest or plant them from August to October for fruits the next season.
Everbearer Strawberries
Everbearer strawberries are fantastic for prolonging the fruiting period, they’ll produce a flush of fruit from mid-July and continue to fruit throughout August, peaking again in September right up until the first frosts.
