When to plant strawberries

June-bearers, everbearers and day-neutrals

The kind of strawberry decides when you get fruit. June-bearing varieties, like Hood and Shuksan, form next year's flower buds in late summer and fall, when days shorten and nights cool, and they fruit once, in a big flush in early summer.

Day-neutral varieties, like Albion and Seascape, form flowers regardless of day length as long as temperatures are moderate, so they fruit from early summer into fall. They slow down in hot spells above about 85°F, which is rarely a problem near the coast or in Puget Sound. Everbearers fall in between, with a summer crop and a fall crop.

Soil and planting

Strawberries want well-drained soil with a pH of about 5.5 to 6.5 and plenty of compost. Raised rows help a lot in wet winters, since crowns rot in soggy ground. Avoid beds where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant grew in the last few years, since they share Verticillium wilt, a soil fungus that also kills strawberries.

Planting depth matters more than with most plants. The crown, where the leaves meet the roots, has to sit right at the soil surface. Buried crowns rot, and exposed roots dry out.

Feeding and water

For June-bearers, the main feeding comes after harvest, because that's when the plant builds the buds for next year's crop. A lot of nitrogen in spring mostly grows leaves and soft fruit that's more prone to rot. Day-neutrals fruit all season, so give them small, regular feedings instead.

Keep the soil evenly moist, about an inch of water a week while plants flower and fruit, and water at the base in the morning so leaves and berries dry quickly.

Gray mold and other problems

Gray mold (Botrytis) is the main strawberry disease in the Northwest. It infects the flowers during wet weather at bloom, then sits quietly until the fruit ripens and turns to gray fuzz. Straw mulch to keep berries off the soil, spacing for airflow, picking often and removing moldy fruit right away all help.

Slugs eat ripe berries, root weevils notch leaf edges and their larvae feed on roots, and spotted wing drosophila can infest day-neutral berries in late summer. Picking ripe fruit promptly limits all three.

Keeping a bed productive

Strawberry plants are most productive in their second and third years, then decline as viruses and root diseases build up. Plan to replace them every three or four years with new, certified virus-free plants in a fresh spot rather than replanting runners from an old bed.

Renovate June-bearers right after harvest: cut the leaves off about an inch above the crowns, thin crowded plants, remove weeds, feed and water. The plants regrow clean foliage and build strong buds for next year.

Harvest

Strawberries stop ripening once picked, so harvest them fully red. Pick in the cool of the morning with the cap attached, refrigerate right away, and wash only just before eating. They keep a few days at most.