Strawberries belong to the Fragaria species and to the Rosaceae family. The fruits were first bred in the early part of the 18th century in Europe. Many people cultivate the fruits in their gardens because it is rich in vitamins and minerals that are important to enhance the immune system of human body. Aside from these, strawberries have anti-oxidants that are essential to reduce the risk of cancer. Below are some of the most effective tips for growing strawberries that can help you cultivate and grow the fruits successfully.
Selecting the Area
The first thing to consider if you are planning to grow strawberries is the location where the fruits will be cultivated. Since the fruits are versatile, there will be no problem planting strawberries. You can use various methods in planting the fruits. These include hanging and square gardening. Hanging is advantageous if you are planning to cultivate the annual variety of strawberry. By using this gardening method, you can successfully grow strawberries in your patio or balcony.
On the other hand, if you prefer to use the square gardening technique, you need to prepare raising beds where you will plant strawberries. Be sure that the raising beds that you will develop will help cultivate the perennial variety of strawberries. Above all, it is best to plant strawberries in an area where there is a sufficient supply of water.
Preparation of Soil
Make sure that the raised beds are placed in a loamy and sandy soil. It is also important to add organic matter such as compost to the soil where the strawberries will be grown. Gardeners can use different approaches when making beds for the fruits. These approaches include matted row, spaced row as well as hills.
Matted row is the best approach when planting and cultivating strawberries. Make sure that when you do this approach, the rows are three feet apart from each other. It is also important that the strawberries are 30 inches apart from each other.
Spaced row is used to avoid the daughter plants from reaching the mother plants. This approach is very beneficial because it can produce large fruits. In addition, it also reduces plant diseases that may affect the growth of strawberries.
Finally, hills are very helpful if you want to cultivate day-neutral strawberries. In this approach, you need to eliminate all the runners and take good care of the original plant. Hills allow the mother plant to bear more stalks and fruits that are very helpful for fruiting.
