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luvncannin

strawberry bed

10 years ago

Any thing I should specifically do or not do? I have great soil and compost to mix in. Anything else like ashes, companions, special mulch or will dry grass do

Comments (2)

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Strawberries can be very frustrating to grow because they need really well-drained soil, steady moisture and protection from very strong wind. If you have alkaline soil, you need to fix its pH first, and if you cannot give them ample moisture and protection from the wind, you might want to rethink growing them.

    Strawberries grow best in soil with a pH that is somewhat acidic to neutral. They need great drainage, so I planted mine in a raised bed with the best, most well-amended and most humusy soil we have. I improved that soil in that area for 10 years before finally planting strawberries there. Prior to that, I only grew them in containers. The raised bed they are in has had tons of compost and other organic matter added to it over the years and is far superior to any other raised bed in our garden. Strawberries have been happy there in that location (after failing to produce well in other locations in the same garden) for 3 or 4 years now. Unfortunately that rich, humusy soil is very attractive to pill bugs and sow bugs, so they often prey upon the strawberry fruit. Other than that, I have some new plants growing in containers as well, and so far the pill bugs and sow bugs haven't discovered the plants in those containers yet.

    Strong, hot wind is hard on strawberry plants, and they do not tolerate drought well. They also get diseases easily if their foliage stays wet a lot, so you'd probably have better luck if you water them with a soaker hose or drip irrigation instead of using sprinklers. If you can't give them good wind protection, I think the west Texas winds will be so hard on them that the plants won't produce well even if they survive.

    Also, every living creature on this earth seems to enjoy eating strawberries, so you'll need some way to protect them from every living creature that wanders through the garden, including birds. (I use bird netting suspended over hoops.)

    In our garden, strawberries are an occasional pleasure, and I often nibble them while working in the garden, but they aren't a huge producer for me like tomatoes and peppers are. I have alkaline soil and water and, even when well-amended, the soil is more alkaline than they like, and the drought years are hard on them. They're always happy and productive from late winter through late spring though.

    So, if you still think after reading the above that you want to grow them, then here's OSU's guide to growing strawberries in the home garden:

    Growing Strawberries in the Home Garden

    Because of the wind you have there in west Texas, you might think about growing them in low tunnels that could provide protection from the wind and from blowing soil/dust/dirt. I don't know how well they'll handle being in low tunnels in your summer heat though, but without the low tunnels, the wind might get them. So, here's a guide from TAMU on growing strawberries in low tunnels:

    Strawberry Guide for High Plains Gardeners

    With lots of the veggies we grow, we can get away with less-than-adequate soil improvement and get really great production anyhow. Strawberries demand a lot of attention be paid to their soil and moisture levels and to their growing conditions. To have really happy strawberry plants you need to move to northeastern or eastern OK where the soils and moisture levels (most years) are more to their liking. Growing them in your part of Texas is going to be a big challenge. Good luck with them.

  • 10 years ago

    I love a challenge and little man lives strawberries.

    So far I have a bed raised 8 inches in soil that was the holding pen for cattle years ago. I double dug and will position lattice panel on nw corner.