Can You Grow Strawberries the First Year?

Growing Patterns

• June-bearing strawberries flower in early spring and produce a single annual crop of berries in June. Spring plantings produce only a few blossoms, and fruit development draws energy away from crowns and runners. The second year harvest of June-bearing strawberries provides the biggest crop, although the plants may produce for up to five years with proper management. Everbearing strawberries produce two main crops, first in June and again in late summer or early fall. Everbearing varieties also produce scattered blossoms and ripening berries throughout the summer. Day-neutral strawberries flower and fruit steadily until halted by hot summer temperatures.

Everbearing Strawberries

• Everbearing strawberry varieties such as "Ozark Beauty" and "Quinault" produce sturdy plants with multiple crowns but few runners. Setting everbearing plants only a foot apart, in from two to four rows spaced a foot apart, establishes a mature berry bed in only a few months. Planting individual strawberry plants in hills provides better drainage and warms the soil for quicker growth early in the year. Growers should stagger hills in the rows, so a hill in one row faces an empty space in the next row. Nip off all blooms until July and then allow fruit to set for the fall crop.

Day-Neutral Strawberries

• Day-neutral strawberry cultivars such as "Tristar" and "Tribute" also require cultivation in closely spaced hills and staggered rows. In temperate growing areas, planting day-neutral berries in spring gives the plants growing time through the end of June and then allows fruiting from July until frost. Extremely hot summer weather prevents berries from setting, but the crop resumes in fall. Day-neutral berries need the same 12-inch staggered spacing as for everbearers. Keeping flowers picked off the plants until the end of June gives the plants time to adapt to the new bed. Day-neutral plants produce well the first year but poorly in succeeding seasons and should be tilled under at season's end.

Fall Planting

• In areas where hot summers interfere with berry production, planting day-neutrals in the fall allows a single harvest the following summer. Consult a local Extension Service agent for advice on the best planting times for your area. Following the staggered hill planting system establishes a day-neutral strawberry bed quickly by taking advantage of cooler, wetter fall weather. Clipping off blossoms forces growth in crowns and root systems instead of fruit. The berries yield an early crop the following spring, continuing to bear until summer temperatures halt flowering. Planting day-neutral berries in fall as an annual crop avoids the extra expense of irrigation in the hottest part of the year and prevents some recurring disease problems.