Strawberry plants aren’t relegated to a short fruiting period during the spring. These sweet fruits may be perennials when they’re educated and strategically chosen due to their specific cultivar’s growing habit; all the 3 primary strawberry varieties fruit at different times during the growing season. The key to growing strawberries practically year-round is with the runners, or daughters, as brand new fruiting extensions to raise your crop volume.
Plant Distinct Varieties
Your perennial strawberry garden requires June-bearing, day-neutral and everbearing varieties. Depending upon your garden’s size, each cultivar requires its own dedicated row to develop and fruit. June-bearing varieties produce fruits during a short, two- to three-week period in the spring after flowering, while day-neutral strawberries fruit between spring and late autumn with good soil and climate conditions. Everbearing cultivars tend to fruit at the spring and autumn. Combining these different varieties into your lawn produces an almost ceaseless strawberry harvest.
Encourage Runners
Runners are daughter plants which extend from the first plant looking for nutrients and moisture. June-bearing strawberries produce more runners when compared with everbearing and day-neutral varieties. A brand new strawberry plant requires extensive runners to build a fantastic fruit source and removing the initial flowers in the plant encourages runner growth for all strawberry varieties. Patience is key when establishing runners because the fruit volume doesn’t appear until the following growing season. After building a powerful runner program, the perennial strawberry garden has a greater chance at fruiting consistently.
Eliminate Weeds
Weed control is essential when establishing a perennial strawberry garden. Weeds stunt runner growth by invading moisture and nutrients in the soil. Successful weed control begins before you plant any strawberries. Cultivating the soil using herbicide and covering it with black plastic mulch can help to eradicate the weeds before planting the strawberry seedling transplants. After the strawberry plants have a chance to grow and spread during the initial growing season, bud issues become a problem because the exposed soil is shaded with foliage and weed seeds can’t germinate.
Mulching for Protection
Well-maintained perennial strawberry gardens are generally viable for a few years. You don’t have to add new seedlings unless you can find weak plants growing within the strong strawberry row. During the winter, cover the strawberry crowns with natural mulch to protect the main plant body for potential spring development. Any frost or cold weather damage to the crown invites pest damage and pathogen penetration. Once spring arrives, the plants regain their vigor using all the warmer soil and climate for another successful growth year.