All You Need To Know About Growing Strawberries

You want to grow strawberries in your garden or on your balcony? Great!

I answer various questions for you in this regard so that you can grow strawberries at home in the best possible manner.

Time & Duration

Do strawberries grow year-round?

While you could grow strawberries year-round, I recommend growing them in the best months of the season since your strawberries will just grow much better and faster and you can also expect higher yields by doing so.

Hence, focus on growing strawberries during spring and summer to get the best results.

Do strawberries grow fast?

It will take quite a long time to grow strawberries from seed to harvest.

In fact, it can take more than one year before you can expect the first decent strawberry yield and if you don’t know what you are doing, it can take you even longer.

Thus, growing strawberries is for people with a long-term focus and you should not expect short-term gains since you will have to put in plenty of work until you see the first results.

How long does it take to grow strawberries?

If you want to grow strawberries from seed, it will take you between 1 and 2 years until you will be able to harvest the first strawberries.

If you want to get faster results, you should grow strawberries from seedlings from the garden center.

By doing so, you may be able to harvest strawberries within the first year of growing.

Do strawberries grow back every year?

Yes, most strawberry varieties grow back every year and this means that you can enjoy nice yields for many years to come without having to put in all the work of raising plants from seed to harvest every year.

Consequently, while it might take a little bit longer to grow strawberries from seed to harvest than with most other plants, you will also benefit much longer and it may therefore be well worth it.

How long do strawberry plants live?

Strawberry plants can live for more than a decade if you treat them properly and also choose a nice sunny spot in your garden or on your balcony.

You also don’t have to worry about frost once your plants are big enough since they just fall into a kind of hibernation and will come back in spring to provide you decent yields in summer or autumn.

Can you grow strawberries in fall?

Since strawberry plants are perennials and will regrow for many years to come, it doesn’t matter that much when exactly you initially grow them for the first time. Starting in fall is therefore possible.

However, please keep in mind that small strawberry plants will still be rather vulnerable to the cold and you will therefore have to raise them inside your home for an extended period of time to protect your plants against frost.

Hence, while it will be possible to grow strawberries in fall, I recommend you wait until spring to start your growing project.

Can you grow strawberries in winter?

Similar to growing strawberries in spring, you can also grow strawberries in winter if you keep them indoors and don’t expose your young plants to the cold.

After raising strawberry seedlings indoors, you can transplant them outdoors in spring and once they reach a certain size, you will no longer have to worry about the cold that much since your strawberry plants will be resistant enough to deal with those extreme climatic conditions.

Location & Climate

Will strawberries grow in shade?

It is definitely possible to grow strawberries in shady environments.

However, I would still not advise you to do so since your strawberry plants will just grow much slower compared to growing them in a sunny environment.

Also your yields tend to be lower and the flavor of your strawberries may suffer as well if you don’t provide enough sunlight to your plants.

Will strawberries grow in partial shade?

Compared to growing strawberries in complete shade, it would already be much better to grow them in half-shady environments.

By doing so, your plants can get at least a few hours of sunlight per day and this will often be enough so that your plants can grow in a decent manner.

Do strawberries grow best in full sun?

While strawberry plants grow perfectly well in half-shady environments while they are still small, they prefer full sun once they get older.

In fact, you should make sure to transplant your strawberries to a sunny spot in your garden or on your balcony so that your strawberries get the best possible conditions to grow as fast and strong as possible and to provide the maximum possible yield for you.

Will strawberries tolerate frost?

While small strawberry plants don’t like the cold at all, frost will not be a problem for mature strawberry plants.

In fact, those mature strawberry plants will just hibernate the winter and will come back in spring and regrow for many years to come without any need to protect them against the cold.

Hence, while you should only transplant strawberry seedlings outdoors once you don’t expect frost anymore, you will not have to care about protecting older strawberry plants since they have natural processes and mechanisms and will be able to do it themselves without any intervention from your side.

Do you have to protect strawberries from the sun?

While your strawberry plants are still young, it can make sense to protect them from excessive amounts of direct sunlight.

If you grow strawberries in pots, you can just choose a half-shady environment to protect your small plants from excessive radiation and sun exposure.

However, once your plants get older, they actually grow best in full sun and there will be no need to protect them against the sun anymore as long as you water your plants in a sufficient manner.

How much space do you need to grow strawberries?

For growing strawberries, you should plan around 1 square foot of space for each plant you want to grow.

Strawberries also stay relatively small in height so that you don’t have to worry about height constraints that much.

Hence, strawberries are the perfect plants in case you don’t have that much space and still want to grow your own plants at home.

Can you grow strawberries without a garden or balcony?

If you don’t have a garden or a balcony at home, you will still be able to grow strawberry plants indoors.

However, while this is possible, it will take you much more work to do so since you will just not be able to provide the same natural conditions as outdoors and you will therefore also have to deal with more issues and the overall growth will be slower as well.

Can you grow strawberries in small flats?

If you are fine with growing strawberries indoors, you can also grow them in small flats.

In fact, strawberries make great plants for small spaces since they will just not grow that big and will not take away as much space as other plants would.

Hence, even if you only live in a pretty confined space, you should not be discouraged and you can grow strawberries in small apartments as long as you can provide them with a nice sunny spot.

Can you grow strawberries in an aquarium?

If you are a rather exotic type of person, you may also think about growing strawberries in an aquarium.

While this will not be possible if you still have water in it, you can use an empty aquarium as kind of a pot and just fill it with potting soil and plant strawberries in it.

Yet, you will still have some trouble since excess water will not be able to run off properly and waterlogging will become a serious issue.

Can you grow strawberries in a terrarium?

Similar to growing strawberries in aquariums, you could also use an empty terrarium and grow strawberry plants in it.

However, you will face the same issue regarding waterlogging and chances are that the roots of your strawberry plants will rot sooner or later.

Hence, while it might be possible to grow strawberries in a terrarium in the short run, I recommend you just use pots to be happy with your growing project in the long run.

Can you grow strawberries in a bucket?

You can also use a bucket for growing strawberries. Just make some small holes into the bottom of your bucket so that water can run off properly and fill it with potting soil.

After that, your bucket will just work like a regular pot and there will be no problems when it comes to growing strawberries and other plants in it.

Can you grow strawberries in bags?

It will also be possible to grow strawberries in bags.

Similar to growing them in buckets, you just have to make some small holes into the lower end of the bag so that excess water can run off and you can fill your bag with potting soil and grow your strawberry plants in it.

Can you grow strawberries in hanging baskets?

Since strawberry plants will not grow that big and also the fruits will not get too heavy, you would also be able to grow strawberries in hanging baskets.

In fact, strawberries are much better suited for this than many other heavier plants.

Can you grow strawberries in rainy climatic zones?

While you will be able to grow strawberries in rainy climatic zones, they will just not grow as well as in sunny environments and also your yields tend to be much lower.

Yet, if you have no choice and also don’t want to move away from this rainy climatic zone, you can just give it a try and you will see from the results how well you will be able to grow strawberries with such conditions.

Can you grow strawberries in tropical climatic zones?

While strawberries like the sun, they usually don’t like tropical climatic conditions.

Hence, if you live in a climatic zone with extremely moist air, your strawberries may just not grow that well and mold may become a problem as well once your plants produce fruits.

Can you grow strawberries in regions with permafrost?

While mature strawberry plants are not that sensitive to frost, it will still not be possible to grow them outdoors in regions with permafrost.

If you live in one of those regions, you will only have the option to grow strawberries indoors.

Will strawberries grow indoors?

Yes, it is definitely possible to grow strawberries indoors.

Yet, you should not expect the same yields since you will just not be able to provide as natural conditions as outdoors and it may also take you much longer to grow strawberries from seed to harvest.

Do strawberries grow on vines?

No, strawberries don’ grow on vines but grow on the most common sort of plants that you have likely seen many times in the garden center.

Do strawberries grow underground?

Strawberries also don’t grow underground.

They rather grow on plants above the ground and you will also harvest them there in contrast to other plants like potatoes that you can harvest underground.

Do strawberries grow in the wild?

There are indeed many wild strawberry species in forests and meadows. You can even pick them and make some nice jam.

You could also just grab those plants and transplant them into your own garden if you want to have a wild strawberry variety at home.

However, make sure that you know what you are doing so that you don’t pick fruits that look like strawberries but which are actually toxic.

What is the best orientation for growing strawberries?

The best orientation to grow strawberries is south since your strawberries just get the most sun if you plant them in south direction.

However, you can also grow strawberries in west or east direction since they will still get some sun there.

Avoid growing strawberries in north orientation since they would not get enough sun and would grow much slower due to that.

Can strawberry plants grow with indirect sunlight?

You can also grow strawberries with indirect sunlight in greenhouses or indoors.

Yet, full direct sun would still be the best way to go when it comes to growing strawberries and would deliver the fastest growth behavior and also maximum yield.

When to grow strawberries from seed?

If you want to grow strawberries from seed, I recommend you start in early spring and grow strawberry seedlings indoors before transplanting them outdoors later in the year when you don’t expect frost anymore.

Where do strawberries grow best?

Strawberries grow best in sunny spots on your balcony or in your garden.

You should also give them enough space to develop so that your plants don’t have to compete for sunlight and nutrients with each other so that you can get the best results from your growing project.

Where to grow strawberries in pots?

You should choose a sunny location on your balcony or on your porch if you want to grow strawberries in pots.

You should also make sure that you use pots that are big enough so that your plants will have enough soil and get enough nutrients to grow well.

Where to grow strawberries indoors?

You should make sure that growing conditions will be as natural as possible indoors.

Hence, make sure that you place your strawberry plants at a nice sunny spot inside your four walls and that you also water them in a natural rhythm.

Can you grow strawberries in water?

Growing strawberries in water without using any soil is almost impossible since your strawberry plants will just not get enough nutrients.

Sure, you could use lots of fertilizer to mitigate this issue.

However, I still don’t recommend you do so since this is a rather advanced technique and also cannot be considered natural.

Can you grow strawberries with LED lights?

You can also use LED lights in case you want to grow strawberries indoors and are not able to provide a sunny spot inside your home.

However, don’t expect that LEDs will be fully able to replace natural sunlight.

Moreover, you will also have to spend lots of energy and this will be pretty bad for your planet.

Can you grow strawberries in dark rooms?

Growing strawberries in dark rooms is not recommendable since strawberries grow best in full sun and growing them in rooms with insufficient lighting will therefore slow down the growth of your strawberries and you will also not be able to get decent yields.

Soil Requirements

Can you reuse soil for growing strawberries the next year?

Since strawberries are perennial plants and grow back for many years, you will not be able to reuse the soil for other growing projects anytime soon.

However, once your strawberries finally reach the end of their lifespan, you will be able to reuse the soil.

Yet, make sure that you add some fertilizer to this soil mix to make it rich in nutrients again.

Do strawberries grow well in waterlogged soil?

Similar to most other plants, strawberries don’t like waterlogged soil at all and you should therefore make sure that excess water can run off properly so that the roots of your strawberry plants will not rot.

Do strawberries grow in acidic, neutral or alkaline soil?

Strawberries grow best in slightly acidic soil with a pH between 6.2. and 6.5.

However, most strawberry varieties are quite tolerant towards moderate alterations in this regard and you will therefore be perfectly fine by just using standard potting soil from the store.

Will strawberries grow in sandy soil?

It is definitely possible to grow strawberries in sandy soil.

However, they grow even better in potting soil from your garden center and if you want to maximize your yields, you should get this potting soil or soil that has been specifically mixed for growing strawberries.

Will strawberries grow in clay soil?

Growing strawberries in clay soil is not advisable since clay soil will just not be loose enough and excess water will not be able to run off in a proper manner.

In turn, the roots of your strawberry plants may start to rot sooner or later.

Will strawberries grow in compost?

Strawberries will also grow well in compost.

Hence, if you have a composter at home, you can just use the material in there.

Since this compost will often be rich in nutrients, there will also not be any need to use plenty of additional fertilizer.

Plant Care

Do strawberries need a lot of water?

Since strawberry plants will not grow that big, they also don’t need much water.

However, the amount of water you will need to grow strawberries also depends on the climatic zone you live in.

If you live in hot and dry climatic zones, you will have to water your plants a lot.

However, if you live in rainy and moist climatic zones, you will not have to water your plants much and you can rather rely on natural forces to do the work for you.

Do you have to water strawberries on a regular basis?

You should have a regular watering schedule for your strawberry plants so that you don’t forget to water them sufficiently.

However, if you grow strawberries outdoors, you will have to adjust your schedule to outdoor conditions.

For instance, if it rained a lot the past days, you will not have to water your plants since they will have got enough rainwater.

Just use your common sense and you will be good to go in this regard.

When to stake strawberries?

You should stake your strawberries as soon as they reach a height of around 4 inches.

Before that mark, it just doesn’t make sense to stake them since your strawberry plants will not be as vulnerable to wind as if they were bigger.

What to tie strawberries with?

You can just use a piece of cord and some sticks and tie each strawberry plant to one stick that you place next to each plant.

By doing so, you can protect your plants against outdoor conditions and can also stabilize them quite a lot.

What to do when strawberry plants turn yellow?

If the leaves of your strawberry plants turn yellow, there is usually something wrong with your watering behavior or with nutrient supply.

In such a case, you should make sure that your plants get enough water and you may also want to add some fertilizer and see if the symptoms vanish within the next weeks.

How to protect strawberries against wind?

You can just stake and tie your strawberry plants to sticks and they will be able to withstand harsh winds or even serious storms.

Other measures are usually not necessary.

How to protect strawberries against heavy rain?

There will not be the need to protect strawberry plants against rain once they reach a certain size.

However, if your plants are still young, you can protect them by stabilizing them with cord and sticks or you could also use an umbrella that can keep away heavy rain to a certain extent.

How to protect strawberries against hail?

It will be pretty difficult to protect your strawberry plants against hail.

If you grow strawberries in pots, you can just move your pots to a secure space when you expect hail.

However, if you grow strawberries in your garden, you will not have this luxury and you will just have to hope for the best.

Should you pinch out strawberry plants?

There is no need to pinch out strawberries. Just let them grow in a natural manner and if you follow the advice in this article, they will grow perfectly fine without you having to pinch them.

Where to pinch strawberry plants?

If you still want to pinch your strawberry plants due to your own reasons, you should do so in your garden and not indoors to avoid a mess.

You can also reuse the pinched plant material to make compost out of it and use it as natural fertilizer later in the year.

Can you grow strawberries without fertilizer?

Whether you need to add fertilizer to your strawberry plants greatly depends on the initial soil mix you grow them in.

If the soil is already rich in nutrients, there will be no need to add additional fertilizer for the first years.

However, in the long run, you may want to add some fertilizer to assure stable yields for many years to come.

Should you cover your strawberries to protect them against frost?

There will be no need to cover your strawberry plants to protect them against frost.

Instead, you can just leave them as they are in winter and your strawberry plants will still grow back in spring.

If you want to do some extra work in this regard, you could also add some straw to your strawberry plants to protect the roots from the cold.

Pests & Diseases

Can you grow strawberries without using pesticides?

If you provide good growing conditions and also choose a good spot for your strawberry plants, you will usually not have to use that many pesticides.

If you are really good at what you are doing and have some experience in growing plants, you may not need to use any pesticides at all.

However, if pest infestations are too big, you may have to use some substances to treat your plants since they would not deliver high yields otherwise.

Should you use natural or chemical pesticides for growing strawberries?

In case of serious pest infestations, you should use natural pesticides instead of chemical ones since those natural alternatives are just much eco-friendlier and your strawberries will also be more organic.

What are the most common strawberry pests?

Weevils and other harmful bugs are quite common when it comes to growing strawberries outdoors.

However, there are also many other pests like aphids or spider mites you may have to deal with when growing strawberries.

How to protect strawberries against pests?

If you want to know how to get rid of those annoying companions, you should definitely check out how to get rid of strawberry pests and plant diseases and also how to get rid of garden pests.

Growing Difficulty

Are strawberries good plants to grow for children?

Since it will take quite a long time to grow strawberries from seed to harvest and it may take more than one year before you can harvest your first strawberries, strawberries are not the best plants to grow with kids.

Instead, I would choose something that takes not as long.

For example, good alternatives to grow with children would be radishes or lettuce since those vegetables can be grown in a much shorter period of time.

Are strawberries good plants for a school project?

For school projects, I would also not recommend growing strawberries since school kids are often not patient enough and since growing strawberries from seed to harvest takes quite a long time, those kids may get bored with it.

However, you could still grow strawberries as a school project by making a shortcut and using seedlings instead of seeds since you could harvest strawberries much soon due to that.

Is growing strawberries difficult?

Growing strawberries is not difficult at all.

However, it still requires some patience since it can take quite a long time to grow strawberries from seed to harvest.

Harvest

What color do ripe strawberries have?

Ripe strawberries will have a deep red color.

Hence, if your strawberries are still green, you have to wait a little bit longer until you will be able to harvest them.

Can you dry strawberry seeds?

While it is possible to dry strawberry seeds and to reuse them for future growing projects, extracting strawberry seeds is not easy since they are so small and you may just be better off by getting strawberry seeds from the store instead.

Can strawberries get overripe?

Yes, strawberries can get overripe and may even rot if you don’t harvest them in time.

Hence, make sure that you check your strawberries on a regular basis to find the optimal harvesting time and to get the highest quality possible.

What parts of a strawberry plant can you eat?

You can not only eat strawberries, but also the leaves of strawberry plants.

However, you still have to figure out whether strawberry leaves are tasty or not in your opinion and many people just don’t like the taste of them at all.

Toxicity

Are strawberry leaves edible?

Contrary to popular belief, strawberry leaves or not toxic but are indeed edible.

Yet, the taste is still kind of exotic and it may take you a while to really enjoy those leaves.

If you don’t, you can just dispose of them into the garbage or your compost and reuse the plant material for future growing projects.

Are strawberry plants toxic for pets?

You should keep away your pets from strawberry plants since they can cause all sorts of irritations.

Moreover, not only your pets may get hurt, but also your plants may suffer.

This is not only true for strawberries, but also for many other plants.

Hence, make sure that you install a fence around your strawberry plants or take other protective measures in case you have pets at home.

Additional Questions

Is growing strawberries expensive?

No, you can grow strawberries even if you are on a budget.

If you want to make your strawberry growing project as cheaply as possible, you should just grow them in your garden since you will not have to spend any money on soil or pots.

Moreover, you can also just use a strawberry from the store instead of buying strawberry seeds. Hence, it is possible to grow strawberries at home with almost zero costs.

Is growing strawberries fun?

I really enjoy growing strawberries at home.

In fact, growing strawberries and other plants has become a really nice hobby for me and it also helps me to handle stressful periods since sitting next to those plants just gives me a feeling of peace and balance.

Do strawberries grow on trees?

No, strawberries don’t grow on trees but they rather grow on plants.

If you don’t know how strawberry plants look yet, you may want to check out the videos in this article or you may also want to visit your local garden center.

Do strawberries grow from flowers?

Yes, strawberries grow from flowers and if your strawberry plants don’t produce any flowers, you can be sure that you will also not be able to harvest any fruits later in the year.

Hence, if there are no flowers on your plants in late spring or summer, there is something wrong with your plants and you should figure out what it is if you want to get decent yields in future years.

How many strawberry plants should you grow per pot?

In general, you should only grow one strawberry plant per pot.

However, if your pot is quite big, you may also be able to grow two or even more plants in one pot.

Just make sure that your plants don’t have to compete for sunlight or nutrients and you will be good to go.

Which animals eat strawberry plants?

Slugs and other wild animals would love to feed on your strawberry plants. It is therefore crucial that you install a slug fence or take other protective measures if you want to grow strawberries in your garden.

Will your pets eat your strawberries?

There had been cases where pets have eaten strawberry plants and there had also been cases where they suffered from serious health issues.

Hence, make sure that you protect your plants as well as your pets by separating your pets and your strawberry plants somehow.

Why strawberries grow small?

If your strawberries grow small, it usually has to do with a lack of nutrients in the soil.

In such a case, you should use some fertilizer to make the soil richer in nutrients and you should also provide your strawberry plants with more space so that they can develop in a healthy manner in future years.

What to grow with strawberries?

I’ve written a full article on the best companion plants for strawberries.

Hence, make sure to check it out if you want to know what to grow with strawberries.

Can you grow strawberries from strawberries?

You can also just use an entire strawberry and put it in into the soil.

After a few weeks, you should see many strawberry seedlings reaching the soil surface.

After a few more weeks, it will be time to transplant them to bigger pots so that each seedling has more space to grow in a decent manner.

Can you grow strawberries from strawberry slices?

You can also just use a part of a strawberry or slice it and put a slice into the soil.

This will also be sufficient to raise some seedlings, at least if you make sure that there had been some seeds in the strawberry slice you used.

Can you grow strawberries without seeds?

While it will also be possible to grow strawberries from cuttings, you will still need one strawberry plant to start with.

Hence, raising strawberry plants without seeds will only be possible if you rely on seedlings from your garden center.

Otherwise, you will still have to get some strawberry seeds to start with.

Do you have to pollinate strawberry plants?

If you grow strawberries outdoors, you will not have to pollinate them by hand since there will be enough insects around that will do the job for you.

However, if you grow strawberries indoors, you will have to pollinate them by hand since there will just be a lack of insects that could do the work for you indoors.

How to grow big strawberries?

If you want to maximize your strawberry yield, you have to provide sufficient nutrients to your plants and you should also choose a spot where your strawberries get at least a few hours of direct sunlight per day.

Also make sure to keep away pests and other animals that may try to feed on your plants. If you do all of those things, chances are that you will be pretty happy with your yields.

Can you grow strawberries commercially?

Growing strawberries commercially is pretty difficult since it would require big machines, lots of space and you would also have to build a strong distribution network.

Hence, if you are not really passionate about it, you should definitely just enjoy growing strawberries as a hobby and not turn it into a serious business to avoid all the trouble that comes along with it.

Can you grow strawberries from fresh seeds?

Yes, growing strawberries from fresh seeds is definitely possible.

As mentioned earlier, you can just use a fresh strawberry from the store and put it into the soil and you will be able to get many seedlings out of it.

Can you grow strawberries from dried seeds?

You can also just rely on dried seeds from the store to grow strawberries.

However, please note that the germination rate of those dried seeds is often rather poor and you should therefore plant many more seeds than you want to get seedlings.

Can you grow strawberries from rotten fruits?

Growing strawberries from rotten fruits would also be possible in theory.

Yet, I would still not recommend you do so since this is rather unhygienic and also not a pretty picture.

Can you grow strawberries from cuttings?

Yes, you can grow strawberries from cuttings.

Yet, this is much more difficult than growing them from seeds and if you don’t know what you are doing, you may be disappointed with the results you might get.

Should you use a strawberry growing kit to grow strawberries?

You could also just use a strawberry growing kit.

While those kits are usually much more expensive compared to just getting everything you need separately, it can still make sense to use one of those growing kids if you are still a beginner when it comes to growing strawberries for your first growing year.

Should you talk to your strawberries?

While some people claim that talking to strawberries would have positive effects on their growth behavior, you should use your time for other more important things in my opinion instead and I really don’t believe in those things at all.

Should you plant strawberries at half moon or full moon?

Similar to talking to strawberry plants, I also don’t think that different moon phases will make any difference in the success of your strawberry growing project.

I hope you enjoyed my article and have found everything you were looking for.

If you want to get even more information on growing strawberries at home, make sure to also have look at my article that gives you a step-by-step approach on how to grow strawberries from seed to harvest.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry

Own experience

About the Author

My name is Andreas and I’m really passionate about our environment and also about growing plants. In fact, I have grown several different plants over many years. I love to see my plants grow and also always try new things to improve my overall conditions at home.

In my blog posts, I want to share my experiences with you so that you can become successful in growing various different plants and improving your home as well, even though you might still be a beginner right now.