How to Grow Strawberries from Bare-Root Plants

Strawberries are one of the most rewarding fruits to grow at home. They are packed with flavour, full of nutrients, and taste far better than anything store-bought. But growing strawberries successfully requires proper care, the right variety, and a bit of patience. This guide covers everything you need to know on how to grow strawberries from bare-root plants.

How to Grow Strawberries

Try to find a better tasting strawberry than the one you grow in your garden. Let me tell you, it will never happen.

Strawberries at the store are harvested at half ripeness, when they are still white! Who wants to eat a white strawberry that has no flavour?

Additionally, who wants to wait 5-10 years for a fruit tree to produce fruit? Strawberries will bear fruit in their first year, so you don’t have to wait nearly as long.

That being said, let’s get right into how to grow strawberries from bare-root plants.

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Understanding Strawberry Varieties

It can get a little bit confusing when learning about strawberry varieties, but here’s everything you need to know:

• Summer Fruiting / June Bearing: These varieties produce all of their fruit within about 2-3 weeks in the summer. They generally produce larger berries and will not produce after this period. They’re great if you want lots of strawberries to make jams, jellies, and other preserves.
  • Early Season: These are June bearing varieties that produce fruit in early summer (or spring in warmer climates).
  • Mid Season: These June bearing varieties produce berries in mid summer.
  • Late Season: Late season varieties produce fruit in late summer and early fall.
• Everbearing / Perpetual: As the name suggests, these varieties produce fruit throughout the summer in small batches. The fruits are generally medium-sized and they are used more for fresh eating because they produce in a steady supply. They produce all the way until early fall.
• Day Neutral: These varieties are similar to everbearing in the sense that they produce fruit all season long. The only difference is that these ones are bred more for warmer climates, as they will produce fruit from spring all the way until late fall, the entire growing season.
• Alpine / Wild: As the name suggests, these varieties are wild and are often found in the wilderness. They produce smaller fruits throughout the summer and fall. The flavour is much more intense. They can even be found growing wild right here in North America.

The variety that you grow depends on what you want to get out of your strawberry harvest.

If you want to make lots of jam and other preserves, then June bearing varieties are right for you. If you want to eat most of the berries fresh over the summer, the everbearing varieties are better.

Here are some of my favourite strawberry varieties:

1. Eversweet: Bright red, cone-shaped berries appear throughout the spring, summer, and fall, and can tolerate extremely hot temperatures.
2. Mara Des Bois: This French variety is perfect for growing in containers, grow bags, or raised beds.
3. Flavorfest: This June bearing is very large, juicy, and flavourful, and it can tolerate colder temperatures (hardy to zone 4).

Generally, I recommend growing a few different varieties. For example, with June bearing varieties, choose at least one early season, one mid season, and one late season.

This gives you a constant supply of strawberries throughout the growing season.

Why Choose Bare-Root Strawberry Plants?

Bare-root strawberries are strawberries that are sold without soil, meaning the roots are bare. They typically only have a few small leaves and are dormant when sold.

I like using bare-root plants over container plants because they are much more cost effective and they establish quicker.

Think about it, the Eversweet variety gives you 25 bare-root plants for only $23; that’s less than a dollar each! There’s no way you would get that price with potted plants.

Additionally, because the roots are exposed to the elements, they will establish in your garden much easier. Potted plants take longer because they’re already used to growing in their pot.

Can You Grow Strawberries from Seed?

Yes, of course you can grow strawberries from seed. However, I wouldn’t do it if you want a good harvest.

Many strawberry seeds need to undergo a process known as cold stratification. This is when you expose the seeds to a period of cold and wet conditions to simulate the winter.

After the period is over (roughly 2-4 weeks), they will germinate.

But even after germination, they are particularly slow to mature and they can take a while before you get fruit.

So growing strawberries from seed can be a fun experiment; even I think it’s cool. But I wouldn’t do it if you want the best fruit you can grow.

Sunlight Conditions

Strawberries are fruiting crops, so to get those juicy berries, they need lots of sunlight.

Aim for at least 6 hours of direct sunlight every day, but just know that the more they get, the better. If you can give them 8-10 hours, then it will be great for fruit production.

Strawberries can’t grow in shade. Fruit production will drop and you won’t get a good harvest.

Preparing the Soil

Strawberries are heavy feeders, meaning they use up a lot of nutrients from the soil to grow properly.

Make sure to amend your soil with lots of well-rotted compost or manure. This will give structure to the soil but will also give nutrients to the plants once broken down.

I also like to add a blood and bone meal fertilizer to the soil. This gives lots of nitrogen and phosphorus for early root and leaf growth.

If you have soil that is particularly clay-heavy, you should amend it first. Strawberries don’t do well in heavy clay soil. Organic matter and perlite should do the trick.

However, they also don’t grow well in sandy soil. Sandy soil drains water too quickly, meaning the plants can’t absorb any of it. Weirdly, organic matter also fixes this problem. Don’t use perlite for sandy soil, as it may increase the drainage.

Planting Bare-Root Strawberry Plants

Before planting your bare-root strawberries, make sure to soak them in a bucket of water for a couple of hours. This wakes up the plants and gets the roots ready for planting.

In colder climates, bare-root strawberries should be planted in early spring. This gives them enough time to establish before the heat sets in.

As soon as you can get them in the ground, start planting!

Space the plants about 12-18 inches (30-45 cm) apart, depending on what the variety says. This gives them enough space to develop roots and runners to fill in the space.

You can plant them closer together if you want to grow more, without waiting for runners to fill in the extra space. But of course, this will cost you more upfront.

It’s also important to get the depth correct; the crown must be slightly above the soil level. The crown is the part of the plant where the roots meet the leaves.

If the crown is below the soil, it will rot and the plant will die. If it’s far above the soil, then the roots will dry out very quickly and, you guessed it, the plant will die.

After planting, make sure to thoroughly water all the plants; this is what will help them to break dormancy.

You also need to mulch the plants to protect from late-season frosts in spring and to retain moisture.

But mulch also helps to keep the strawberries off the ground, where they could rot. The mulch creates a dry environment for the berries to rest on.

Watering Strawberries

Strawberries have shallow roots, with most growing in the top 6 inches of the soil. This means that the soil needs to be kept consistently moist to prevent the plants from drying out.

When the fruits start to develop, the plants will also start to take up more water to produce juicy fruits. This is also when we need to increase the watering.

Fertilizing Strawberries

To produce flavourful fruit, strawberries need a fertilizer higher in phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen is important as well, but strawberries are very sensitive to over-fertilization, especially with nitrogen.

I tend to use a balanced fertilizer at the time of planting, and then taper it out to a high phosphorus and potassium fertilizer when flowers and fruit appear.

I like using bone meal, but you can also use a specific berry fertilizer. These work well for me and I continue to apply them about once every 3-4 weeks throughout the flowering and fruiting season.

Once it starts to get colder in late summer and fall, dial down the fertilizer to allow the strawberries to naturally go dormant. Too much fertilizer can prevent the strawberries from going dormant.

Growing Strawberries in Containers / Hanging Baskets

Because strawberries don’t grow very tall (only about 1 foot), growing them in containers and hanging baskets makes the fruits easy to harvest.

It also keeps the fruit off the ground, so pests will have a hard time getting to them.

I like using grow bags, 5 gallon buckets, and hanging baskets.

However, these containers tend to dry out much faster than in-ground or raised beds. So we need to prepare the soil accordingly to hold onto moisture.

Make sure to add lots of organic matter, like compost and coco coir. These are great for holding onto moisture.

Another benefit with containers is that you can move them around your garden to follow the sun. If you know that they won’t get 8-10 hours of direct sunlight in one spot, then you can pick them up and move them to another spot once the sun has passed.

You can keep doing this every day throughout the day to ensure they get enough sunlight.

Be aware, however, that you may need to water container-grown strawberries more. Because water is lost so easily in containers, you probably have to water every day during the summer.

Can You Grow Strawberries Vertically?

Vertical towers are also a great way to grow strawberries. They take up way less space and can grow so many plants.

The Garden Tower 2 can hold 50 plants and it allows them to grow vertically off the ground.

But because the plants are planted around the tower, one side will get more sun than the other side. So to avoid this, just rotate the tower every day to ensure both sides get enough sun.

Will Strawberries Grow on a Trellis?

Unless you make a specific planting wall for growing strawberries, they won’t climb an actual trellis.

Strawberries only grow to a maximum of about 1 foot, so there is no need for a trellis.

Should You Prune Off Runners?

Runners are small offshoots that grow from the main plant and produce new, genetically identical daughter plants.

These plants will start to touch the soil and produce roots. Eventually, the daughters will grow larger and grow into full-sized plants.

The reason why we plant strawberries so far apart is because they produce runners that fill in the space.

So there is some debate about whether or not runners should be left on the plant. Personally, I think it’s beneficial to prune off all runners in the first year of growth.

This allows the original mother plants to establish in the soil before putting energy into producing new daughter plants.

After the first year, allow only 3-4 runners per strawberry plant to grow into full-sized plants. This will help to fill in the gaps of the garden bed to give you more delicious berries.

Once the bed fills in, then you shouldn’t let any more runners propagate in there. Instead, allow the runners to root on a small pot of soil. This will give you small plants that you can plant in other parts of your garden.

Since strawberry plants only have good production for about 3-5 years, they need to be replaced to keep production going in your garden. We can do this with all of the runners.

Once the original strawberries get too old to produce large amounts of fruit, you can replace them with the daughter plants.

This means that you won’t have to buy new plants to replace the old ones.

Harvesting Strawberries

Generally, strawberries are ready to harvest about 4-6 weeks after the flowers have developed. And you’ll know when they’re ready because of their bright red colour.

Don’t harvest them when they are still white, only harvest fully red berries. This ensures that the full flavour of the fruit is there.

Additionally, to preserve fruit freshness, pick them every 3 days. This reduces the chances that pests will start to eat the fruits because you’re not leaving them on the plant for as long.

Harvest them very gently, preferably by cutting it off at the stem. But obviously nobody is pulling out their pruning shears for a strawberry.

Just try not to pull the fruit hard; this can damage both the fruit and the plant.

Strawberry Pests and Diseases

There are a few pests and diseases that can reduce your strawberry crop, so let’s go over them.

1. Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails are probably the most common strawberry pests for home gardeners.

To learn all about them, check out my article on how to deter slugs naturally.

But for strawberries, slugs eat both the leaves and the ripe fruits. And you’ll notice them because there’ll be round holes taken out of the fruit.

If you look into these holes, you might even see the slug feasting. You might also see potato bugs (known as pill bugs in other countries) or millipedes inside the hole.

But don’t worry, the potato bugs and millipedes didn’t cause the hole, they just took their chance at the hole that was already made by the slugs.

So to get rid of the slugs, firstly keep the strawberries off the ground. Add a thick layer of mulch so the fruits are not sitting directly on the soil. This reduces the chance of slugs because mulch is generally drier than soil.

You can also use a simple beer trap. Fill a small container with beer and put it at the soil level so slugs can easily slide into it.

They are naturally attracted to the fermented yeasty smell that comes from beer.

2. Aphids

Another common strawberry pest is the not-so-humble aphid. To get a full overview, check out my article on how to get rid of aphids naturally.

You’ll see aphids around the growing tips of your strawberry plants, wherever the new leaves emerge. They can also be around the leaf stems and the undersides of the leaves.

They suck out sap from the plant, causing it to wither and die.

The simplest way to get rid of aphids naturally on strawberry plants is to use an insecticidal soap spray.

Espoma’s Insecticidal Soap works by dissolving the outer coating of the aphids exoskeleton, causing it to dry out and die shortly after.

This works extremely well with aphids, spider mites, and other soft-bodied pests.

Spray the infected areas everyday until ZERO aphids are visible.

3. Birds

A lot of these urban birds have evolved to notice colourful fruits on plants. This is how they distinguish between the leaves and fruit, just like humans.

So they can easily spot the bright red fruits on the plants from far away. So they’ll swoop in and poke at the berries.

Really the only way to prevent birds from eating your strawberries is to put a floating row cover over them from the beginning of their growth.

By doing this, birds won’t be able to get to the fruits.

There’s also another cool trick to get rid of birds, but I’m not too convinced about it.

It involves painting a rock a bright red colour to simulate a strawberry. You then place this rock next to your strawberry plants to attract birds to it.

The birds will soon realize that they can’t eat the rock and they won’t come back for more.

4. Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is especially common among younger plants. Because the leaves are still so close to the ground, moisture can easily build on them and powdery mildew will grow.

It’s hard to get rid of powdery mildew once the plants have it, but we can prevent the spread of it by pruning off all the leaves that have powdery mildew on them.

Throw these leaves out or burn them. Don’t compost or mulch them, or they’ll spread to the rest of your garden.

And just stop allowing water to go on the leaves, plain and simple.

5. Root Rot

Strawberries can be very prone to root rot, especially if you bury the crowns too deep.

So first, make sure you have high-quality, well-draining soil. This allows all the excess water to drain through your garden beds or out of your containers.

Secondly, you need to plant the crowns at the right depth. Make sure they are not too deep or the plants will definitely rot.

Preparing Strawberries for Winter

Strawberries are perennial crops, meaning they will come back in the spring after winter. They even survive winters in my zone as well (5b)

Make sure to apply a thick layer of mulch in the fall. For me, leaves are readily available at this time of year, so that’s not a problem. You can also use straw, grass clippings, or wood chips.

Make sure the entire plant is buried in mulch. As long as the roots and crowns are covered, the frost won’t kill the plants.

At this time, you should also be reducing your watering and fertilization. This helps to prepare the plants for dormancy.

Once they go dormant, you kind of just have to wait it out until spring.

When spring arrives, remove the mulch to uncover the leaves. But there’s still a danger of frost at this time, especially in colder climates.

So to prevent the frost from harming your plants, cover them with a floating row cover. This will allow sunlight to get through, but it will also help to warm up the soil.

Frequently Asked Questions

Even More Gardening Ideas

Here are a few more posts to get the ball rolling in your garden!

• How to Grow Lettuce from Seed in Every Season
• How to Get Rid of Aphids Naturally
• Easily Start a 5 Gallon Bucket Garden

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