Related: The Prettiest and Most Resilient Walkable Ground Coversīut if you like a more orderly garden, strawberries are typically planted using one of three planting methods: the hill system, matted-row system, or spaced row system. By their very nature, strawberries don’t do well contained in rows anyway-they naturally form a tangled patch and are often thought of as ground covers. Unless you’re growing strawberries commercially, there’s no need for formal rows in your garden. Do strawberries need to be planted in rows or hills? These crowns can be dug up, divided, and replanted to propagate more plants as needed. Runners are produced by nearly all Junebearing strawberries, and some everbearing and day-neutral strawberries.Īlpine strawberries (a day-neutral type) are a lot less likely to send out runners and tend to grow more crowns right at the base. These tiny clones form adventitious roots (similar to the stems of tomato plants) and grow into the ground surrounding the mother plant, eventually becoming new plants. Runners are long, leafless stems that run horizontally above the ground and have baby plants at the ends, which are genetic copies of the mother plant. The word “stolon” comes from the Latin word stolo, meaning a shoot or branch springing from the root. Most varieties of strawberries send out multiple runners, which are more properly known as stolons. Strawberry plant with several runners (stolons) spreading across the soil. These new plants will eventually produce their own runners, thus creating even more baby plants-so you can see how it’s pretty simple to let a strawberry patch grow in on its own. Once the baby plants are established, the runners dry up and fall off. If left alone, these baby plants will root themselves and mature into adult plants.īut if you want to fill in the empty spaces in your garden bed more effectively, it’s best to move and transplant the babies where you want them. You’ll have a lot of bare ground and you’ll need to be patient, but your patience will pay off once the runners grow in.Īfter their first year, most strawberry plants have between three and six baby plants on each of their runners. When you plant strawberries farther apart, you plant them across the entire future strawberry bed, leaving upwards of 2 to 3 feet of space between plants. They’ll multiply over time and produce baby plants for free, which means you don’t have to buy as many in the beginning. This method works with strawberry plants that produce runners, so the plants propagate themselves without any extra work on your part. If you’re on a budget and you’re not in a hurry to get your garden filled out, planting strawberries far apart is a more economical option. Plant strawberries far apart if you’re on a budget Planting strawberries too close together may also increase the chances of mold or fruit rot, especially in wet or humid climates. So even though you’ll have a bigger harvest, you’ll sacrifice a bit in berry size. The downside to this method is smaller strawberries overall, since the plants will be competing for space and nutrients. (Granted, you do have to buy or transplant more strawberry plants for this to work.) This tighter spacing of 8 to 12 inches between plants will produce more berries sooner and help keep weeds down. Square-foot gardeners can plant one strawberry plant per square, so that the plants are 12 inches apart. If you want to get your strawberry patch going right away, spacing your strawberry plants at a minimum of 8 inches apart will fill in your garden bed quicker. Plant strawberries close together for bigger harvests Read more: Get a Bigger Harvest With This Plant Spacing Guide for Raised Bed Gardensīut keep reading… There’s more to this depending on your garden goals. These are the minimum recommended spacings for strawberry plants if you want a healthy, productive crop. In general, day-neutral strawberries (including alpine varieties) are planted 10 inches apart, everbearing strawberries are planted 12 inches apart, and Junebearing strawberries are planted 18 inches apart. Strawberry plants can be planted as close as 8 inches apart, or up to several feet apart in some cases, depending on the type of strawberry, your garden layout, and your budget. What is the best spacing for strawberry plants? How many strawberry plants do you need per person?.
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