To create a full harvest, make sure your plants get at least eight hours of sunlight a day; otherwise, your strawberry harvest will be smaller than you’d like.
Rich, moist, well-drained soil is your best bet when it comes to successful strawberry growth. Give them at least one inch of water per week.
You can also work some compost into the soil to add more nutrients and improve drainage. In addition, straw mulch is especially helpful for keeping weeds at bay and keeping the roots cool. Maybe that’s why they’re called strawberries?
Strawberry plants start to slow down after a few years and become more susceptible to diseases, so you should replace the plants every four to five years.
Strawberries need a lot of tending to prevent pests and diseases from taking over. Fungal diseases like powdery mildew can occur when the plants aren’t getting enough air circulation. So yet another reason spacing the plants out is important.
Then, there are the insects and other pests. Strawberry weevils feed on strawberry roots. Slugs and snails wiggle their way beneath the mulch used to protect the plants. And birds like to swoop in and pick off berries.
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