How do I grow strawberries?

Strawberries are productive and easy, with three things that reliably go wrong: planting depth, fruit rotting on wet soil, and birds. All three have simple fixes, and the fourth issue — declining yield — is solved by propagating from your own runners rather than buying new plants.

What you'll need

• Strawberry plants
• Compost
• Straw or strawberry mats
• Netting
• Pots or hanging baskets (optional)

Step by step

1. Plant with the crown exactly at soil level.The crown is where leaves emerge. Buried, it rots; too high, the roots dry out. This is the most common planting error.
2. Space plants about 35–45cm apart in a bed, or one per 25cm pot.They need airflow — crowded plants get grey mould on the fruit.
3. Plant in a sunny spot, in soil enriched with compost.Sun is what develops the sugar. Shaded strawberries are watery and bland.
4. Water at the base, never over the leaves and fruit.Wet foliage encourages grey mould, which is the main disease problem.
5. Put straw or a strawberry mat under the developing fruit.Fruit resting on wet soil rots and gets eaten by slugs. This is what the straw in 'strawberry' is for.
6. Net the plants as fruit starts to colour.Birds will strip a crop the day before you'd have picked it. Net well clear of the plants so birds can't reach through.
7. Remove runners during the fruiting season, or peg a few down to make new plants.Runners divert energy from fruit. Pegging a few into pots gives free replacement plants.
8. Cut the old foliage back after fruiting finishes and clear the straw.It removes disease and lets new growth develop for next year.
9. Replace plants every three years using your own runners.Yield falls noticeably after the third year. Rooted runners give you fresh plants at no cost.

Tips

• Hanging baskets keep fruit away from slugs entirely and look good — a genuinely practical solution rather than just decorative.
• Perpetual (everbearing) varieties fruit in smaller quantities over a longer period; summer-fruiting ones give one large flush. A mix extends the season.
• Netting must be taut and well clear of the fruit, and fine enough that birds can't get trapped in it.
• Strawberries grown in pots need feeding with a high-potash tomato feed once flowering starts.

Common mistakes

• Planting the crown too deep — It rots. The crown must sit exactly at soil level.
• Letting fruit rest on soil — It rots and slugs find it. Straw or mats underneath prevent both.
• Watering over the leaves — Wet foliage and fruit encourages grey mould, the main strawberry disease.
• Keeping the same plants indefinitely — Yield drops sharply after three years. Runners give free replacements.

Questions people ask