How to grow delicious strawberries at home?

Do you know anyone who doesn't like strawberries? We certainly don't. Make sure you have a supply of fresh fruit in organic quality all year round. Just follow the advice in this article and the "artificial" strawberries from the store will be a thing of the past. Here are our tips for a healthy harvest grown at home, extra rich in vitamins and other beneficial substances!

Let's get straight to the point. How do you make sure you enjoy a fairytale harvest of strawberries several times a year?

• The key is to choose a suitable variety that fruits year-round (for example Rujana strawberry), because some types only bear fruit in summer. On the other hand, the year-round varieties can give you joy for up to five years. There are also varieties that are more resistant to diseases than others.
• For a continuous supply of your favorite vitamin-packed fruit, a controlled growing environment works best, such as a grow box or a room. Also consider a greenhouse or a conservatory.
• On a balcony or in the garden, in a self-watering planter or hanging pots you can conveniently grow trailing varieties that form red fruit on long runners. The runners need care, namely trimming to the third crown and you can even "nip" them off completely for the winter.
• For outdoor and indoor growing, gardeners have recently favored fabric wall planters, which save space and create a strawberry decoration on any wall.

Whichever pot you choose, it is important to prepare it properly for strawberries:

• First spread a drainage layer of expanded clay at the bottom of the container for better water outflow, which at the same time permanently reduces the risk of overwatering your strawberries to a minimum.
• Next fill the pot or planter with soil up to the crown of the young plant. The crown must not be covered by the substrate because the stems grow from it.
• Pots for growing strawberries should not have a diameter smaller than 35 cm. The root system of strawberries is relatively shallow, but the runners certainly need space. Here you can choose from a wide range of pots and planters in adequate sizes.
• Place the pots where they receive as much sunlight as possible, or under a quality source of artificial light. In winter, don't hesitate to place the pots near a radiator.

• You can grow strawberries in practically any soil. Guaranteed great taste comes from 100% natural Bio Soilmix. And since we don't see a reason to want anything other than 100% ORGANIC fruit with the intense and full taste of nature, we also recommend for their cultivation the organic line of fertilizers from the BioNova brand, offering a perfect balance of price and performance, both for basic nutrition and supplements for optimal strawberry development.
• Another option for properly fertilizing strawberries for a rich and juicy harvest is the Czech-made nutrition JUNGLE Garden, which contains a basic component Base and the second component G4 is developed specifically for growing delicious strawberry fruit.

• Besides soil and moisture, strawberries only need enough light, whether in the form of direct sunlight or artificial lighting in a grow tent.
• Buy strawberry seedlings at the moment you plan to plant them directly into the ground or into pots. Small plastic nursery pots from the store are not meant for young strawberry plants to remain in longer than necessary; otherwise they will root poorly and after transplanting their growth will no longer be optimal.
• When purchasing strawberry seedlings, ensure their leaves look completely healthy at first glance, meaning free of any spots and nicely green. Avoid brown or curled edges! Also check the root system, which should already contain a significant number of light white roots.
• You can also grow strawberries from seeds. In that case these propagators will serve you well. They are also perfect for rooting cuttings.

• Growing strawberries is really easy and brings a lot of joy. Just watch out for rot and various diseases, for which a quality natural prevention like CANNA CURE will help. Strawberries are especially prone to molds, so one of the fungicides will also come in handy.

We recommend these products:

• Pro Pot Wall 8 (599 Kč) - a practical fabric planter with 8 pockets that creates ideal conditions for strawberries and also a living still life with fresh strawberries in the home.
• ROOT!T propagator (549 Kč) - a complete propagation set includes the propagator, starter sponges, 2x fertilizer and even a booklet.
• Canna CURE (from 349 Kč) - a spray that offers perfect prevention against plant diseases including molds and the most common pests that could spoil your strawberry harvest.
• Jungle GARDEN Base + G4 strawberries – a combination of Czech-made fertilizers designed specifically for growing all strawberry varieties.

What to read next?

• Reverse Osmosis (RO)
• Guide to Composting
• How to Deal with Plant Diseases?

If you have any questions about growing strawberries or need help choosing products, do not hesitate to contact us at the known address info@higarden.cz.