Growing Strawberry Plants

Fragaria : Rosaceae / the rose family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
                P P P  

(Best months for growing Strawberry Plants in South Africa - Humid sub-tropical regions)

  • P = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • Easy to grow. Plant with crown (of roots) just covered.. Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 20°C. (Show °F/in)
  • Space plants: 30 - 100 cm apart
  • Harvest in approximately 11 weeks. Strawberries bruise easily when ripe, handle carefully. Pick with a small piece of stem attached..
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Better in a bed on their own to allow good sun and air circulation
  • Avoid growing close to: If you are using rotation beds, avoid putting strawberries where you have grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant
  • Ripening fruit
  • Strawberry plants

Strawberries are low-growing leafy plants which grow 12 - 15 cm (about 6 inches) tall and will spread to about 50 - 100 cm (20 - 40 inches). They have five petalled white or pink flowers. The flowers are followed by the delicious red fruits (which have their seeds on the outside).

Later in the season the plants send out runners like thin stems across the garden which will take root to form new plants. Cut them off and leave the parent growing. You can transplant the runners or let them grow where they rooted to produce new plants.

At the end of fruiting, trim off old yellow leaves and clean up any mouldy fruit still attached.

Strawberries like well drained soil with plenty of humus. To prepare your bed, dig in some compost before planting and possibly use a liquid fertiliser during the growing season. Well fed strawberries taste better.

To protect the fruit from moulds and mildew use some form of mulch around the plants. Straw, pine needles, or black plastic are all suitable. Mulch will also help suppress weeds.

Protect your plants with some sort of netting or bird scarer or you will lose most of your crop!

Strawberry plants often need replacing after a few years as they get affected by viruses and stop producing well.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Strawberry Plants

Pick strawberries and eat them straight from the garden warm from the sunshine - delicious!

Strawberries can be used in any dessert needing soft fruit or berries. Summer pudding (which also has raspberries and blackberries or boysenberries), mousse, trifle, dipped in melted chocolate or just with cream.

Sprinkle a bowl of strawberries with balsamic vinegar and a little sugar to enhance the flavour and colour.

A quick jam of diced strawberries cooked in the microwave with an equal weight of sugar until completely soft won't keep but can be used right away.

Your comments and tips

12 Apr 23, (South Africa - Humid sub-tropical climate)
Hi, Looking for ideas on low chill stone fruit varieties with successful fruiting along the kzn Westville area. I am getting mixed information with some claims of high humidity being problematic. As a kid we had a green variety of peach that bore 100's if fruit but cant find the exact variety. Thanks Mohammed
29 Apr 23, Celeste Archer (Canada - Zone 5a Temperate Warm Summer climate)
Your title says strawberries - your question is regarding peaches. You seem to have two issues. The first chilling hours -- which the net (FTN) defines as: Chilling hours are the minimum number of hours that a peach tree needs to get, specifically, nighttime temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit, in order to produce a good crop of peaches.. If the hours are not met (say in a warm winter), the blossoms mostly just fall off the trees and do not set fruit. Additionally you mentioned humidity which for peaches is leaf curl: (FTN) Peach leaf curl is a fungal disease of peach and nectarine. It is favoured by prolonged wet, cool weather in the spring as new growth is developing. Infected leaves become thick and curled with red and yellow discolouration. Infected leaves eventually drop. Again FTN Peaches with the fewest chill hour requirements are all yellow freestones. Cultivars needing 100 chill hours or less, the lowest requirement, include Gulf Queen (Prunus persica “Gulf Queen"), Mid Pride (Prunus persica “Mid Pride”), Bonita (Prunus persica “Bonita”) and Ventura (Prunus persica “Ventura”). Also Eva's Pride. additionally: With one exception, white peaches with low chill requirements are all freestones. At 200 chill hours, Tropic Snow (Prunus persica “Tropic Snow") has the lowest requirement. If you think a nectarine might work then: Desert Delight is a good choice --- but it seems to me that you might want to think about persimmons.
19 Apr 23, (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
Best to google for that kind of info. You just have to try it. .
09 Oct 22, Andrew MacRae (South Africa - Dry summer sub-tropical climate)
Runner plant has strawberries but mother plant none this year. Mother plant had lots last year
25 Oct 22, (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
Usually you plant out the new runners and dig in/throw away the old plants, although you can produce a crop for 2-3 years with the mother plants.
07 Sep 20, clive (South Africa - Humid sub-tropical climate)
I want to start a small "balcony " hydroponic system with approx. 100 plants. My aim is to build a tower system comprising about 5 pvc pipes holding 20 plants each. I will feed the nutrients into the top and circulate pump running 15 mins on and 15 mins off. Do you recommend I use a indeterminate variety and if so what variety. Can I buy root stock in South Africa or should I start from seed. I plan to plant into rockwool in net cups- would you agree? I recently purchased a Tarpan plant at our Builders store which I plan to use the runners in spanghnum moss until they root and plant these into rockwool however, it will hardly be enough to setup 100 plants. My long term plan is to do this commercially once I know what I'm doing. I look forward to your advice. Thank you in advance, Clive
09 Sep 20, Anonymous (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)
I suggest you seek advice from an agricultural department in your country or hydroponics people.
11 May 20, Karl Basson (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
HI.I live in C.T. South Africa.What month of the year should I plant my strawberry plants?
12 May 20, Anon (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
The top of the page tells you.
06 May 20, Fanele (South Africa - Semi-arid climate)
I would like to find out where can i get strawberry seeds. I live in Eastern Cape in South Africa and there's no nursery with strawberry seedlings, I want to start growing strawberry. I am willing to put through an order from whoever has stock.
Showing 1 - 10 of 61 comments

I need to plant strawberries I'm in upper tongaat Where can I start

- Veronica

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.
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