For better use of your strawberry fertilizer

strawberry crop guide - content

Our detailed crop guide covers all the knowledge areas a strawberry grower needs: including the history of strawberry cultivation, a description of the strawberry plant, optimal conditions and growth practices, and nutrition schemes and fertilizer recommendations.

Here is a sample of the information about strawberry cultivation in this useful crop guide:

• Any list of strawberry varieties will probably contain mostly the June-bearing type. June-bearers are the most popular varieties. They typically produce the largest strawberries, and do so over a period of two to three weeks, on average.
• A favorable microclimate for strawberries is an area with full sun at least six hours per day, uniform temperature, rainfall and drainage, and good protection from wind.
• Strawberries prefer slightly acidic soils with a pH of between 5.5 and 6.5. Too low pH values may require application of ground limestone to increase the pH of more acid soils.
• Strawberry plants are extremely sensitive to salinity, especially at the transplant stage.
• Irrigation is essential for high-yield strawberry production. Since the strawberry plants are shallow rooted, permanent moisture is necessary to maximize production. An average of 300 mm to 450 mm (12 to 18 inches) of irrigation water is required over the growing season.
• As strawberries grow they will produce runners that will spread out and root to produce additional plants. Position the first runners with approximately 15 cm (6 inches) spacing between them. Only allow a few runners per plant, then remove additional runners to promote crown growth.
• Intensively grown strawberries require frequent and precise fertility management. Leaf analyses provide the best means of monitoring nutritional status (deficiencies or excesses) and correcting deficiencies that may occur.
• Potassium is required by strawberry plants to help them acquire water through the roots and control water loss by transpiration. Potassium may compete with magnesium for uptake by the roots and must, therefore, be maintained at an appropriate ratio (4:1, K:Mg) in the soil solution to prevent one of these nutrients from overriding the other, thereby creating a deficiency.