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How to grow strawberries

Time to plant your strawberries!

Winter is finally upon us and at this time you start to wish you could go back to warm days enjoying that cold strawberry ice-cream or soaking up the sun picking strawberries. However, it’s not all bad, as right now is the perfect time to plant your own strawberry garden, so when summer is upon us, you will be ready.

The first thing you must know about growing your own strawberries is when to plant them. Now, in New Zealand, you will want to plant strawberry seeds between the months of May to December as the temperature strawberries like to grow between 15 Celsius and 27 Celsius. You must also remember that strawberries take 140-160 days till they are ready to be harvested.

Now, that you know when you are going to plant your strawberries, the next step is to buy strawberry seeds from your local gardening store. Once you have your seeds its time to start the process.

Take a seed tray or small containers and place 1/4th soil and 3/4th organic compost or fertilizer into each container or section and dampen the soil. Next, place the seed on top of the mixed soil and compost and lightly cover the seeds with moss or soil. Make sure that your seeds are not covered completely as they need light to grow.

Remember to keep your seeds indoors and in a sunny room until the cold weather subsides and then your seeds should germinate in two or three weeks.  If you need help and don’t know the basics of seed planting, read our blog called “How to plant seeds.”

Other things you need to know!

The strawberry plant grows back each year.

Don’t be discouraged if your first year of harvesting isn’t good, as this is normal and the following years would be better.  

You can grow strawberries in most places as they don’t grow every deep roots, which means you can grow them in any size pot, garden patch, raised garden beds or hanging pots.

Make sure your strawberries get a lot of sunlight every day.

To help your strawberries grow, you need to prune off yellow or browning leaves and pull weeds as soon as you see them. This makes sure the nutrients and energy goes to the healthy part of the plant.

Of course, the final tip is when you start to see your strawberries turn red, they are ready to be picked.

If you use this guide and grow your own strawberries, post a photo on Instagram of your strawberry plants and tag us @auckland_gardening_services. If you need any gardening services contact us for a free quote here.