How to Grow Strawberries at Home? A Detailed Guide to Container Growing

Strawberries are a fruit that many people love, but growing them yourself is a tremendously difficult task. Why? Because if you want strawberries to produce good fruit, you must first start with selecting high-quality seedlings. You need to know how to tell whether a seedling is healthy, and you also need to know what quality to choose, and so on. The following article will help beginners understand.

First, the key to a healthy strawberry seedling is to check whether the stems and leaves are good, and to choose upright, straight seedlings. Do not believe what people say online about eating a strawberry and then picking out the seeds to plant them; that is a big trap. Second, beginners should try to choose conventional red varieties and should not try growing new varieties, such as chocolate strawberries, white strawberries, and so on.

In addition, strawberries are a sun-loving plant, so care for them with full sun. It is recommended to place them on a balcony at home, as this way they will grow more leaves. In the early stage, before they have 8~10 leaves, if you see flower buds about to open, we need to intervene manually and remove them so they do not bloom, because blooming consumes more nutrients. Later, wait until there are enough leaves before letting them bloom and bear fruit. You can also carry out artificial pollination after flowering by taking a small brush and brushing it on the flowers of different plants; doing this allows cross-pollination, and the strawberries that grow afterward will be larger. In addition, in winter you must pay attention to keeping them warm. If the temperature is below 5 degrees for a long time, strawberries are prone to freezing to death, so they need to be moved indoors.

Then, in terms of care, you should frequently prune the bottom of the strawberries. If old leaves or withered and yellow leaves appear, cut them off so the base can stay ventilated. Otherwise, continuously keeping unhealthy leaves can easily bring in pathogens and can also spread them to other healthy leaves. Another key point for growing good strawberries is to promptly cut off the thin, long runners for them, and to do daily flower thinning and fruit thinning. This means discarding the thinner and weaker stems and fruits, because the nutrients in a single flowerpot are limited. If too many flowers bloom at the same time and too many fruits set, they may all have a hard time growing large. Strawberries are perennial plants. It is recommended not to repot them in the first year; after one year, you can consider moving them to a flowerpot one size larger.

In terms of fertilizing, fertilize regularly. You can use worm castings, sheep manure, or organic fertilizer. Never use chemical fertilizer. About once a month, bury it beside the strawberries. After that, before watering, touch the strawberry soil. If it is wet, you must not water it. Only when it feels slightly dry to about 1/3 can you water it.
Finally, strawberries are a plant that easily gets red spider mites and powdery mildew. At this time, you can plant some small scallions beside them, which can reduce the occurrence of pests.