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Arizona Gardening

Does anybody here grow strawberries?

13 years ago

I would really like to grow some strawberries but every time I have tried, they die when it turns hot. So, does anyone have any tricks for growing them successfully?

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Comments (6)

kingkongos
13 years ago
2 varieties seem to do ok here, Sequoia and Chandler. You have to get them in the ground early and then protect them with shade cloth when it starts getting hot. Mulch heavily and water well. I use pine needles. Still though, it doesn't guarantee you'll get them through our harsh summers.
xica_da_silva
13 years ago
Hi agility mom,
I don't have much advice to add but wanted to say that I just planted a couple of strawberry plants for the first time so am also hoping they'll survive. They're in full sun in my back yard. The last few days of near-record heat have one of my strawberries a bit stressed already (a few crisp/crunchy leaves) but I think it will recover once the heat subsides. Strangely, the other strawberry seems nonplussed, in spite of its leaves being much more sprawled out and seemingly exposed. I guess plants, too, can be such individuals!
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I have about five crowns. The first year you don't pick any. It wasn't a good weather year for us so I didn't pick any the following season either. The next I picked just a few, the fattest spears. Yes, you may only get one or two at a time. After a few years you can almost pick as many as you like, because even if you go out every day you will still 'miss' some and they will fern out! Sometimes I joke that I can hear it growing at night ;). This year I got two good bunches (like the size at the grocery store) without even really trying, and actually missed quite a few when we had bad weather and I didn't feel like going out back. I do think I will put in five more crowns this year so I can get enough to freeze and eat in the winter. As for maintenance, just make sure the keep the weeds down. I was told strawberries are a good companion crop but I haven't had any luck keeping strawberries in that spot - the rabbits dig them right out! Yet, they leave them alone in the bed two feet over. I will never understand rabbits. It is best to allow them to keep their ferns because that is how they gather energy to store food in the roots, which makes strong crowns which push out more spears in the spring. But at the end of the gardening season make sure to cut the ferns and dispose of them (compost is fine) to avoid overwintering any pests. Although, the years I see praying mantis egg clutches on them, I leave them up. In the spring when it warms I cut the nest off and put it in one of the other beds, then cut down the ferns to clean the area up.
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mangledmind
13 years ago
Summer: sun until just after mid-day and all is well
Now that it's cooling off, full sun is ok ...
agility_mom
Original Author
13 years ago
I'll give it another try. Maybe either strawberry pots so that I can move them when it heats up or shade cloth for the summer months. Thanks.
azbookworm
13 years ago
Starting a strawberry patch. How many plants have you planted? To feed a family of 4? Figured I will be dedicating some of my raised garden just for strawberries.

Do you shade cloth or keep exposed to summer sun?

Thanks
luvkuku
13 years ago
I grew a bunch of strawberry plants in a dedicated patio bed a few years ago. I had to keep them covered with fruit tree netting to keep the birds and lizards off, and that also seemed to help shade them in the hot part of the day. I planted in early Feb and harvested from March to June, then everything died regardless. I want to do it again, because they were the best strawberries I ever tasted. My DH has promised to build me a greenhouse with materials that the former owner of our place left, but I am sure it wont be ready to go until maybe this fall. So no strawberries this year for me, unless I plant a few pots on the screened porch. Those I can take inside when the heat is really blazing. I live outside Buckeye.

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