The tiny, red, and sour-sweet taste fruit has green leaves at the head with brown seeds covering
the fruit body. Yes, you got it right. I am talking about strawberries and Growing strawberries indoors!

Who doesn’t like strawberries? From adults to toddlers, all are fond of strawberry cakes, ice
creams, and flavored chocolates. Some are exceptional and are not fond of this tasty, little fruit.
So, if you are a strawberry lover and want to know about growing strawberries indoors garden, this write-up
is for you. Growing your strawberries at home will not only give you a garden- fresh eat but also
happy harvesting.

These tine fruits have superb nutritional values. It has fiber, sugar, potassium, vitamin-c, and
whatnot. So, one fruit gardener must go planting and harvest his strawberries. So, let’s rely less
on the grocery-bought strawberries and grow the strawberries at home with simple techniques.
Are you ready to have a strawberry planting journey with me? Let’s begin.

The varieties of Strawberries

In early times, the woody strawberry, F.vesca variety, was popular in Europe. In the USA, the
“Hovey” was the very first strawberry variety according to the publication of University of
Vermont. Afterwards, the horticulturalists developed many hybrids of strawberries. Mainly there
are two varieties of strawberries. They are:

• Short Day ( short season varieties or the June bearers)
• Day-neutral varieties( Long season Varieties)

The main short-season strawberry variety is Chandler. This variety is sweet, soft strawberry. One
can plant them from August to September, mainly in the middle of these months are perfect for
growing the Chandler. And from April-June, you are ready to harvest the Chandler. Another
short-season variety is Camarosa. Camino Real and Palomar are some other rising hybrids of
short-season strawberries.

Seascape and Albion are the day-neutral varieties. The best time to plant them is the late summer
to late fall. And you can eat these sweet fruits in summer, spring, and early fall. Albion has a
long shelf life than Chandler.

Some other promising long-season strawberries are San Andreas and Monterey. They are also
sweet and delicious as the Albion and Chandler. Day-neutral strawberries are annual and easy to
transplant. It will give you fruits all around the year. And Seascape is at the top of the list in day-
neutral variety.

However, the Seascape, Albion and Chandler are the most popular strawberry types harvested in
the USA. And these varieties have the most yields in the farmland production.
Similarly, you can find strawberry varieties for home gardens, frost resistance, disease resistant
varieties, and so on. Currently, there is a lot of research regarding the new approach for the
strawberry variety named Fragaria spp. found in the research of University of Florida, that can
control pest and give more yield.

Soil Preparation for strawberries

Well, strawberries love to bump more in well-drained soil. They are snobbish about the soil
types. And if the strawberries don’t like the land, there will be less fruit. You may need soil pH
ranging from 5.5 -6.5 for most fruiting. We know that loamy clay soil is best for plants. The
same goes for strawberries. It requires nutritious sandy loamy soil for the optimum growth. The
roots of strawberries can reach up to 12 inches. So, the proper soil support is much needed.

Right Potting Mix for Strawberry Plants

The red, flavorful strawberries in your garden pots! Well, this is all you want to enjoy in the
summer if you are a strawberry lover. How to grow strawberries in pots? Easy steps you need to
attempt.

First, you need the correct variety of strawberries according to your climatic zone. You can grow
them from crowns or runners or simply the first plants from the local garden center. These
shallow roots strawberry plants require more space to grow. So, your pot should be at least 5
gallons or more to plant the seedlings. Of course, the soil will be a bit acidic, soft and the potting
mix will have loamy soil, compost, and TSP fertilizer.

Plain loamy soil	50-60%
Cow dung compost	50%
TSP fertilizer	10 gm for each pot

The potting mix depends on the size of your pot and the amounts can vary. However, you can
also go for compost tea, vegetable compost for the strawberry plants. Also, 21 days after planting
the strawberries, you can add fertilizer at your convenience to get the best results.

Harvesting zones: key for strawberry planting

Harvesting zones describe your climatic conditions and refer to the fruits, veggies, or flowers
you can harvest in your zone. In the case of strawberries, if you are in USDA zone 3-10, you can
plant the strawberry with lots of varieties.

Remember, each zone has a specific planting time and harvesting time. For instant, USDA zone
3 can support strawberry planting from early to mid-May.

Planting strawberries in garden beds

The strawberry plants have three years of productivity. In every harvesting season, the plants
lose their productivity. So, you can replace the plants. Nice and loose soil is what you need for
the strawberry garden bed.

Let’s see the amount of fertilizer for strawberries. Strawberries are feeder plants. And in late
August and early September, you can put fertilizer to give your strawberry plants enough energy
to produce flower buds ultimately the fruiting. The famous fertilizers are the Urea, blood meal,
ammonium phosphate. But there are ratio of using these fertilizer in the garden beds. Check out
the chart below-

Urea	1.1 IBS per 100 sq feet
Ammonium sulfate	2.4 IBS per 100 sq feet
Blood meal	4.25 IBS per 100 sq feet

So, the ratio is different for these three fertilizers in a 100 sq feet garden bed due to the different
ratio of nitrogen in these fertilizer.

The garden bed can be 118 inches in length and 39 inches in width. In case of spacing the
garden bed, you follow the below instructions-

• row-row space : 19 inches(approx)
• seedling-seedling space: 9 inches (approx)
• garden bed -garden bed distance: 19 inches (approx)

FAQ

As a beginner, you may feel questions about strawberry planting in pots or garden beds. So here
are some FAQs for your convenience. Here they are-

What amount of sunlight do the strawberry plants require?
Strawberry plants like warm but can also thrive in the chilly seasons. The strawberry plants
require a minimum of 8-10 hours of sunlight.

How many strawberry plants can I put in a container?
Well, this thing depends on your pot/container size. But it is good to plant 1-2 plants in each pot,
for better fruiting. More plants leads to more competition for nutrients among the plants, and
result in less fruiting. For example a 14 inches pot can bear one plants and 16-18 inches pots can
support two plants and bigger than 18 inches can easily bear 3 or more plants.

Do strawberry grows better in pots or ground?
If you have superb drained soil for your strawberries, you are good to go with the strawberries. It
will not depend on pots or ground. But yes, potting can grow strawberries without any attack
from ground pests. So, strawberries can remain safe in pots.

Extra Tips about growing strawberries indoors

Mulching can be an idea to maintain the soil’s goodness for strawberry growth. How come?

• It keeps the weeds down.
• Cools the temperature
• Mulching Helps to regain moisture
• Add values to the organic matte
• Also, mulching can be a protector for your strawberries from pests.

Well, when you see the first bloom in the strawberry plant, you may remove those for several
months because the extra bulbs consume a lot of energy. You can focus on healthy strawberries
rather than quick strawberries

Also, cut the extra runners from your strawberry plant which will give more plants. If you focus
on making more plants, then runners are okay for you. But otherwise, for healthier fruits, your
plant needs more energy, so you can cut off the runners if you want.

Yes, it’s not only us those love to eat strawberries; many insects and bugs also love to eat
strawberries. What can you do then?
Of course, the neighboring plants can be a solution to this problem. If you are cultivating
strawberries in your garden bed, then plant companion plants like-

• Sunflower
• Bunching onions
• Asparagus
• Beans
• Borage

Also, you can use mulching and something that lifts your strawberries from the ground to deter
soil pests and keep your strawberry fresh and intact for you. You can also use any support to
make a barrier between the strawberries and the soil in the garden pots. So, the soil pests can’t eat
them.

Conclusion

Gardening can be tricky, and sometimes we need a bit of help to turn the tables in our favour. So
as the strawberry gardening. You can put the correct ratio of fertilizers, well-drained soil, and the
perfect sunlight for your strawberry plants. Don’t think that strawberries are complicated fruits.
These need the correct gardening hack and seasons for fruiting.

Lastly, I hope this writing has helped you in this way or other on growing strawberries indoors
in pots or gardens. Hurry up, plant your strawberries before the first snow because it’s already
September

May your garden be easy, fun, productive, and always organic!