The most popular backyard crop for gardeners is the luscious strawberry. Host Patrick Murphy has some advice.
- You have several kinds of strawberries from which to choose: June bearing strawberries produce a crop within a two-3 week period -- and that's it. Everybearing strawberries will give you three batches of crops throughout the season. And there's DayNeutral, which is a sprinkling of berries throughout summer.
- Strawberries need about eight hours of full sun each day, and they prefer slightly acidic soil with a pH between 5.5 and 6.5.
- A foot and a half to two feet apart will give your berry plants room to grow. When you plant your strawberry plant, do so that the soil is just covering the tops of the roots. Leave the crown uncovered. After four or five weeks, the plants will produce runners and new daughter plants.
- Make sure you have good walking space, and weed often.
- Protect your strawberries from birds with netting.
Use a 10-20-20 type of fertilizer on your new plants.But don't over fertilize them or they won't produce enough flowers. WGLT depends on financial support from users to bring you stories and interviews like this one. As someone who values experienced, knowledgeable, and award-winning journalists covering meaningful stories in central Illinois, please consider making a contribution.
