Flickr / sigusr0Planting & growing tips

Strawberries require full sun and need to be planted away from “frost pockets”—areas that are low-lying where cold air drains in the springtime. When choosing a site, avoid areas where strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants or peppers were planted within the last four years. These plants can act as host to a soil-borne disease called verticillium wilt. Sandy loam to loam soil that is high in organic matter and slightly acidic is preferred. The most important consideration is drainage, as strawberries have shallow roots and cannot tolerate any freestanding water. Lots of organic matter will improve drainage in clay soil and increase water-holding capacity in sandy soil.

Purchase plants that are certified disease-free instead of getting plants from family, friends and neighbors. These healthy plants will be large and have numerous light-colored roots. Plant them in early spring as soon as you have properly prepared the soil. Bare-root strawberries can be planted from late March to early May.

The holes should be big enough so that you can place the roots straight down and spread them out. The midpoint of the crown should be level with the soil surface. Tamp the soil lightly around the roots to get rid of any air pockets. Bare-rooted plants should not be allowed to dry out. They can be kept in a refrigerator at a temperature of 40 degrees. You can dip the plants in water while they are waiting to be planted, but don’t leave them soaking in the water.

Come back tomorrow for more on training strawberries…

Flickr / sigusr0What is the proper way to grow and fertilize strawberries? I heard that fertilizing them at the wrong time will discourage fruit from forming.

Strawberries plants are very hardy in Michigan and the easiest small fruit to grow. Following proper planting and maintenance, each plant will yield a quart of strawberries every season. There are two types of Michigan strawberries: June-bearing and everbearing.

June-bearing strawberries are easily adapted to the backyard fruit grower. They produce fruit for 3 to 4 weeks beginning in mid-June. They begin to form flower buds in the fall when the days get shorter. They produce their first crop the second year after planting—continuing to be productive for 5 to 7 years. The June-bearing varieties are divided into three categories: early, middle and late season, depending on their fruiting time. Backyard growers are encouraged to plant several varieties—one from each category—as that will stretch your harvest by a couple of weeks.

Everbearing strawberries produce fruit from mid-June to mid-September. Typically, they do not produce as many berries and that is often a disappointment to those who want to make jam or freeze the fruit.

Come back tomorrow for more on planting and growing…

Is there anything I can do, besides digging, to rid my garden of the star of Bethlehem weed?

Star of Bethlehem weed (Ornithogalum umbellatum) is also known by the common names summer snowflake, starflower, snowdrops, and nap-at-noon. This is a plant that was introduced to the horticultural trade as an ornamental spring-flowering bulb, not native to the United States. It has escaped to become a weed.

The plant itself resembles wild garlic or wild onion, but unlike those weeds, its clump of succulent leaves has a white stripe in the mid-vein of the leaf. The 6-petal, white flowers that bloom in late spring have a green stripe underneath the petals. The easiest characteristic to recognize is that the plant has no odor, unlike the wild garlic and onion plants. In addition, this plant is toxic. Ingesting the leaves and flowers can cause intestinal reactions, and the bulbs have been reported in some cases to cause death when consumed.

Good advice is to keep on digging and disposing of the plants as they appear in the spring. Although they go dormant after blooming, the bulbs multiply, so dig them out while they are visible in the spring to prevent each old bulb from multiplying to produce its goal of 7 new bulbs. Tests show that many herbicides have not proven to be effective. Most of the herbicides with glyphosate will kill the current season’s leaves, but re-growth the following year has not been significantly reduced. Broadleaf weed killers with 2,4-D as the active ingredient have not been effective at all. So, keep on digging, and don’t let them get you down.