Arkansas is known for its strawberry crop. Share in the harvest by planting your own.
Difficulty Level: easy Time Required: 60 minutes
Here's How:
- Plant strawberries early. They should be planted after the last frost (around March or April in Little Rock).
- The simplest way to plant is to use a strawberry jar (one of those pots with pockets). Terra Cotta works best.
- Decide which species of strawberry you want to plant. Ever-bearing strawberries (like the Ozark Beauty) should bear fruit the year you plant. June bearing strawberries (like the Earliglow) will bear fruit the following year.
- Fill your strawberry pot up to the first pocket with a rich potting soil that is high in sphagnum peat moss. This will help the strawberry plants retain moisture.
- Plant a plant in the first pocket letting the leaves and most of the stem hang out.
- Add soil up to the next pocket and plant another plant.
- After you are finished planting the pockets fill the jar up the top with soil and plant the remaining plants in the top of the pot. I recommend 6 plants per pot.
- Water the plants and place them in a sunny location.
- Water the plants everyday and be sure to pick the berries! The Ozark Beauty should have berries all season. If you don't pick them they won't yield as much fruit.
- You can also plant strawberries in patches or as a ground cover. Just pick a sunny location and water them everyday.
- When planting pockets on a strawberry pot the smaller plants are best. Larger plants won't fit as easily into the pockets. You can use the larger plants for the top.
- Strawberries do flower as any fruit bearing plant does. Be careful about placing them on decks and porches because they attract bees.
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