Page 6 



BETTER FRUIT 



May, 1920 



Points on Strawberry Growing for Beginners 



Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture 



STRAWBERRIES are propagated com- 

 mercially by the use of runner 

 plants only and where nematodes 

 and other diseases are not serious 

 growers can raise their own stock from 

 their bearing plants. In securing plants 

 for planting the roots of the bearing 

 plants should be disturbed as little as 

 possible. 



In most localities the season of plant- 

 ing will depend upon the period of the 

 greatest rainfall, although it is not ne- 

 cessary to rely so largely on the rainfall 

 where irrigation is used. As the period 

 of rainfall is the heaviest in the winter 

 and spring in Oregon, Washington and 

 California, growers in these states gen- 



Hood River's berry specialty, the Claris 

 Seedling. 



erally set their plants during the early 

 winter and late spring. In Western 

 Oregon and Washington and in the 

 more northern parts of the irrigated re- 

 gions in these states early spring plant- 

 ing is preferred by most growers as a 

 severe winter is apt to injure the fall set 

 plants. In most parts of California late 

 fall and early winter are preferred as 

 the climate is such in that state that 

 plants set at this time make a good 

 growth during the winter and 

 allow of harvesting a considerable 

 crop during the summer. Experi- 

 ence has taught strawberry growers in 

 California that strawberry plants can 

 be set at almost any time on sandy soils 

 during the winter, but on heavy soils 

 the best results are obtained by setting 

 the plants just after the first rains. If 

 heavy rains occur before the planting 

 is finished, however, California growers 

 prefer to wait until early spring to set 

 plants. 



The hill system and the matted row 

 system are both used in planting straw- 

 berries in the Pacific Northwest, al- 

 though the former system is more gen- 

 erally employed in the states of Oregon 

 and Washington, ^^^len strawberries are 

 to be grown under the hill system the 

 plants are usually set 12 to 30 inches 

 apart in the row and all runners re- 

 moved as they appear. Under the mat- 

 ted row system the plants are set from 

 18 inches to four feet apart in rows and 

 part of all the runners which appear 

 are allowed to root. The most common 

 practice in the irrigated sections is to 

 allow each plant to make a definite 

 number of new runner plants. These 



plants are spaced from six to eight 

 inches apart and all the others removed 

 as fast as they develop. The spacing 

 is done by covering the tips with earth 

 as soon as they enlarge. 



Both the hill and the spaced matted 

 row systems are used extensively in 

 irrigated regions. The particular sys- 

 tem to use will depend much on local 

 conditions. Where the soil is heavy 

 and rather impervious to water, nar- 

 row beds must be made and the hill 

 system should be adopted. In cases 

 where the soil is penetrated readily to 

 some distance by irrigation water, the 

 beds may be wider and the spaced mat- 

 ted row system may be used. One ad- 

 vantage of the matted row is that the 

 beds are wider and that there are fewer 

 furrows to care for. Both systems, 

 however, are dependent upon intensive 

 cultivation for the best results, and if 

 suflicient labor in available, one or the 

 other should be used. 



Where the labor supply is not abund- 

 ant, however, and where it is not de- 

 sirable to use the most intensive meth- 

 ods a matted row in which the plants 

 are not spaced may be used. This sys- 

 tem, however, is rarely adopted in irri- 

 gated regions. 



In the Oregon and Washington sec- 

 tions where strawberries are extensive- 

 ly grown the hill system is almost ex- 

 clusively used, the plants being set 12 

 to 18 inches apart in rows 30 to 32 

 inches in distance. In the Los Angeles 

 region of California where the hill sys- 

 tem is used, the plants are set at inter- 

 vals of one foot in rows two feet apart. 

 In light soil in this section the plants 

 may be set four feet apart in rows 

 three feet apart. In the Santa Rosa dis- 



trict of California where the hill system 

 is used the plants are usually set 18 

 inches apart in rows two feet apart; 

 they are also set in rows with the plants 

 one foot apart in rows three and one- 

 half feet apart and in good soils with 

 the plants eight inches apart in double 

 rows 14 inches apart with an alley 28 

 inches wide between the beds. In the 

 Sacramento section the spaced matted 

 row system is much used, the beds be- 

 ing made eight feet apart from center 

 to center. The plants are set about 18 

 inches apart along both edges of the 

 furrows and a spaced matted row is 

 formed from the runner plants. 



The following table shows the num- 

 ber of plants needed to set an acre of 

 ground when the plants are spaced in 

 accordance with one of the planting 

 systems commonly used. 



TABLE I. — NUMBER OF STRAWBERRY 

 PLANTS REOIIRED TO SET AN ACRE OF 

 OF r.ROUND WHEN SPACED DIF- 

 FERENT DISTANCES AUART. 



Plants to 



Distance Apart the acre 



2 feet bv 1 foot 21,780 



2 feet by \i. feet 14,520 



.3 feet by 1 foot 14,520 



?.\ feet bv 1 foot 12,440 



2l feet bv 1>. feet 11.616 



3 feet by 2 feet 7,260 



3 feet by 3 feet 4,840 



3 feet by 4 feet 3,630 



Where there is little danger of loss 

 of plants from any cause, only the 

 number indicated will be needed. If 

 such danger exists, a somewhat larger 

 number should be secured in order to 

 insure a full stand, as the expense of 

 irrigating and caring for a field which 

 has many blank spaces will be out of 

 proportion to the value of the crop 

 obtained. 



Care of plants — When the plants are 

 received from a nursery, they are 

 usually tied in bundles. Good plants 

 usually have bright, light-colored root 

 systems. When grown on ver> dark 



mi 



Harvesting the strawberry crop in Linn Connty, Oregon. 



