Grow More With Less

Have you ever tried a freshly-picked juicy strawberry on a hot summer day? I have, but not nearly as often as I would like. 

For many years, my strawberry plants could only be described as “a struggling side hustle”. I have had a number of pots and harvested some fruits of rather uneven quality. 

Sweet. Sour. Or, just bland. Firm. Somewhat soggy. Picture-perfect shaped. Oddly formed. I have them all coming out of my strawberry containers. 

This year, I decided to do it differently. I’ve read the literature, contemplated for a long while on my past mistakes, and sweet-talked my husband into building a new raised bed for my strawberries as a birthday present.  

(Though, I am pretty sure you don’t need a raised bed dedicated to strawberries to guarantee some juicy strawberries bursting with summer flavours. ) 

So, here’s the strawberry playbook that I will follow this summer. Do give it a try if you want to grow strawberry and especially if you have limited space. 

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1. Choose the Sunniest Spot You Have

Strawberries need sunlight to produce sugar, and sugar is what makes them sweet.

Aim for:

• at least 6–8 hours of direct sunlight
• a bright, open position

In small gardens, sunny spots are, understandably, often not easy to come by. It means that if you want strawberries, you will have to be prepared to give up on other plants that compete for the same sunny spots. 

Or, you will need to be creative. 

Creative solutions for finding a sunny spot for strawberries in a small garden: 

• Line strawberry plants up high along a sunny wall (think ‘hanging baskets’)
• Put your strawberry containers on wheels and move them around your garden as the sun moves through the growing months. 

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2. Plant At The Correct Depth and Distance  

It’s too easy to fall into the many traps of incorrect planting, as far as strawberry is concerned 😭 

And often, you only realise the mistakes after you see or taste the first fruit, a.k.a, when it’s too late. 

So even if you are very excite to pot up the nursery strawberries, take your time to do it right. 

Plant The Strawberry Crown At The Right Depth

Planting the crown too deeply, it will rot, and your strawberry will die. 

Planting the crown too shallowly will cause your plant to dry out quickly. It means you need to water your strawberry plants more frequently, or the harvest will suffer. 

Plant a Strawberry Far Enough From Another (But Close Enough to the Edge)

In a small garden, it is tempting to squeeze plants closer together to accommodate more. This works with many other plants (and plant combinations), but not for strawberries. 

If you are to grow more than one strawberry plant, space them out. Give them about 20cm of lateral spacing to ensure good airflow, reduce disease risks, and allow each plant to develop fully. 

Stronger strawberry plants will keep giving more flowers and fruits. In small spaces, fewer well-grown plants are mostly like to outperform many struggling ones.

The next planting trick might be less obviously a must-do. Yet it would save you a lot of wasted berries (or extra work). 

As the soft strawberry fruits often hang close to the ground, there is a high chance they touch the wet soil and, consequently, get spoiled. Experienced growers would lay some dry materials, such as straw (the same thing in the plant’s name), around the base of strawberry plants to prevent such spoilage. But that is more work. 

Alternatively, especially when you only have a few plants in a container or a raised bed, you can position them so that (most of) the fruits hang off the edge of the containers, touching nothing but the warm summer air as they ripen. 

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3. Keep Watering Consistent (Not Extreme)

Strawberries dislike both drought and waterlogging.

The key is consistency:

• keep soil evenly moist
• avoid letting it fully dry out
• don’t overcompensate with heavy watering

In containers, especially the smaller ones, check daily during warm weather.

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4. Feed Little and Often

Strawberries are productive plants, and fruiting requires energy.

The standard guideline for feeding strawberries is to 

• Use a balanced fertiliser early on
• Switch to a potassium-rich feed during flowering
• Feed every 1–2 weeks

You should avoid heavy feeding for strawberries, as it often leads to leafy growth rather than fruit.

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5. Harvest Regularly (and at the Right Time)

Picking strawberries at the right moment makes a big difference.

Harvest when:

• fully red
• slightly soft
• fragrant

And harvest often.

Regular picking:

• encourages more fruit
• prevents overripe berries
• keeps plants productive

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6. Renew Your Plants Every Few Years

Strawberries don’t stay productive forever. Also, diseases tend to build up in a strawberry patch, leading to unhealthy plants. 

To keep harvests strong:

• Grow new plants from runners
• Replace older plants with the newer ones
• Move the whole patch to a new location after about 3-4 years to avoid the risk of built-up diseases. 

This keeps your strawberry patch young and productive without having to keep buying new young plants from the nursery.