In order for healthy growth and lots of delicious strawberries to work, you need a soil that ideally supports this. Below is the most important information on what to look out for.
Table of Contents
garden bed
If the strawberries are to grow in the garden or vegetable patch, the ideal soil meets the following criteria:
- Loose texture
- lightness, not too heavy
- Contains moderately high proportions of sand and clay
- Profound
- rich in humus
- Acidic to slightly acidic pH between 5.5 and 6.5
- Well protected against waterlogging (existing drainage)
- Lying in full sun
Proper soil preparation
No matter how good and ideal the soil may be, if the soil is not properly prepared before planting, there will be no benefit in the long term. Therefore, you should proceed as follows:
- Prepare weeks before planting date
- dig deep into the earth
- Free the soil from disturbing plant remains and roots
- Work in horn shavings or bone meal (about 30 grams per square meter)
- Incorporation of humus (four/five liters per square meter of planting area)
- Add a little green manure
- Rake the soil smooth
- Wait at least two weeks before planting
- Remove any weeds that may have grown before planting and rake deeply again
tub potting soil
Strawberry plants can also be cultivated in tubs. Most home growers use conventional potting soil for this. This can be an ideal soil if it is enriched with the few important elements to make it meet the main criteria. This is important because the soil “develops” differently in the bucket than in the garden bed. Therefore, potting soil must be enriched with the appropriate material for the following properties if a suitable substrate is not available ready-to-use:
- Structural stability can be achieved with clay
- Perlite improves soil looseness in the long term
- A handful each of clay and sand for better water retention
- Styrofoam beads for better, permanent water permeability to prevent waterlogging
- The pH value can be lowered with coffee grounds and increased with lime
leave earth
An important factor to consider is the nutrient content of fresh pot and tub soil. Freshly planted, the Fragaria does not tolerate them. For this reason, the ideal soil for pots/tubs is one that is allowed to “rest” for at least two weeks before planting. At the same time, the soil in the pot/bucket settles, so that soil can be filled up if the settlement is too severe.
No garden compost
It should be noted that garden compost can contain a lot of salt, depending on its composition. Strawberries do not tolerate this very well, which is why strawberry plants should always be planted in soil without compost.
earth cover
Once the strawberry plants are set, they tend to rot and mold. To prevent this, the ideal earth has a cover. Straw or brushwood, for example, are suitable for this. Bark mulch should not be used under any circumstances, because it increases the moisture content and consequently promotes the formation of rot and mold.
post-treatment of the soil
When the harvest is over in August, the soil should be treated or prepared as best as possible for the following year. That’s how it’s done:
- Remove/remove cover
- Clear leaves completely (reduces risk of infection)
- Pull weeds (otherwise sucks out important soil substances unnecessarily)
- Remove Kindel (can be used for propagation )
- Dig up and loosen the soil slightly
- Work in berry fertilizer or leaf mulch for the establishment of the flower buds
floor change
The strawberry is one of the heavy consumers. Even the best fertilization cannot permanently prevent the soil from being leached out. This can usually be expected from the third year at the latest. The ideal soil is then found elsewhere, while the “old” soil should be given about four years to recover. For cultivation in tubs, pots and balcony boxes, the soil needs to be replaced every two years.