Strawberry

Strawberries break the annual-crop pattern and that is their value: a pot planted this spring is still fruiting in three years. Buy bare-root crowns rather than seed — seed-grown strawberries take a year to fruit and rarely match the parent. The critical detail is the crown: it must sit exactly at soil level, no deeper.

How to grow it

• Plant bare-root crowns in early spring, four weeks before last frost, with the crown at soil surface.
• Use a pot at least 8 inches deep and 10 inches across per plant; strawberries are shallow but wide-rooted.
• Pinch off all flowers for the first month after planting. This forces root and runner growth instead of a few small berries.
• Renew the pot every three years — older crowns produce smaller fruit and crowd themselves out.
• In cold zones, mulch the pot and move it against a wall for winter.

What goes wrong

• Birds: they take the ripe fruit first. Net the pot as soon as fruit colors.
• Grey mould on crowded fruit: remove affected berries and increase airflow.
• Crown rot: planted too deep. Lift and replant if the centre turns brown.

Harvesting

June-bearing types fruit about four weeks after bloom. Everbearing types give a trickle all summer and a second flush in fall.

• Pick when fully red to the tip — strawberries do not ripen further after picking.
• Harvest in the morning and eat or chill the same day.
• Cut runners off if you want fruit rather than new plants.

Varieties that work in pots

Albion (everbearing) · Seascape · Honeoye (June-bearing) · Mara des Bois

Seed is cheap; the pot and the mix are where the money goes. Links to search results on Amazon are affiliate links — see our disclosure.