Plant strawberries as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring. This is usually in March or April allowing the plants to become well established before the hot weather arrives. Do not work the soil if it is wet. Wait a few days until it dries.
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Do strawberries grow well in Illinois?
Plan to plant strawberries – No grocery store strawberry ever tastes as good as one grown in your own yard. An easy starter crop, strawberries are self-fertile, so you can start small if you like—plant just one variety or only one plant—and still reap a reward. 
Day-neutral strawberries in hanging baskets in the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden Good choices for Illinois gardens are larger June-bearing strawberries such as ‘Earliglow’ and ‘Allstar’. Day-neutral or everbearing strawberries were developed to produce flowers and fruit continuously throughout summer and fall, ignoring the seasonal effects of day length on fruit production.
Of the many day-neutral and everbearing varieties to choose from, ‘Tristar’ is a reliable berry for our zone. At the Garden, we grow everbearing strawberries ‘Mara de Bois’ and ‘Seascape’ in hanging baskets and vertical plantings, because they are among the first to fruit in the spring, but also produce a June crop followed by a final fall crop.
Planting several varieties together in your garden extends your harvest time, ensuring there are plenty of strawberries for eating out of hand and enough fresh berries left over to make strawberry jam.
What is the best way to grow strawberries in Illinois?
Planting – Strawberries should be planted in spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Plant at a depth so the tops of the roots are just covered by soil. Within a month or so, strawberry plants will start producing runners that produce the new daughter plants. The most popular method of growing strawberries is called the matted-row system. Strawberries are planted 18 to 30 inches apart in rows 3 to 4 feet apart. These new daughter plants are allowed to grow into a matted row up to about 2 feet wide.
Plants growing beyond this boundary should be removed. Another growing method, which requires more care, is called the spaced-row system. With this system, the daughter plants are spaced no closer than 4 inches apart, with all others pulled out or cut from the mother plant. Yields may be higher and berries may be larger with this system because sometimes strawberry rows get too dense in the matted-row method.
When growing everbearing strawberries, the hill system is suggested. With this method, all runners are removed to only leave the mother plant remaining. Another method for using everbearing strawberries is to plant them in terraced beds, pyramids, or barrels.
What is the best strawberry for Illinois?
Remember when strawberries grew with red centers, juicy and packed with flavor? The best way to enjoy those strawberries again requires growing them yourself. In Illinois, we plant strawberries in April, if weather and soil conditions allow. Choose a site receiving full sun for a minimum of six hours a day.
- Strawberries will grow in most soil conditions but like a lot of nutrients, so enhance the soil by digging in composted manure.
- The shape of your bed makes a big difference when harvesting.
- Strawberries don’t get very tall, so you have to kneel along the row to harvest.
- You don’t want the row width deeper than you can easily reach to the center.
Four feet works well as long as the space allows you to kneel on both sides of the row. The number of plants you purchase determines the length of the row. Plan on two staggered rows in a 4-foot-wide bed. Place the transplants 18 inches apart. Order your transplants from a nursery. Strawberries come in two kinds – everbearing and June bearing. For the best taste and size of harvest, stick with the June bearers. All Star, Red Chief and Honeoye grow well in Illinois, but consider other varieties, too. Check with your University of Illinois Extension office for additional information.
- Planting depth determines success or failure.
- The transplants arrive with a crown attached to bare roots.
- Spread the roots out and just cover with soil.
- The crown must be above the soil level.
- Too high and the roots dry out, too low and the crown rots, so take your time to get it right.
- Finally, water the new plants.
Now comes the hard part. Most growers recommend picking off all the blossoms this first year, not allowing any berry growth. This forces the plant to put all its energy into the development of roots and daughter plants for a really good harvest the following year.
- Personally, I’ve tried it both ways and prefer having two good harvests for the first two years instead of no harvest one year and a great harvest the second year.
- In central Illinois, harvest usually happens the last two weeks of May into the first week of June, but you only get three weeks.
- Pick daily.
Week one, you’ll have the big berries. Week two, they start decreasing in size. By week three, when you’ll likely tire of daily picking, the berries will be smaller and the end of the season quickly approaches. Following harvest, mow down the bed, leaving an inch of leaves above the crown.
How long does strawberry season last in Illinois?
My family’s tradition of strawberry picking started when our boys were 2 years old. Three years later, they are still begging to head back to the farms for strawberry picking. They love being able to participate, and their faces light up when they pick a strawberry and get to enjoy the fruit of their labor.
To me, that is a win in our list of summer activities, We hope our guide is helpful and makes your trip even more fun. Grab your sunscreen, hat, buckets, and boots and start your summer off with a juicy treat! We’ve noticed that many farms rely on their Facebook pages to provide updates, so we’ve included a link to each of their page to make it simpler to track updates.
You’ll also find a map of the farms, tips for what to bring, how to pick berries, and how to store them once you get home. The strawberry season in Illinois usually begins between April and June and continues for 3–4 weeks, depending on the weather and how many people come to pick. This can vary with weather patterns, so it is best to check with the farm you are planning to visit to find out when they expect to open for the season.
Are strawberries native to Illinois?
Content Detail – Wild strawberry is a native wildflower that can be used as a ground cover. It produces white flowers in spring, followed by edible strawberries. This species is native to the Chicago Region according to Swink and Wilhelm’s Plants of the Chicago Region, with updates made according to current research.
What is the strawberry capital of the world?
BUL METIN/Shutterstock CORRECTION 4/28/23: A previous version of this article stated the annual California Strawberry Festival is held in Oxnard, California. The festival originated there but is now located in Ventura, California. California is the U.S.
Where do strawberries last the longest?
If you want to extend the shelf life of your strawberries, you will need to transfer them to your refrigerator. The best way to do this is to store them in a single layer in an airtight container according to the following steps.1. Wash strawberries only when you’re ready to eat them.
Which state produces 80% of the strawberries grown in the US?
Strawberries Crop Info – Tree Top Fruit Ingredients
Today strawberries are grown in every U.S. state and every Canadian province. California, Florida and Oregon are the main strawberry producing states. California produces 80% of the nation’s strawberries, providing almost a year-round supply.Oregon strawberries are known worldwide for their exceptional taste, deep color and intense sweetness due to Oregon’s ideal growing conditions – a long mild spring, and an early summer, with a lot of rainfall and warm sunny days and cool nights. Strawberry season in Oregon only lasts three to four weeks making them difficult to ship long distances, therefore Oregon supplies to a niche market with the majority of the berries produced for processing.Strawberries are by far the largest volume berry with a wide range of applications, such as frozen, juice concentrate, purée and dried products.Strawberries are not really berries or fruit, but are instead the enlarged receptacle of the flower.Strawberries are harvested and mainly sorted in the field, separating fresh market quality from processing grade.China entered the strawberry market several years ago and has had a significant impact on the process fruit industry especially for frozen fruit and juice concentrate.Strawberries are low in calorie and low fat. Plus, they are high in vitamin C, fiber, folic acid and potassium.
Strawberries grow best in moisture retaining soil or when irrigated frequently, they have low fertilizer requirements, and the plants are kept for one to four years before being replaced.The quality, flavor and vitamin content of the berries depend upon the climate where they are grown.The ideal growing climate for strawberries is one where the growing berries are exposed to warm, sunny days and cool night. In this type of climate the berry’s production of sugar and vitamin C are maximized.Strawberries initiate their flower buds in the fall, and the following season’s berries develop from food stored in the plants. After the flowers bloom, it usually takes about one month before the strawberries are ripe.Risk factors associated with producing strawberries: Extreme temperatures, droughts and excessive rain increase diseases and can interfere with pollination, fruit set, and harvest.Once berries ripen they must be picked immediately. Those intended for fresh market must be sold before they are picked to avoid spoilage.U.S. strawberry growers are production-oriented rather than market-oriented, unlike growers in most other countries. Although greenhouse technology for producing ‘off-season’ vegetable crops is available, strawberry growers in the U.S. have not yet adopted these techniques to increase ‘off-season’ production.
Proper harvesting of commercial strawberries is crucial in maintaining berry quality. All strawberries are picked, sorted and packed by hand in the field. The berries do not ripen after picking.Strawberries that are produced for processing are gently washed, sorted and quickly frozen after picking to ensure that their flavor and appearing are retained.In California strawberry plants are replaced annually with a nursery crop. Throughout the harvest season strawberry plants continuously produce new fruit and need to be harvested every three days during the peak of season.
: Strawberries Crop Info – Tree Top Fruit Ingredients