Will strawberry plants grow back after harvesting? My experience leads me to answer yes; cultivating various varieties may get harvests from your plants from early summer until fall.
Many strawberries generate additional plantlets, also called runners, following fruit. This allows you to replace older, less fruitful plants with the runners or increase more plants yearly.
They usually yield fruit in three weeks or less all at once, which is a June-bearing variety.
These types are sensitive to day duration; they yield fruit and flowers in June following autumn’s bud production and runners throughout the long summer days.
Though labeled as “June-bearing” or “June-beers,” these strawberries grow fruit in warmer climates before June.
Strawberries should be planted two feet apart in rows three to four feet apart.
However, this is not the case; I shall continue on the subject.
ALSO READ – Will Strawberry Plants Produce All Summer
Now, let us get started.
What Should You Do With Strawberries Once They’ve Been Harvested
You have an abundance of gorgeous, juicy red strawberries. What are you going to do with them?
Keep wrapped in the refrigerator rather loosely. If your berries are in a clamshell container, cover the top with a paper towel and store them upside down to absorb any moisture so the bottom berries stay soggy-free.
Please don’t remove the caps or wash the berries unless ready to use them. Before use, the caps are removed; therefore, the berries lose some moisture content.
Rushed washing of berries often results in damaged fruit that loses freshness.
Shield the berries from too much sunshine right away after they are gathered. Though it may not be practical, ideally, you should start doing this in the field or at a berry patch.
But as soon as you can, take the strawberries out of the sun, even if this means covering a flat with a sheet or
Piece of cardboard while you choose, or head inside with the first significant crop while you prefer more.
If you want to spend much time in the patch, avoid leaving plenty of fruit-filled flats or containers to bake and break down in the sun.
Assembling: When ready—for whatever—put the berries in a colander and quickly rinse them under cool water.
When removing the caps, gently twist them or use the tip of a sharp knife to avoid cutting off any of the berries. For capping berries, a regular vegetable peeler’s tip does nicely.
ALSO READ – Which Strawberry Plant Produces The Most Strawberries
Strawberries Keep For How Long Following Harvest.
Dry, carefully wrapped strawberries should be kept in the refrigerator for at least seven days. Still, for the freshest taste, you should eat them before then.
Harvest the strawberries first thing in the morning if you intend to save them for later consumption. The fruits are more astonishing; hence, this is a preferable way of storing them.
Furthermore, extending the shelf life of the fruit keeps its stem intact.
Strawberries, unfortunately, may only be stored in small amounts. Fresh, as such delicate fruits are, they don’t survive very long.
Because of their higher moisture and air exposure after sliced, strawberries are more prone to rot.
If they smell bad, are discolored, or feel slimy, toss them away.
To maximize their shelf life, strawberries should be kept whole and chopped before use. They do keep their freshness and nutritional worth and last longer.
ALSO READ – Can Strawberries Grow In The USA
How Can One Cultivate And Preserve Strawberries
Water one to two inches per week during the growth season. Leave the crown of the plant uncovered to stop decay.
Load the soil with plenty of well-rotted manure or compost. Besides controlling soil moisture and slowing plant development, straw mulch helps avoid catching berries in the mud.
One excellent suggestion is growing strawberries in pots, hanging baskets, and window boxes. In every deep pot, a minimum of 15 cm wide, plant one strawberry.
They like wet but well-drained soil; hence, they start with a thick layer of gravel or broken crocks in soil-based compost at the base.
Once a week or two, start feeding in early spring with a liquid high-potash feed—such as tomato food—once a week or two to encourage blooming and fruit set.
A little mention about cultivating and tending to strawberries:
Strawberries need complete sun if they want to produce the maximum fruit.
Plants should be separated from 12 to 18 inches.
While they are self-fertile, strawberries depend on bees for pollination.
Remove some runners throughout the developing season to stop your strawberry plants from overrunning your yard.
After a few weeks following planting, you can gather fruit later in the summer after removing the blossoms.
One June-bearing plant can produce up to 120 additional daughter plants in one season.
ALSO READ – How Long Does Strawberry Grow From Seed
Why Do Newly Harvested Strawberries Go Bad So Quickly
naturally occurring berries contain mold spores, which will finally lead to their spoiling.
Strawberries soaked in a vinegar bath remove these spores, immunizing the berries from them.
Your berries were most likely meant to go bad at some point between their picking and arrival on your kitchen counter.
Perhaps the strawberries warmed up too much throughout the seven to ten-day travel.
Rinsing destroys mold spores in diluted vinegar (1 cup white distilled vinegar combined with 8 cups cold water) solution will help before using. Rinse gently to get rid of the vinegar smell.
Keep your berries in a glass container you can securely cover.
Stow it in the coldest part of the refrigerator—usually the crisper drawers. Just bear in mind they are here and waiting for consumption!
If you can’t consume them all at once, you may freeze them and use them later, perhaps on top of ice cream and shortcake or angel food cake.
ALSO READ – How Much Water Do Alpine Strawberries Need
If You Chop Off The Tops, Do Strawberries Keep Better
Leave the stems from them clipped or removed. Whole berries retain better. Hence, avoid cutting strawberries or removing their green tips while storing them.
Strawberries keep well in the refrigerator for one to three days.
However, it is essential to remember that strawberries lose their freshness and nutritional content when sliced.
Cut strawberries before eating or use them in dishes to preserve freshness and flavor.
If you need chopped strawberries for several days, freeze them.
Frozen for several months, strawberries may be topped with oatmeal or yogurt or incorporated into baked products and smoothies.
Simply laying strawberries out in a single layer on a baking sheet will freeze them until firm; then, they can be moved to a freezer bag or airtight container.
It should be mentioned that entire strawberries won’t go wrong as fast as cut ones.
Including the green leafy tips, keep the whole basket in the same state as you discovered it at the farmers’ market or supermarket shop.
ALSO READ – Are There Fake Strawberries
Final Thought
Now that we have established that strawberry plants grow back after harvesting, Strawberry plants are indeed annual; hence, they will grow again yearly.
Although fruit output will drop beyond the first two years, strawberry bushes usually last six years.
Starting strawberry plants from scratch is better than using hand-me-downs, as they are prone to illnesses and lose vitality after a few years.
It would help to replace your whole bed every four to five years.
Evergreen plants are those bearing strawberries. Naturally accepting of cold, they can survive almost freezing conditions.
If your location has moderate winters, upkeep is not too demanding.