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Get It Growing for 10/31/25
Raise your hand if you love strawberries!
These sweet, juicy, red berries are one of the most popular kinds of fruit. And how could they not be? They’re delicious and nutritious — a healthy treat even picky youngsters can appreciate. Strawberries are an economically and culturally important crop in Louisiana, and they’re our official state fruit.
If you’d like to grow some of your own, it’s easy to do — and October through mid-November is the best time to get your plants in the ground. You can grow them in containers and raised beds, too.
Plant now, and you can expect a harvest in March and April.
Strawberry plants are typically sold bareroot, meaning they’re not potted up in containers. When you go shopping at your local garden center, the plants will look like a clump of roots that may or may not have foliage. That’s completely normal! Once planted, new shoots will grow from the roots.
Look for LSU AgCenter-recommended varieties such as Benicia, Strawberry Festival, Sweet Ann, Camino Real, Chandler and Camarosa. These have all been tested and found to perform well in Louisiana’s climate.
You need to plant your strawberries soon after bringing them home from the garden center, as bareroot plants can dry out in a hurry. Before planting, you may want to soak the roots in water for about 20 minutes to rehydrate them.
Strawberries should be planted in full sun and well-drained, slightly acidic soil. Containers and raised beds filled with typical potting or raised bed mixes are perfect.
If your plants still have a lot of old foliage attached, go ahead and cut that off. It’ll die eventually anyways, and removing those extra leaves will help the plants concentrate their resources on getting established and growing new roots and shoots that will eventually produce strawberries.
Pay special attention to your planting technique. When you place your plants in the ground, the roots should be spread out — not curled up.
You also need to keep an eye on the crown, which is where the roots and shoots come together. The crown is the plant’s main growing point. It’s crucial for it to sit right at soil level — not deeper or higher.
If you’re growing strawberries in rows in the ground or in a raised bed, space your plants 12 inches apart. For smaller container-grown strawberries, place just one plant per pot. Larger containers or hanging baskets can accommodate plants placed as close as 8 inches apart.
Strawberries have a shallow root system, so it’s essential to keep them moist but not overwatered. Water every day for the first two weeks while the plants establish. After that, plan on watering every two to three days if rain isn’t in the forecast. Make sure the plants are never sitting in waterlogged soil.
Mulch around your strawberries after planting; pine straw is a great choice for this. Mulch not only helps retain moisture but also will prevent berries from coming in direct contact with the soil, which can damage the fruit.
Incorporating a pre-plant fertilizer into the soil or potting media just before you plant is a recommended practice.
Your plants will grow quite a bit in their first couple of months and may even put on a few flowers. Remove these early flowers — they usually turn into small, misshapen fruit, and plants need to focus instead on just growing in this time.
In late winter or early spring, you’ll see another round of blooms appear. It takes about four to six weeks from bloom to berry. During this critical growth period, help your plants out with a general-purpose liquid fertilizer, which will encourage fruit production.
Check out the AgCenter’s free publication at www.LSUAgCenter.com/strawberryguide for more details on growing strawberries. You also can contact your parish AgCenter agent with questions.
Strawberry plants are typically sold bareroot. Sometimes, they still have old foliage attached. You can cut off these leaves before planting. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
LSU AgCenter horticulturist Jason Stagg points to a strawberry plant’s crown, which is where the roots and shoots meet. The crown is the main growing point, and it should sit even with the soil surface when planted. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
When planting strawberries, make sure to allow room for the roots to spread out. They shouldn’t be curled up. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
The crown of each strawberry plant should be even with the soil. It shouldn’t be buried deeply or sitting high above soil level. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
Mulch around strawberry plants to help the soil retain moisture and to prevent contact with fruit. Photo by Olivia McClure/LSU AgCenter
