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Do you also want to start farming strawberries? The good thing about growing strawberries for the market is that strawberry farming is generally a niche market, which is very profitable if you know what to do.
You do not need to grow strawberries just for your local market, you can also send your produce to other regional and international markets especially when you target retail and hospitality industries.
Any strawberries that do not make it to the high-end shelves or to hotel kitchens can still be sold through street vendors.
Strawberry farming however is very technical for it to be rewarding and the following are the most essential.
Strawberry varieties
Flavour in strawberries depends on the cultivar but might be influenced by other factors such as locality cultural practices, in particular of fertilisation.
Rolinda - is a high yielding strawberry with rather soft, small berries. It has some resistance to mites.
Rovelle - is very firm, among the hardest. Has a good flavour.
Selekta - it has firm, large conical berries. Selekta is very popular in taste and appearance. The flavour is good in winter but rather tart in summer.
Tioga - an earlier cropper, usually earlier than Selekta. Have large berries that are firm through out the season. The flavour is superior to Parfaite and can be better than Selekta. It has a uniform ripening and is more resistant to mites. Has been grown under tunnels.
Tiobelle - has firm, conicaaly shapped and dark coloured fruit very floribundant.
Rollisa - fairly highly yielding with small berries. The flavour is good.
Rorine - has medium sized berries with a flavour that can be better than Rolisssa. A good year yielder.
Strawberry Nursery
Choose a site far from other strawberry fields to reduce the chances of the infection with nematodes and viruses.
The site should be free from frost.
Soils for growing strawberries
Always make sure you have deep well-drained soil which is most desirable for such a crop.
Fertilisation
Yes fertiliser is recommended for runner and field strawberry production. Use 300 kg /ha preferably Tobacco Fert 6:24:20 or 5:15:12, which should be broadcast and disced into the soil before planting.
Between 3-4 weeks after planting your strawberry, top dress with 200kg/ha compound J coffee fertiliser (14:6:20).
Three top dressings of 100 kg/ha of Ammonium Nitrate is sufficient.
Spacing
Your plants should be established on raised beds (1-m-1.2 m wide) or ridges spaced 0.90 cm apart. A spacing of 1m x 1m is best for runner production.
Spacing for fruit production is 30 cm x 30cm.
Strawberry Planting
Trim roots to about 10 cm. remove all leaves except one or two (this minimises transpiration). Spread the roots before covering in the soil. The plant is then set with the crown just above ground level. It is best to plant in moist soil and irrigate immediately.
Irrigation
Irrigation should be filled to capacity at planting and during the first 4 weeks, watering 3 times a week. Water should be increased during hot days and reduced at cooler times.
Strawberry pests
Common pests that affect strawberries include aphids, mites and other pests. Nematodes are the most important. White grubs-Larvae of several beetles-feed primarily on grass roots but can cause severe damage to strawberries.
Verticulum Wilt, which is soil borne, can be controlled avoiding planting after solanaceous crop.
Morestan and some other acaricide can be used against mites. Full cover sprays of Dimethoate at a rate of 75ml/100 l water will control mites. Thiodan (drench) can be used as a control. IOt will also control cutworms.
Pests can be controlled by spraying every two weeks with Dimethoate-Thionex, Thiodan, Carbaryl and Malathion. Bravo or Benomyl alternated with Dithane M45 can be applied once or twice a week to control most fungal pathogens.
Strawberry harvesting
Runners should be lifted in February/ March. When lifting daughter plants, the mother plants (branch crowns) should always be discarded. An average of 35-40 runner plants per mother plant can be expected.
N.B Runners should not be allowed to set flowers as this retards the vigour of the newly set plants and slow runner productions.
Fruit should be harvested at red ripe stage (130-135 days after planting for the early plant crop). The harvesting may last for 2-3 or more weeks. For shipping berries: berries should be harvested a bit earlier. The fruit will colour fully after harvesting.
Field Planting
Soils as previously stated, should be deep well drained, light soils with plenty of compost (20-30t/ha). pH should be in the range of 5.5-6.5 (CaCl2 scale)
Field Preparation
Raised beds (1m-1.2m) 0.9 apart or ridges are recommended. The strawberry crop should not follow after a crop susceptible to verticillium wilt (such as Tomato and Potato).
Fertilisation
Pre planting: 500-750 SSP/HA and 200 kg K2SO4/ha broadcast and mixed in a depth of 30cm. After establishment (at 4 weeks):75-100kg AN/ha as top dressing and 100 kg K2SO4/ha from commencement of active growth at monthly intervals.
Strawberry Planting Time
February to April is the best time to plant. Spacing should be 30cm x 45cm raised beds. Closer spacing may be used if planting is used if planting is late to compensate for the small size of the resulting plants.
Plant population of 45 000 plants/ha.
Mulching
UV stabilised black or clear plastic or rye grass can be used as mulch. Strawberries can also be used in tunnels.
Irrigation
Frequent light irrigation are recommended as strawberries are also shallow rooted.
Post Harvesting Handling
Harvesting should be done with minimal damage as the crop is very perishable. The fruit should be picked with the stalk attached, placed in shallow punnets and cooled to remove field heat.
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