Day-neutral strawberry planting: Key points

Madeline Wimmer- Fruit Production Extension Educator

Image 1: A box filled with over 1,000 day-neutral bareroot strawberry plants. This variety, Albion, is suitable for growing in the Upper Midwest.

Day-neutral (DN) strawberry production shares some similarities with June-bearing strawberry production, but one of the main differences is that DN strawberries are grown as annuals, meaning they are replanted at the beginning of each growing season. Bare root strawberries are the most efficient option for most production situations, which require a few considerations for best planting practices.  

If you're looking for general information on DN strawberries, note that UMN researchers and Extension educators have built a strong day-neutral strawberries web resource, which houses information related to management, specifics on sheltered growing and table top systems, as well as a cost-benefit analysis tool for production.

Instagram reel

Watch a  short video on our UMN fruit Instagram channel, @umn_fruittalk, or UMN Small Farms YouTube channel to see how day-neutral strawberries can be planted. 

Planting takeaways with photos

Image 2: Bareroot day-neutral strawberry plants can range from large to small, but the smaller ones will likely catch up at some point during the growing season.

Here are some key takeaways and general points about planting day-neutral strawberries. 

Follow along with the images below to visualize each planting step:

Prepping for planting

• Strawberry beds, mulch, and irrigation should be set up before the anticipated planting day to simplify the process.
• Bareroot plants can be stored in a dark, cool place with enough moisture to prevent roots from drying out prior to planting.
• Bareroot plants will come in various sizes (refer to image 2), but growers can anticipate smaller plants “catching up” at some point during the growing season.
• Measuring and marking each plant's spots prior to planting can help streamline the process and is easy to do with a marker when using plastic mulch.
• The UMN strawberry growing site sets their drip irrigation to run through the middle of each bed and only plants strawberries on one side of the drip irrigation hose. However, many growers may choose to put plants closer together (~9in apart) and stagger them in a zig-zag pattern, alternating planting sides along the row. 

Right before planting:

• Bareroot plants are most successfully planted when their roots are rinsed or briefly soaked in water, and trimmed to ~4in length (refer to image 3).

During planting:

• Plant each strawberry by gathering the roots together—be sure to avoid twisting the roots—and then place a depressor stick about ¼ inch above root ends. Gently “sew” the roots into the soil by pressing the stick just above the root ends until the soil contacts the plant's crown (refer to image 4 and watch reel/short video shown above to watch a planting example). 
• If bareroot plants are established with exposed roots, this will decrease their chance of survival. 
• Pressing too high up on the roots will create a U-shape with root tips pointing up, which can lead to poor growth and potential root circling and girdling. 

After planting:

• After planting, turn on irrigation to thoroughly water plants for successful establishment.

Image 3: A bundle of day-neutral bareroot strawberry plants before and after trimming the roots.

Image 4: Day-neutral strawberries can be mass-planted with ease by pushing near the root tips, using a depressor stick, into the ground until roots are fully covered by soil.

Image 5: Table-top day-neutral strawberry production when plants are fully grown and blooming.

Thank you to Mary Roger's lab and Matthew Gullickson for their contributions to this article.