Strawberry Tips
Strawberries are a delight in the greenhouse, the garden, and in your mouth! In raising strawberry plants indoors and under lights, they will have needs that plants grown outdoors generally do not have.

Posted Friday, April 21, 2006

Strawberries are a plant that you can grow easily under lights because it is short and flat. Therefore the light can hit every leaf on the plant at once, making for healthy produce.

The difference in raising strawberries to that of tomatoes in the greenhouse is this; on the tomato plant, only the leaves that are on the top of the plant will get sunlight. The top leaves will shade the lower leaves. The strawberry plant grows outward, so all the leaves on this plant will receive light, making the strawberry plant an easy choice for beginner gardeners.

How much sunlight should your indoor plants receive?

Because your strawberries don’t get light from other sources, you will have to regulate the amount of sunlight they receive. A good rule of thumb is ten to twelve hours of light, sunlight, or indoor light for good production.

The darker times of day or night are when your plants will rest after receiving sunlight. All plants need some type of down time in order for a balanced environment.

Each type of strawberry plant will have individual needs. Some plants are cultivated for shorter growing seasons, and others for the natural longer season. Learn more bout the type of strawberry’s you are planting so you give the plant what it requires in sunlight, watering and cooling off periods.

All types of strawberry plants will require cooler temperatures in order to produce strawberries. Think about what your weather is like outdoors. If you were to have three or four weeks of cooler temperatures in the spring months, or possibly six to seven weeks; this is what you want to replicate in the greenhouse.

To cool plants, wrap your young strawberry plants in lightly damp paper. Put the strawberry plants in the fridge for a few weeks matching your outdoor cool periods. After four to six weeks take them out for production!