On a new June-bearing strawberry planting, remove every blossom for the whole first season
On a new June-bearing strawberry planting, remove every blossom for the whole first season. Check weekly and pinch or cut them off; flowering stops by early July. Letting first-year flowers set fruit reduces plant growth, runner production, and the size of next year's crop. Everbearing and day-neutral types are handled differently. Remove blossoms only for the first stretch after planting (about four to six weeks, or until early July), then let them fruit. The first berries come in August and keep coming until frost.
Promising A person has checked it against its sources. If you skip this, it still grows, just less well. The planner suggests it.
How it works
A first-year plant that ripens fruit spends on berries the resources that would otherwise build the root system, leaf canopy and runners (daughter plants) that make up next year's bed; letting the flowers develop into berries reduces plant growth, runner production and the size of next year's crop, while removing them directs the plant's resources into a large root system and a healthy plant. June-bearers crop once a year, so the whole first season is given to establishment; everbearing and day-neutral types keep flowering, so only the establishment window is sacrificed and later flowers are allowed to fruit.
What to do about it
June-bearing: pinch or cut off all blossoms weekly through the first growing season. Everbearing or day-neutral: remove blossoms for the first four to six weeks after planting, or until early July, then allow the plants to fruit.
How much it matters: No figure is stated. The sources give a direction with no magnitude. First-year fruiting means a smaller next-year crop, fewer runners and weaker plants; removal builds the root system and canopy. Because deblossoming a young planting is the gardener's weekly choice, the rule only advises.
The evidence
Evidence: checked against 2 sources in the research-based literature.
The 2 sources
During the first growing season, all the blossoms should be removed from June-bearing strawberries
Remove flowers for the first 4-6 weeks after planting, and then allow plants to fruit.
Plants it applies to
How this rule has changed
Every change is dated, newest first. The full record, with each reason, is in the data download.
- Wording made clearer
- Added to the rules
Cite this page
Milpa Gardens. "On a new June-bearing strawberry planting, remove every blossom for the whole first season. Check weekly and pinch or cut them off; flowering stops by early July. Letting first-year flowers set fruit reduces plant growth, runner production, and the size of next year's crop. Everbearing and day-neutral types are handled differently. Remove blossoms only for the first stretch after planting (about four to six weeks, or until early July), then let them fruit. The first berries come in August and keep coming until frost." Evidence grade: Promising. https://milpa.garden/rules/new-june-bearing-strawberry-planting-remove-blossom/
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- The rule names its mechanism and is settled, by sources a person has read and checked or by plain arithmetic and geometry.
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