The ideal spacing for strawberry is 25 -50cm intra-plant spacing and 70-120cm inter-row spacing.
Strawberry spacing is the gap or distance between your strawberry plants. The spacing of your strawberry plants can affect the yield, disease infestation, growth and weight of the harvested strawberry grains.
The use of inappropriate spacing can negatively impact your strawberry plants.
The type or variety of strawberry can also impact the spacing requirement. For example, some strawberry varieties can tolerate tight spacing while some others cannot tolerate tight spacing.
The wider the spacing, the lesser the risk of your strawberry plants getting infected with diseases.
Factors to consider before choosing your strawberry spacing
The following factors should be considered before choosing your strawberry spacing:
The Variety of Strawberry
The varieties of strawberry you decide to plant van affect the spacing requirements. The variety of strawberry planted in Nigeria is the smaller foliage type, so this variety needs closer spacing.
The Agro-Climatic Zone of your Area
The climatic condition of your farm site can affect your spacing when you are planting strawberry. In the humid rain forest belt of Nigeria, larger spacing should be used for planting of strawberry because of the humid condition. In the savannah belt, tighter spacing can be used when planting strawberry.
Please note that strawberry may not do well in Nigeria except in the cold areas like Plateau State and mambilla Plateau.
The Type of Irrigation System you Use
The use of drip irrigation can make you reduce the spacing of your strawberry plants. Drip irrigation encourages the increase in plant population.
Wider spacing will need to be used if you want to use rains for providing water for your strawberry plants.
Advantages of using the right spacing for growing strawberry
The following are the advantages of using the right spacing for growing strawberry:
High Crop Yield
Your strawberry crop yield can increase significantly if you use the right spacing. Too wide or too tight spacing can negatively impact the yield of your crop.
Lesser Incidences of Pests and Diseases
Using the right planting spaces can lead to a reduction in the incidences of pests and diseases. Good spacing improves aeration on the farm and reduces the risk of fungal diseases.
Using a very tight spacing can increase the risk of pests and diseases in your strawberry farm.
Ease of Harvest
If your strawberry plants are well spaced, it will be easier for the strawberry farmer to harvest his strawberry grains.
Inter-Cropping
Good spacing can allow for the planting of other types of crops with your strawberry crop. Intercropping can be beneficial to the soil and reduce the incidences of some pests and diseases.
About Strawberry Farming
Strawberry farming is the process of planting strawberry for the purpose of harvesting the matured strawberries for domestic, commercial and industrial uses.
Strawberry farming involves all the processes associated with the growing of strawberry. These processes include getting the seeds, land preparation, planting, maintenance of the strawberry plants, harvesting and marketing of the produce.
Strawberry is a temperate crop. Strawberry can only do well in temperate areas. This is why almost all the strawberry farmers in Nigeria grow the crop in Plateau State. Plateau state has a quasi-temperate climatic condition.
Please read our latest article on the best month to plant strawberry in Nigeria.
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What spacing do you use when planting strawberry? Kindly share your response with us in the comments’ section.