Bare-root strawberries are dormant plants shipped without soil, consisting of a crown and a mass of roots, allowing for cost-effective and efficient planting in early spring. When they arrive, these plants are essentially asleep, ready to be awakened by planting them into the garden bed. Whether these plants will produce a harvest in the initial growing season depends less on the bare-root nature of the plant and more on the specific variety selected.
Strawberry Types and First-Year Production Potential
The potential for a first-year harvest is determined by the plant’s fruiting habit, classifying strawberries into two main groups: June-bearing and Everbearing or Day-neutral.
June-bearing varieties focus their energy on producing one large, concentrated crop over a two-to-three-week period, typically in late spring or early summer of the following year. These varieties dedicate their first year to establishing a robust root system and generating runners, which are vegetative offshoots that form new plants for the next season’s full production. June-bearing plants initiate flower buds in the previous autumn, channeling the first year’s energy into future yield rather than immediate fruit.
Everbearing and Day-neutral varieties, conversely, are capable of producing a small harvest in the first year. These types are less sensitive to day length and will flower and fruit multiple times throughout the growing season. They often yield a small spring crop followed by a second, larger crop in late summer or autumn. While these varieties offer the gratification of a small first-year crop, this immediate production can compromise the long-term strength of the newly planted bare-root stock.
The Critical Decision: Removing First-Year Flowers
Regardless of the variety planted, the most important decision in the first year is the temporary sacrifice of fruit. Allowing a young plant to produce fruit diverts significant energy away from the development of the crown and root system, which are the foundational structures for perennial success. Since flowering and fruiting are metabolically demanding, a newly planted bare-root specimen has a limited energy reserve.
For June-bearing plants, it is standard practice to remove all flowers that appear throughout the entire first season. This ensures the plant reserves resources for setting flower buds for the next year. This process, often called pinching or snipping, allows the plant to focus on developing a strong, large crown that can support a heavy yield in year two. The superior root mass established in the first year directly translates to a significantly larger and healthier harvest in subsequent years.
For Everbearing and Day-neutral varieties, the recommendation is to remove all flowers that appear for the first four to six weeks after planting. This initial period allows the roots to anchor firmly and the crown to gain size before the plant is permitted to begin fruiting. After this establishment period, the plant can be allowed to set fruit, providing a modest harvest from late summer until the first hard frost. This balanced approach prioritizes the plant’s long-term health while still offering some first-year gratification.
Establishing Strong Plants for Future Yields
Successful establishment of bare-root stock requires attention to planting depth and immediate care to encourage rapid root growth. The crown, the slightly swollen area above the roots where the leaves emerge, must be set precisely at the soil line. Planting too deeply can cause the crown to rot, while planting too shallowly can expose the roots to drying air, causing the plant to fail.
Before planting, the roots should be fanned out in the hole. They can be trimmed by up to one-third of their length to encourage new, vigorous root growth. Immediate and consistent watering is necessary after planting, as bare roots dry out rapidly and must be kept moist but not saturated.
Throughout the first growing season, runner management becomes the focus. For June-bearing varieties, allow only two to four runners per mother plant to root. Conversely, all runners should generally be removed from Everbearing and Day-neutral varieties to maximize fruit yield on the mother plant.