Planting Systems
There are many systems for planting and growing strawberries but the most profitable are the hill, single-hedge and double-hedge row.
SIDE VIEW OF SECTION OF A ROW SHOWING PLANTS GROWN HILL SYSTEM
Sex in strawberry plants graphically presented. Above; pistillate blossom. Below; blossom of a bi-sexual plant.
For the hill system, rows should be made 30 inches apart, plants set 15 inches apart in the row and all runners removed.
By setting in check rows the wide spaces can be cultivated with single-horse cultivator and the narrow spaces with hand cultivator. This leaves only a very small area around each plant to be hoed and reduces considerably the cost of cultivation.
In small gardens the rows may be made two feet apart and plants set one foot apart in the row and if crowded for room they may be set 15 inches apart each way.
Fourteen thousand plants may be set on a single acre when they are set 30 x 15 inches.
(NOTE: By Hill System, we do not refer to hilling or ridging the ground. The plants should be set with the crowns level with the surface the same as in either of the other systems. Never ridge the ground unless there is slow and improper drainage.)
The single-hedge row is formed by setting plants two feet apart in rows which are spaced three feet apart. Each original plant is allowed to make two runner plants which are layered on opposite sides of the mother plant directly in line with the row. All other runners should be removed. Seven thousand plants are required for one acre.
For the double-hedge row, plants are set two feet apart in rows which are spaced three and one-half feet apart. Each original plant is allowed to make six runner plants, two of which are layered on opposite sides of the mother plant directly in line with the row. The other four are layered, two on each side of the mother plant, in the spaces between the rows. This forms three distinct rows, the original row and a row of runner plants on each side. After the rows are thus formed all other runners should be removed. Six thousand plants are required for one acre.