Strawberries

Strawberry (Fragaria sp.) flowers are hermaphrodite. This means that strawberries are self-fertile and can pollinate themselves, but they usually need the assistance of wind or pollinators, such as bees to ensure that the fruits reach their potential.
The flowers produce nectar at the base of the stamens. Poor pollination can result in poor fruit set, and small or misshapen fruit.

Bee hives can be introduced on strawberry farms to help with fruit pollination. It is estimated that between 6 and 15 bee visits are needed to pollinate a strawberry fruit fully.

Strawberries are an easy to grow in your garden and are great to get children involved to harvest the fruits.

There are 3 types of strawberry plants to choose from - June bearing, Everbearing, and Day Neutral if you are wanting to grown strawberries in your garden. Be sure you know what you are planting because the type of plant will determine when and how much you harvest.

Planting your strawberry patch should be in full sun, well-drained sandy soil and don’t plant them where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant have been grown as they are prone to verticillium rot.

To ensure a good fruit harvest, attract good pollinators like bees to your garden so that they can pollinate the strawberries.