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Key Points
- Strawberries are ready about 30 days after blooming, typically between late May and early October, depending on the variety.
- Harvest when berries are fully red—size doesn’t matter—and check for ripeness every two–four days.
- Pinch the stem below the berry to pick, not the green cap, to prevent damage.
There’s nothing more delicious than intensely sweet, sun-warmed, home-grown strawberries harvested from your yard—especially when they cost a fraction of the price of store-bought varieties.
Selecting the right type of strawberry, providing top-class care, and harvesting at the right time and with the right techniques means you can enjoy the freshest of fruit throughout the summer.
Learn when and how to harvest strawberries to make the most of your patch’s pickings.
When to Harvest Strawberries
Harvest your strawberries when the fruits are uniformly red (regardless of what size they are), without any visible white patches. Most strawberry varieties’ fruits fully ripen about 28 to 30 days after the plants bloom. However, the timing of strawberry harvest depends on the variety you’re growing, the planting date, and local conditions.
During the peak harvest period, you’ll need to pick strawberries every other day when the weather is warm and every three to four days when conditions are cooler.
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June-Bearing Strawberries
June-bearing strawberries produce one fruit crop per year. The year after planting, you should be able to harvest from your plants for around three to six weeks at some point starting in late spring or early summer.
Harvest timings vary depending on your local climate and whether the strawberries are rated as early, midseason, or late varieties.
Everbearing Strawberries
You’ll be able to harvest from your everbearing strawberries twice a year—once in early summer and again in late summer. However, be aware that they don’t tend to be as productive as June-bearing or day-neutral varieties, so your harvest will probably be smaller.
Day-Neutral Strawberries
Providing temperatures remain between 40ºF and 90ºF, you should be able to harvest day-neutral strawberries throughout the growing season. This can start as early as May for some cultivars and climates and go all the way through to the first hard frost around October.
How to Harvest Strawberries
Perfecting your strawberry picking practices means the fruits will better retain their firmness and flavor.
- Carefully inspect your vines and fruits: Those red, ripe berries can be hiding amongst the tangle of runners produced by these low-growing vining perennials.
- Leave some stem attached: Use your fingers or small, sterile pruning shears to pinch off around 1/4 inch of the stem below the fruit rather than pulling them off by the little green cap. This minimizes the chance of damaging the fruit, keeping your berries fresh for longer.
- Eat while they’re fresh: Garden-grown strawberries taste better than store-bought, but they don’t last as long. They taste delicious when freshly picked, or you can store them in the fridge for a few days to a week.
- Repeat the process every two to four days: This reduces the risk of diseases spreading and improves harvestable yields. If you spot any wounded or moldy berries in your vines, it’s best to remove them immediately.
Strawberry Care Tips
Providing optimal care and conditions means your strawberry harvest will be healthier and heftier. Keep these tips in mind to make the most of your crop.
- Select a sunny site: Strawberries need a full sun position to produce the best harvest. Ten or more hours is ideal.
- Don’t forget to feed: Your strawberry plants will appreciate a loamy soil rich in organic matter such as leaf compost or manure. When and what you fertilize your strawberries with depends on the variety you’re growing and your soil composition.
- Tidy your plants: Pruning strawberries by removing runners and thinning out these fast-growing vines directs energy to the mother plant and promotes good air circulation.
- Watch out for weeds: These can quickly outcompete your sensitive, shallow-rooted strawberry plants. Hand weeding is the safest option if you see them sprouting up between your strawberry plant rows.
- Protect your plants from frost damage: If temperatures drop below 15°F in your region, winterize your strawberry plants. Cover these perennials with a generous layer of insulating straw mulch or row covers that you can remove when it gets warmer in the spring.
