Plant spacings in non-SFG strawberry beds

I've finally found the time for some detailed planning of my upcoming strawberry bed and am wondering about plant spacing so I can decide what size bed to buy.  I'm thinking it will not be a SFG bed -- making the MM for vege bed #1 last spring was a huge mission for me and I've been delighted with the harvest from my strawberries in pots with regular potting soil.  So, I'm thinking a mixture of azalea potting mix for acidity, my own compost and maybe some left-over peat and vermiculite from the vege bed's MM manufacture.

Drainage won't be a problem since the bed will be sitting on an acrylic panel for tree root protection, just like the vege bed.

I don't want to have anything more than 2 plants per square; we have a humid climate and I really think any closer than that is asking for trouble.  Also, with the growing medium not being MM it feels inappropriate to use SFG plant spacing.  But I'm wondering if even 2 is too close from the perspective of growing medium fertility.

I'd be very interested to learn what plant spacings the strawberry gurus among us have used in a non-SFG bed.

I don't want anyone to be confused by my answer.  Having a real SFG bed in NZ is not easy.  Kiwi did it!  To be up-front about making a second bed for strawberries that will not be filled with Mel's Mix is not against the rules.  I'm sure some of us have an auxiliary growing area like an inground patch of corn or a hilled row for bed hogs like summer squash.  I needed more room for tomatoes because I can them so I spent 18-24 months amending the heck out of a 1' strip of hard pan for the tomatoes.  (SFG with Mel's Mix is so simple compared to inground!!)  Acknowledging that the close spacing between the plants may not be achievable is being realistic.

Answer:
I'm concerned about the acidity of azalea mix.  Adding more left-over peat moss to the azalea mix may make it even more acidic.  I'm just guessing.  Compost is what will feed them so try to make it as close to 1/3 as you can.  Maybe you can find another non-acidic potting or raised bed mix for 2/3 and just add 1/3 compost. ??  Mixes usually have a lot of peat moss or coir, and perlite instead of vermiculite, so compost will be your friend.

As far as spacing, if you have sufficient compost in the bed, you can try 1 per square, 2 per square on an 8" diagonal and 4 per square as a test.  In some areas, strawberries are annuals, being replanted each spring.  In other areas, like mine, they are perennials and need watching or the runners with new plants will overtake the bed.  I have to thin mine desperately but I'm not in shape yet to dig them up.

OG?

Many thanks for your support of my plan, sanderson.  I didn't realise that explicitly planning on a non-SFG bed might be considered not quite kosher in these fora -- I deliberately chose the non-SFG forum thinking it would be OK to talk about it over here.

The reason I'm thinking of azalea mix is that strawberries like an acidic soil, so regular potting mix seemed a bad idea.  But I can certainly use regular potting mix if the combined wisdom here is it would be better.  Yes, the plan is 1/3 compost, so I can get closer to the fertility of MM.

It's been a hard decision on the growing medium and I've been umming and ahing over it for quite a while.  I've loved the MM in my vege bed during this first difficult summer; it's been great to know that I can't overwater or underwater it (I tend my garden every morning).  But getting the MM made and into the bed was incredibly difficult physically for me, so I had to have a good reason for putting it in the strawberry bed.  In the end I decided that since (a) drainage wouldn't be a problem, thanks to the acrylic panel underneath the bed, and (b) strawberries don't like to be too wet, there was not enough reason to use MM.  However, since I have some peat and vermiculite left over from December I figure I may as well use them, although I don't have enough to get to 1/3, I think.  They'll certainly help the moisture side of things.

Another reason for avoiding MM this time was the pH; I know peat is acidic, but I figured 2/3 azalea mix 1/3 compost (ignoring for a moment the peat that I have) would be more acidic than MM.  To keep the medium on the acidic side over time I'm planning on pine needle mulch, which I already use in my strawberry pots on the patio.

Thanks again for your input and support, as always very much appreciated.  I'd still love to hear the opinions of other strawberry gurus here, if anyone wants to comment on the above and also the main subject of this thread

KiwiSFGnewbie wrote:. . . Another reason for avoiding MM this time was the pH; I know peat is acidic, but I figured 2/3 azalea mix 1/3 compost (ignoring for a moment the peat that I have) would be more acidic than MM.  To keep the medium on the acidic side over time I'm planning on pine needle mulch, which I already use in my strawberry pots on the patio. . .

I did a little reading and it looks like the literature talks about being on the acidic side. I'm surprised because a lot of members grow in Mel's Mix which is close to neutral 7. Since you will be adding compost to what ever growing medium you buy or make, they should grow. It should drain well, also. A side note is that dry pine needles do not affect the pH of the soil. The things I have learned from others over my 10 years of SFG! When I was in Georgia/South Carolina, I noticed pine needles were a common winter mulch.

sanderson wrote:A side note is that dry pine needles do not affect the pH of the soil.  The things I have learned from others over my 10 years of SFG!

OMG that is very interesting!  I use them all summer long and the plants seem to be happy, so at the least they're not bothering them.  I guess there must be some leaching into the soil though, from watering and rain.

A couple of interesting articles on pine straw.

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/~/media/system/d/e/3/e/de3e7516e68dfee4a21a84b38caa4df8/p1980_lavegplantguiderev_ai0520kfontenot_finalpdf.pdf

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2702/

KiwiSFGnewbie wrote:I'd be very interested to learn what plant spacings the strawberry gurus among us have used in a non-SFG bed.

I automated the watering of my sfg beds once a day for 3 minutes, all plants did well except for the strawberries, which was surprising for me because we have strawberries in other parts of our gardens that we do not water regularly and they thrive.

I put it down to the unique drainage of the mels mix, so either i have to increase  the watering time or increse the duration of watering times, i decided as I want to conserve my water to just give strawberries a miss in the sfg beds

In our garden our strawberries are easily qty 3 plants per square ft if not more, they put out their own runners for more plants, so start IMO with 1 or two per square and wihton a year you will have way way more

Currently germinating some white and blue strawberry seeds

Steve

Simso wrote:I automated the watering of my sfg beds once a day for 3 minutes, all plants did well except for the strawberries, which was surprising for me because we have strawberries in other parts of our gardens that we do not water regularly and they thrive.

When I installed the drip irrigation system on my raised beds, I put a shutoff valve on each bed so that I can turn off the water on any bed that doesn't need to be watered at that time.

sanderson wrote:A couple of interesting articles on pine straw.

https://www.lsuagcenter.com/~/media/system/d/e/3/e/de3e7516e68dfee4a21a84b38caa4df8/p1980_lavegplantguiderev_ai0520kfontenot_finalpdf.pdf

https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2702/

At first I thought that was "straw" as is usually referred to by the word, but this (the second article -- the first site won't load for me) seems to be pretty much what I do.  I simply collect handfuls of needles in spring from nearby trees, and then cut them into thirds before applying around my strawberries -- the shorter lengths make it easier to vary directions and properly cover the soil.  It lasts all summer and autumn, and when I renovate (I think that's the word) the plants for winter I just take it off and throw it away.  I might compost it this year, but probably not, simply out of fear of allelopathic residues.  I really want this autumn's compost to be super-duper so that next summer is much more successful than the one just past!

Simso wrote:In our garden our strawberries are easily qty 3 plants per square ft if not more, they put out their own runners for more plants, so start IMO with 1 or two per square and wihton a year you will have way way more

Currently germinating some white and blue strawberry seeds

Thanks for this, Simso.  Looks like my plan is a good one, although I see that the Perth summer is much less humid than ours here in Auckland.  I check every morning for runners but the plants still manage to end the growing season with more crowns than they started with!!!

Blue and white strawberries -- intrigued!  Never heard of that

I started with 3 Strawberry plants almost 5 years ago.  By the end of the first year, it had 9 producing plants.  Winter hit and I figured the plants would have all died because of the snow.  Low and behold, as the snow melted, I saw the tips of green leaves popping through the snow.  By the time the snow had completely melted, there were already flowers on them.  Did I mention that the strawberries were Ever Sweet - Everbearings?  You get about 3 rounds of new strawberries in a year.  By the end of last year, there were well over 50 plants that were producing.  It was to the point where I was giving away new starts and strawberries!  What amazed me is that 2 years ago, we had a snow dump of 4 feet and it stayed that level the entire winter.  I figured I was going to have to start all over again.  I didn't think any plant could survive that long with the weight of the snow and the temps we had - a solid week of below freezing temps.  I was wrong.  Not only did they survive, but it was as if they were greener and even hardier.  This was the only box that, when we started it, was 1/3 pine limbs and the rest was filled with soil, mushroom soil, and worm casing soil.  The rest was just simple garden compost from a local nursery.  My boxes are 18" tall and the strawberry box is 4'x8'.  This is the only box in which I have done nothing to the soil since my first plantings.  I believe that the pine limbs are still decomposing underneath all that soil.  I know the soil level has dropped at least 10 inches because of this.  I want to amend the soil but can't stand the thought of pulling the strawberries up to add the amendments and fill the box again.  I amended all the other boxes last year.  Also, maybe 3 years ago, I added earthworms to all the boxes - and even they are still alive!  I must be doing something right because everything that I have planted flourishes!

WOW!!!  That's amazing, WhiteWolf   We never get snow here, but if I can end up doing half as well as you I'll be very pleased