
Strawberries are incredibly popular because they are super tasty and easy to grow! If you are growing them, they don’t take up too much space and do most of the hard work for you.
When it comes to transplanting strawberries, you might be wondering when the best time to do that is, and we have the answers for you!
Read in to find out the best time to transplant strawberries and how to transplant them to ensure a successful harvest!
Table of Contents
When Is The Best Time To Transplant Strawberries?
The best time to transplant strawberries really depends on which variety you have bought. You can choose from a few different types of strawberry seeds, but overall, most varieties should be transplanted in the early spring.
When the ground has thawed, transplanting them is the best time. You will be able to see which strawberry plants have been damaged by winter conditions, and you will be able to replace older plants with newer plants, or “runners.”
By transplanting your strawberries in the early spring, you can ensure they have plenty of time to grow and fruit in the soil before June, when they should be ready to harvest.
If you leave transplanting any later in the year, you risk spoiling the plants, and there is a chance that they will not fruit in time for the harvest season.
How To Transplant Strawberries?
If you are planning to transplant your strawberries, then it is very important that you know how to transplant them correctly. If you don’t transplant them properly, the strawberry plants can become damaged.
If you want to transplant your strawberries properly, follow the steps below!
- First, you will want to prepare the new location to transplant your strawberries. The new area needs to be hospitable and sunny. The soil must be rich and well-fertilized with a berry-specific fertilizer like the popular Espoma Organic Berry-Tone 4-3-4 Natural & Organic Fertilizer. Overall, it needs to be well-suited to growing strawberry plants.
*For our detailed and tested organic fertilizer recommendations, please see the article Best Organic Fertilizers for Strawberries: Boost Your Crop Yield Naturally.
- Next, select which strawberry plants you want to transplant. You can transplant older plants if you wish, but it is generally recommended to prioritize transplanting younger runners instead. Whichever plants you choose, ensure they look healthy and remove any damaged foliage, such as leaves, flower buds, or anything else.
- When transplanting your strawberries, it is incredibly important to keep the roots moist. The more moisture the roots have, the more successful the transplant will be. The best substances for this would be things like Sphagnum or peat moss, but if you don’t have them readily available, even some wet paper towels would be better than nothing!
- Now, you will want to dig your runner plants up (the ones you have selected for transplanting) and start transplanting them to their new area. When you are digging these plants up, make sure you take a great deal of care and move them gently. Make sure most of the roots are attached to the plant rather than the ground, and remove any roots from the ground if necessary. Once that is done, cover your roots with your moistener of choice.
- Finish off by transplanting your strawberries to their new bed. It is really important that you do this for each plant one by one rather than all at the same time. This way, you can care more and pay attention to detail for each plant, ensuring minimal damage.
- When each plant has been transplanted to its new location, make sure that you water it thoroughly. This helps minimize the plant’s stress and makes the transplant’s probability more of a success.
- With the plants now transplanted and watered, you simply have to wait for them to start fruiting. Keep an eye on your transplanted runners and look out for any damage. Make sure that you water them regularly as well.
As long as you follow the steps above, you should have no issues transplanting your strawberries. Remember, the best time to transplant is in early autumn, so make sure this is when you start transplanting.

Why Should You Transplant Strawberries?
Because strawberry plants are usually quite easy to grow, this means that over the course of their life, they will produce quite a few runner plants in their life. They tend to multiply and expand completely on their own and you end up with many strawberries!
While this is great if you love strawberries, it can harm the rest of your garden. Strawberries don’t know when to stop producing, and they tend to cause a lot of overcrowding because of this.
Transplanting your strawberries keeps overcrowding at bay and allows you more control over your garden and strawberry plants.
Transplanting your strawberry plants is the best thing to do if you really want to maximize strawberry production.
Overcrowding can also cause fungal diseases to catch on to your plants, so transplanting the unneeded strawberry plants actually helps to combat this.
With fewer plants, the airflow between your plants is much more open and efficient, so the likelihood of fungal disease infecting your bed is much less likely to happen.
Final Thoughts
Strawberry plants are one of the easier plants to grow, but that does not mean you don’t need to follow the right guidelines to grow them!
The best time to transplant strawberries is the beginning of spring, just after the rich fertilized ground has thawed out after winter, so if you plan on transplanting them, don’t leave it any later!
*For our detailed and tested organic fertilizer recommendations, please see the article Best Organic Fertilizers for Strawberries: Boost Your Crop Yield Naturally.
Transplanting strawberries is incredibly important. If you want to maximize your strawberry production and stop your plants from overcrowding, you should have all the information you need to do so successfully!
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