• Growing your own strawberries requires the right soil.strawberries image by purplevine from Fotolia.com
  
  Strawberries are an ideal addition to a home garden. Strawberry plants produce quick results while taking up little space in the garden. Fresh strawberries from the backyard are a tasty addition to any meal. Growing strawberries requires little equipment aside from a simple garden trowel. A large part of homegrown strawberry success depends on choosing the ideal planting site. Poor soil quality can result in small or diseased berries.
  
  

Disease-Free, Sandy Loam

• Strawberries need to be planted in soil that permits good drainage. The ideal type of soil for any strawberry variety is a sandy loam, as it retains water and nutrients well. Sandy loam is a lightweight, slightly sandy soil. Few gardeners are fortunate enough to find this naturally in the garden, however. Most soils with undesirable traits can be improved. If you are planting your strawberries in a garden or area that has been previously used as a garden, avoid soil sites where potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant or sod have been grown in the past four years. The soil may hold harmful insects or diseases such as Verticillium, a root rot fungus carried by the aforementioned crops.
  
  

Acidic

• Strawberry plants produce the best results when the soil they are grown in is slightly acidic. Ideal pH levels for strawberry plants are 5.5 to 6.5. A local greenhouse may be able to test a soil sample for you, or you can buy a pH testing kit at many garden centers and perform your own test. You can increase pH levels by applying ground limestone. Alkaline soils with a pH level over 8 can cause strawberry plants to turn yellow.
  
  

Nutrient-Rich

• For the healthiest strawberries, soil should contain nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen deficiencies can cause strawberries to have stunted growth or discolored, light green leaves. Soils absent in potassium can result in a brown spotting of leaves or veins. Adding manure, garden fertilizer or compost to soil can increase these much-needed nutrients. The University of Maine recommends applying 2 lbs. each of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium per 1,000 square feet of planting area to distribute the right amount of nutrients into the soil.