A steady feed for a long fruiting season.
An organic program for strawberries: a Phyta-Grow® Leafy Green Special base, then a steady weekly Phytamin® Jumpstart fertigation from heavy flowering through the fruiting season — small, consistent doses that track the crop’s long, linear nitrogen demand.
Strawberries take up nitrogen slowly, then steadily for months.
Strawberry nitrogen uptake is very low through winter — under about 25 lb N/acre through March — then increases linearly at roughly 1 lb N/acre per day from spring through late summer, reaching around 190 lb N/acre by mid-September (UC Davis / CDFA FREP). It is a long, steady demand across the fruiting season, not a single peak. Research also shows that once the roots are active, well-timed fertigation matters far more than a heavy pre-plant charge. This program sets a modest Phyta-Grow® Leafy Green Special base, then delivers a steady weekly Phytamin® Jumpstart feed — immediately available nitrogen matched to that linear uptake.
A base, then a steady weekly fertigation.
| Timing | Product | Rate | N supplied |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-plant | Phyta-Grow® Leafy Green Special 7-1-2 Dry, incorporated into bed |
1,000 lb/acre | 70 lb N/acre |
| Weekly Onset of heavy flowering through fruiting |
Phytamin® Jumpstart 4-1-1 Fertigation, divided across the week’s irrigations |
5–7 gal/acre per week |
~1.8–2.5 lb N/acre per week |
Dry, incorporated into bed
Onset of heavy flowering through fruiting
Fertigation, divided across the week’s irrigations
Matched to a long, linear demand.
1,000 lb
5–7 gal / week
5–7 gal / week
The Phyta-Grow® Leafy Green Special base covers the low winter demand. As heavy flowering begins and uptake climbs into its long linear phase, the weekly Phytamin® Jumpstart fertigation carries the crop through fruiting — small, steady, immediately available doses divided across each week’s irrigations.
Strawberry nitrogen uptake and timing: CDFA FREP & UC Davis California Crop Fertilization Guidelines (Strawberry Nitrogen Uptake and Partitioning; ~1 lb N/acre/day linear uptake April-September, ~190 lb N/acre by mid-September). Fertigation and pre-plant response: Bottoms, Hartz, Cahn & Farrara, Crop and Soil Nitrogen Dynamics in Annual Strawberry Production in California (HortScience, 2013). Petiole nitrate monitoring: UC strawberry fertility guidelines. Product rates and densities: Phytamin® and Phyta-Grow® CDFA-registered labels, California Organic Fertilizers.
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THE ORGANIC AGRONOMIST
Growing Organic Strawberries
Discover how nitrogen timing, soil testing, irrigation, and split fertilizer applications help organic strawberry growers support healthy plants, consistent fruit production, and a long harvest season.
