Summer heat is killing your strawberry harvest.
Just a few weeks ago, you were picking bowls full of strawberries. Now there’s almost nothing to pick.
The frustrating part? Your plants can still look perfectly healthy while the harvest keeps getting smaller. I’m showing you how to fix heat-stressed strawberries so your strawberry plants keep producing through the hottest part of summer.
๐บ WATCH NEXT
CHAPTERS
00:00 Summer Heat Is Killing Your Strawberry Harvest
00:21 Why There’s Suddenly Nothing To Pick
01:55 Why Containers & Towers Struggle First
02:42 How Mulch Helps Protect Strawberry Roots
03:07 Why I Never Skip Shade Cloth in Summer
04:44 Is Your Garden Making Heat Stress Worse?
05:03 The Watering Change That Can Save Your Harvest
06:09 The Feeding Mistake That Leads to Fewer Berries
07:50 Something Else May Be Stealing Your Harvest
09:33 Meet Us in San Diego
10:39 Keep Your Strawberry Harvest Going All Summer
๐ด SAN DIEGO MEET & GREET
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15 Comments
What heat-related strawberry problem are you dealing with right now?
๐ Smaller berries
๐ Almost nothing to pick
๐ Plants drying out fast
๐ Something else
๐ด SAN DIEGO MEET & GREET
We're counting down the days! We'd love to meet you in person. Join us and Brian from Next Level Gardening for a fun afternoon by the San Diego Bay.
๐ Sunday, June 28, 2026
โฐ 2:00 PM โ 4:00 PM
๐ Shelter Island Playground/Pier at Shoreline Park
1732 Shelter Island Dr, San Diego, CA 92106
โ Free parking
โ Bring lawn chairs
โ Photo ops and garden chat
Bring your CaliKim books if you'd like them signed (books will not be available at the event).
We can't wait to see our CaliKim Garden Family there! ๐
I'm happy.your video mam calikim is about strawberry.ived watch most of your videos about strawberry.thats the reason why I planted strawberry too.
I live in Florida and all my shade cloth is black. They work great for me.
Thank for those tips Kim what is the next vagetables u might grow is it butter nut squash?
Just maybe dinosaur gourds seeds maybe first order from Amazon
It's only getting worse
I have one tier of a GreenStalk that has yellow leaves, but with green veins. I did the same to all tiers and only one has it. I amended with Garden tone, which I confirmed has iron and magnesium. I put worm castings in. Mixed that into the top layer. I mulched with 1/4โ thick fir bark mulch very lightly. Same amount in all tiers. I used fish emulsion twice all year. I read it could be pH. I put sulfur pellets in just that tier 3 weeks ago. I water those from the pockets to make sure the sulfur starts working. Seascape strawberries. That tier has been producing, though smaller berries not unusual for Seascape though. Some of the healthy tiers get smaller strawberries too.
Any ideas what is going on with them. Heat hasnโt been bad, until this weekend and yesterday. Iโm in the NW, so cooler in general and crazy heat waves now and then. Those werenโt happening until now though.
Despite the birds we have been harvesting quite a few berries. Kim, what variety of strawberries in the pots. You'll get larger berries if you have one plant per pot. In my case I have my Albion strawberries in 12 to 14 inch pots. Last year I rooted some of my runners in 8 inch pots. The berries have been notably smaller. I've been potting them up to resolve the issue. Now I need to fill my 3 foot high raised bed with sand and compost to give the strawberries a new home. Does Monterey know if that fish based fertilizer attracts rats and raccoons?
Im a fairly new gardener, growing strawberries for the first time and my 2 daughter's and I were soooo excited when we saw our first berry and that it started turning red. We had netting dropped over it and we're ready the next day to harvest that berry. Turns out a bird pecked at it through our netting! No hole. It literally pecked at the berry through the small holes in the netting and ate the whole berry. My babies 3 and 5 years olds, were so disappointed ๐ข. Now they start chasing the squirrels and birds away when ever they come into the garden, lol! Happy news though, looks like we have about 15 berries coming through. So hopefully we'll get to eat the next one and have a proper harvest! Happy gardening!!โค
โคโคโคโคโคโคโคโค
Thank you l love your chanel
444444444๐๐๐๐๐๐
118 degrees no luck desert advice ?
ุงูุช ุฑุงุฆุนุฉ ุดูุฑุงุงุง ุนูู ูู ุงููุตุงุฆุญ ุงูุชู ุชูุฏู ูููุง ูู ู ุฌุงู ุงูุฒุฑุงุนุฉโคโคโคโคุงุณุชูุฏุช ู ูู ุงููุซูุฑ๐๐๐
I've got everbearing plants in the top tier of my GreenStalk, which is in full blazing sun. Plants look very healthy, some green berries coming on, a few flowers here and there. Fertilizer once a week. I've gotten 4 very small ripe berries altogether so far. I have the berry cups, and there are runners. I haven't planted the runners because the cups are so shallow and can't really be kept moist. But they're cute so I'm leaving them there. I believe I've seen you clip runners and replant in previous videos before I had strawberries. I think I'll do that – but I'll put them in a fairly large pot on the other side of the house, on the covered porch, where they'll only get morning sun. I have shade cloth I can deploy on really hot days. I'll have to get some critter netting. And a soft paint brush to pollenate by hand. I do have Sluggo Plus. As much as I'd like to share my tiny bounty, I must be selfish in this. Those are MY berries. I've had critters take one bit out of my tomatoes in past gardens. Just eat the whole thing already, instead of one bit out of 3 or 4 tomatoes! I highly suspected birds at the time. Although the squirrels were looking mighty guilty. It's frustrating, and almost funny, that we're waging battle in our own back yards.
You are making my days beautifulโคโค