I've just put in a new vegetable garden. After I planted the strawberries I noticed that the container said not to plant them where tomatoes have been grown within the last three years. Why can't you plant strawberries on the same land as tomatoes? How far apart do they have to be?
They share several soil-borne diseases that overwinter in the soil that would be a problem especially in damp climates. Personally, I would put as much distance as possible between them.
This is the reason I grow my tomatoes and potatoes in containers. The soil is never used again with any vegetables and the plant parts are never composted, so there's no risk of passing on these diseases to other plants.
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It cautioned against because strawberries can be devestated by verticillium wilt, which also infects tomatoes. (And, since many modern varieties of tomatoes were selected to resist/tolerate verticillium wilt, it may be possible to have it in your soil without having seen really obvious signs in.)
Verticillium wilt of strawberry:
"The fungus can be introduced into uninfested soil on seed, tools and farm machinery, and in the soil and roots of transplants."
"Do not plant susceptible strawberry cultivars in soil where tomato, peppers, potato, eggplant, melons, okra, mint, brambles, stone fruits, chrysanthemums, rose or related susceptible crops have grown for the past five years."
Thanks, I'll move them to the other edge of the garden. I've let this land lay fallow for 20 years so the soil should be clean at them moment, however I've put in several dozen tomato plants as well as some peppers, basil, oregano and rosemary (it's a spaghetti sauce garden). I'll move the strawberries about 10 feet.
Set new plants 24" apart. Not to worry about the large initial spacing b/c the mother plants will send out plenty of daughter plants and fill in the bed nicely after one year and completely after two.
Take good care to keep them well tended during the summer. Come September, apply fertilizer.
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