kateys
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 5:02 am
Location: NE Ohio

New at strawberry gardening

I have a strawberry pot and was wondering how I should care for it over the winter.
When you say, "cover them well with mulch to protect", should I take them out of the pot and plant them in the ground, or can I bring the pot inside the garage, unheated, and keep them there.

thanks
kateys

User avatar
freedhardwoods
Senior Member
Posts: 253
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 9:32 pm
Location: Southwest IN

I am not sure if a potted plant would require different care than unpotted. I have had large strawberry patches in the past. I would never do anything for winter. Every year they would produce a good crop. In the last patch I had (before this year), the 4th year after setting out 75 plants we picked 80 gallons. The only thing I do for stawberries is to mulch them with sawdust in the spring to help keep down the weeds.

Even though I would mulch to help keep weeds down, after a few years they would always get so thick that it was hard to find the berries. My fix for this was to wait till fall when most of the weeds were dead and dry and just burn the entire patch. Even though they looked awful after the burn, most of the strawberry plants would survive and they would produce a good crop the next year. The last time I burned my patch it killed almost every plant. :x I may have let the weeds get too thick causing the fire to burn hotter. I set out 29 plants this spring and I am looking forward to berries next year. 8)
Last edited by freedhardwoods on Sun Jul 05, 2009 7:43 am, edited 3 times in total.

User avatar
Kisal
Mod Emeritus
Posts: 7646
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:04 am
Location: Oregon

The danger for container-grown plants is that the roots can freeze over winter. There is not much soil to protect them, and a container usually offers little protection. The roots of in-ground plants are insulated by the soil, and even by snow that may fall and cover the plants.

I think you should bring the strawberry jar indoors for the winter. Leave the plants in the container.

If that's not possible, you could wrap the entire jar and its plants very well in several layers of newspaper and burlap, put it up against the wall of your house in the most protected spot you can find. Give it as much protection from the wind as you can. (Then cross your fingers and hope your efforts are successful. ;) )

User avatar
freedhardwoods
Senior Member
Posts: 253
Joined: Sun May 17, 2009 9:32 pm
Location: Southwest IN

Kisal wrote:The danger for container-grown plants is that the roots can freeze over winter. There is not much soil to protect them, and a container usually offers little protection. The roots of in-ground plants are insulated by the soil, and even by snow that may fall and cover the plants.
I won't disagree with that statement, but I have had strawberries survive extreme winters where the ground froze solid over 1 foot deep. A container would freeze quicker and more often, putting a lot more stress on the plant.

kateys
Newly Registered
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2009 5:02 am
Location: NE Ohio

I have brought other plants in the garage, left them in their dirt from digging them out and placed them on an inside wall of the garage.

After the danger of frost has passed and it is warmer, I go and replant in the ground.

They did survive, but I haven't grown strawberries before.

Thanks



Return to “All Other Fruit”