Minimum temps strawberry plants can take??

[WinglessAngel]

I may be asking this q again, not sure, I looked and couldnt find my answer on here or on google....

what are the minimum temps the plants can take? 40's 50's? I know if u place straw and such around the plants they can take 30's for a short period, but we only have 6 plants in big ol'd pots and its my first time growing them, my fiance wanted to grow them, I know nothing about the temp's that they need and oh they are junebearing honeoye's.

[rainbowgardener]

Are you talking about newly planted?

Established strawberry plants are very cold hardy and over winter just fine. For me they are practically ever green, keeping their green leaves much of the winter. Most strawberry plants are rated hardy to zone 4, which means they tolerate temps down at least to minus 20 degrees!

However if you have a new plant, just come from the nursery, that isn't established yet, I wouldn't want to challenge it like that. But if you are having temps in the high 30's or above, they should be fine.

[JONA878]

I would add a couple of things as well.
The use of straw on strawberries can be used in two ways,
If you are in and area that has very late spring frosts then you can ' Deep Straw ' the plants to protect the forming flowers. Here the straw must completely covor the plants for several inches to form an insolation to the flowers.
This is then uncovored daily and used when frost is forcast.

The traditional ' strawing up ' of the plants is to just keep the developing fruits from getting spoiled on the ground and also to act as some deterent to slugs and snails etc.
However...if you are doing this lighter strawing you must be sure that all spring frosts have passed.
If you do not then the straw itself will act as an insolator over the soil and stop its residual warmth from protecting the flowers on cold nights.
Result...blackened flower eyes.

[WinglessAngel]

Great thanks guys....we are actually containering them and had thought about greenhousing them with a homemade green house...do u guys think they will be ok without a greenhouse over them? we are deff 35 and above for now and till next week at least 40's and above, a day I think next week at 38 is forcasted....but the strawberries is the only thing I would use the straw for so no pt in buying an entire bail of hay for 3 pots...but they will also be on a homemade "strawberry shelf" with a home rigged hanging trellis for them to climb on....thanks!

[stella1751]

Gurney's delivered my bare root strawberries last Friday. I was torn what to do with them. JONA878 told me that if we wouldn't have any more hard freezes, it would be okay to plant them. I was pretty doubtful, but because this April hasn't been terribly cold, I set them out on Sunday.

Since then, they have been snowed on twice and endured low temps of 21. I just checked them, and they are putting on their first new leaves. Amazing

BTW, JONA878, thanks! You really know your strawberries!

[soil]

strawberries can handle cold. we have 5 varieties and they all took 20 degree weather more than a few times and snow as well this winter. now they are happy as ever, 8 inch leaves and full of blooms.

[WinglessAngel]

got it thanks e1! I went ahead and home made greenhoused them for today and maybe tom to get them used to being outside then ill just take the greenhouse off of them and let them do what they will...note to self for next year lol DO NOT buy junebearing, but the year round ones lol

[rainbowgardener]

got it thanks e1! I went ahead and home made greenhoused them for today and maybe tom to get them used to being outside then ill just take the greenhouse off of them and let them do what they will...note to self for next year lol DO NOT buy junebearing, but the year round ones lol

I don't know... I had the everbearing ones. They tended to put up a berry here and a berry there but never enough to do much with. I'm replacing mine (which didn't make it through last year's drought) with June bearing, in the hopes of at least getting enough strawberries at one time to make a pie or something. As it is, it's a good thing I also grow rhubarb. I was able to eke out enough strawberries to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie, heavy on the rhubarb. (I know jal-ut thinks it's sacrilege, but when you don't have enough strawberries...) If you have room for a field of strawberries maybe do everbearing, but I have about a 4x8 bed worth...

[WinglessAngel]

yes I am thinking of just putting in a whole bed of them, was thinking of makeing my own raised bed of sorts out in the yard, one I can place in full sun and future hubby can just mow aroung (ie nothing fancy just a square or rectangel) been toying with the idea of a raised strawberry bed for about a wk...that will be a next yr sort of thing though...he did used to have a huge in ground strawberry bed long before we met, and there are some remnants of the plants out there but they are so overgrown in by weeds they don't produce any berries...besides I cant even go into check very well anyway, its sumac heaven in there and I'm severely allergic

[Runningtrails]

I had everbearing for a few years and you are right, they produce smaller berries and not as many. I now have June bearing mostly, with a little everbearing mixed in. Large berries and lots of them. Much better!

If you dig out those older strawberry plants and put them in the garden, you will probably get enough runners this year to make a full bed. Mine reproduce like crazy!