Can I cut healthy strawberry plants back to force them into dormancy for indoor storage during the summer?
I have several strawberries that I purchased as bare root plants last fall. They produced steadily until last month, I get about 1-2 tiny pinky sized strawberries a week now. The plants themselves are healthy and have a lot leaves. It's routinely above 110F so they're pretty much done til late September, I think.
I know they would probably do better left in the ground, but everything I planted in the spring died from disease or pestilence and I want to let the beds lay dormant for a while. Obviously I haven't been rotating well enough.
Will the strawberries survive being forced into dormancy for the remainder of the summer? If so, do I need to stop watering first, or just chop it all off? What medium should I store them in and do I need to sterilize it? If my house is kept between 77F - 85F should they be refrigerated? How long can strawberries survive in dormancy?
TYIA!
I don't dig up strawberries in summer. I just cover them with a mulch like straw so they won't burn in the heat. In the fall they will make runners and the everbearing ones will make more fruit in warm climates. I plant my strawberries in the dappled light under the trees. They can handle cool weather, its the heat they don't like. Choosing the right varieties matter if you want them to live over. I like Albion.
https://strawberryplants.org/2011/04/zon ... awberries/
https://strawberryplants.org/2011/04/zon ... awberries/
I think this could be worth experimenting on sepeters. Strawberry plants can take very cold temps quite happily once they are dormant. We used to buy all our 60 day plants frozen and that allowed us to spread planting over a much greater period in the year.
I'm not sure though how you could get them into a dormant state dureing the growing season. Trial and error I suspect!
I'm not sure though how you could get them into a dormant state dureing the growing season. Trial and error I suspect!