Chicago:

The purpose of mulch on strawberry plants in cold climates is to prevent root breakage from alternate hard freeze/thaw cycles. As soon as that danger is past, remove the mulch, and that will certainly be before the end of March. Frost or even freezing temperatures will not damage the crowns themselves.

It is expected that last season's leaves will die back and be replaced by new leaves generated by the crowns in spring. Mulching is not an attempt to save the previous season's leaves. The life of an overwintered strawberry plant is in the crown and roots, not the leaves.

Leaving the mulch on too long can slow warming of the soil and the growth of new leaves and blossom buds from the crowns. Some straw and most hay contains weed seeds, and I hope this does not become a problem for you. Weeds in the patch are always my biggest strawberry nuisance.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

To follow up on something jellyman said (that leaving the mulch on too long can slow soil warming and therefore growth) this can actually be a good thing! If your plants are slowed down a bit, then you face less danger of losing your crop to a spring frost. It won't do any harm to leave the mulch on until you notice the plants have started to "wake up" and push some new growth.

This is honestly a matter of personal preference, though. As to the weeds, if you get out there and deal with them (ie hoe or pull) when they're small, it's MUCH easier than if you let them get out of control!

My approach is a little different. I don't think you need mulch on strawberries for overwintering. You DO need mulch during production to keep the berries clean. Therefore I control the ungerminated annual weeds on bare soil, then spread a light straw cover while the plants are still dormant in late March. A few weeks later I control any grass that might be in the patch.

Regardless of your approach you want to leave much of the mulch around the plants. Ideally the spring growth will grow up thru and above the mulch providing a clean mat for the forming berries. You want all bare soil covered so there will not be soil splashed onto fruit during downpours.

Chicago:

I don't quite agree with BMoser on the question of mulch -- especially leaving organic mulch on the patch during the growing season.

Mulch around the plants is a harbor and hatchery for slugs, the black strawberry beetle, and disease and fungal organisms. Strawberries can grow right on bare soil without having to be kept "clean". If a heavy rain splashes a little mud on the berries it can be rinsed right off. I tried straw around my berries for several years, but stopped doing so when I found so many of the berries with slug or insect holes. Organic mulch creates more problems than it solves.

Right now, I am growing my berries on heavy (6 mil.) black plastic, with holes cut to plant the bareroot plants. When runners form, I cut a slit with a pocket knife and allow them to root away from the mother plant, but I control their numbers so they don't become too crowded. The black plastic works differently from organic mulches, since it does not provide a cool, sheltered environment around the plants. Instead, it warms the soil, and makes the plants more productive. Black plastic also does the best job of controlling perennial weeds and grasses.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don, I respect some your reasons for not wanting residue around plants. The insect pests, however, can be controled by other means and I believe the mulch will reduce Botrytis from infecting fruit. Leather Rot usually needs to be controled before I would be applying the mulch in late March. It's not only because I sell my crop that rinsing is not an option. Soil source pathogens simply make dirty berries an unnecessary evil.

Many years before Ohio State and others conducted research using shredded newspaper as a mulch I was using it. On my website you'll see 25 yr.old pictures of my kids using it on the berry patch. There are no slug problems using shredded paper because slugs can't create a slime layer to travel over it. Newspaper does have other drawbacks though.

Plasticulture appears to be the wave of the future for strawberry production. It has some advantages. Your approach is unique but I have tried it too and found it very labor intensive with no yield advantage. Plus it only gets you through the first production year. Most commercial berry growers use plastic for a single season harvesting from original plants only.

I'm trying to convey the idea that strawberries don't need to be the labor intensive crop that many growers make them out to be. I'd be using plastic it I had an early market and a bed shaper attachment for a plastic layer. For the time at hand I have 8 years success with a fraction of the labor using my method.

BMoser:

I certainly agree that my current method of strawberry culture, involving growing entirely on plastic, is labor intensive, and I surely would not be doing it if I were marketing berries. It is a labor of love. It would also be inconvenient to try to cut slits in the plastic for a very large patch, but as long as I am down in the garden anyway, I usually cut slits in the plastic and set a half-dozen or so runners every other day or so. I can handle it on my 20x30 patch, but would not want anything larger. It remains to be seen whether I can keep the patch going more than one producing year by cutting new slits and setting new runners. So far, things look pretty good. I have had very good producing patches ruined by perennial weeds like chickweed, clovers, grasses, and oxalis that were nearly impossible to eliminate.

Your idea of using shredded newspapers as mulch might be a very good one indeed. Heaven knows, we've got the newspapers, and it might be possible to pick up an office-size shredder at a garage sale. When I used straw, I hatched out zillions of slugs, and although I did use some expensive slug bait in the patch, that did nothing for those nasty little black beetles. I don't even know for sure what they are, but they do like strawberries.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Im using straw my first year, sow we shall see, slugs and pillbugs ruined me last year. And gophers... I used compost before. I considered plastic, but I want to keep my current plants, and that would be hard to do right. I am also afraid of overheating in summer here under plastic. My berries can grow for 3 months or so in spring/ early summer before heat overwhelmes, Im trying a few of every variety I come across to see which are best.

Don, I'm curious as to why you use such heavy plastic? Ive used sheets of 6 mil in a greenhouse but never noticed it in rolls for field layers. Is your goal to prevent nutsedge or Canada thistle from penetrating the film?

I've heard from the Nourse people that they used a unique method for planting dormant rooted plants on plastic. They planted the berry plants using a conventional shoe planter on a raised bed; then they lay plastic right over the berry row and immediately follow by burning just around the plant bulge with a propane torch to expose the plants.

You might consider a torch to open spots for runner attachment but It may not save time. When I used plastic for new planting I hand laid the biodegradable plastic on both sides of each row, using rocks in the row and cultivating soil over the edges. In october the plastic had degraded so severely that weeds were as bad as if I had not applied the plastic.

bmoser:

I use construction grade 6 mil. black plastic, which I can buy in 10 or 20 ft. widths at Home Depot or Lowes. It is found in the construction, not the nursery section of the stores, and it is not cheap. However, it is extremely durable, lasting more than 3 years, and that is why I use it. The 2 mil. stuff breaks up for me in one season.

I think the pocket knife is about as efficient and easy as a torch for my purposes. The pocket knife is always with me, and I don't have to worry about burning my fingers.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Interesting comments. I'm still looking for that "perfect" mulch.

My 2 strawberry beds are doing well for the moment. Last year - as mentioned above, the straw mulch I put down during summer, became a haven for bugs - mostly pill/sow bugs. I managed to get a fairly good sized handful of berries every morning from my 2 small patches, but shared with bugs too.

This year, I tried a different approach. As I've been shredding newspapers and making worm compost - when the compost was ready to harvest, with bits of paper in it, I spread it on the berries. So far, few bugs, but of course, the berries are just beginning.

Of note, I have a lot of lizard hatchlings this year, and many scamper in and out of my planter boxes. I'm not sure whether they are keeping the bug populations down - but haven't seen too many. As with so many other introductions to the organic way of gardening, I can only hope that they will continue to be listed as "friendly" rather than "also rans" as so many other introductions have been.

In the meantime, I too, am looking for that "perfect" mulch. One other consideration for me here - might be the use of landscaper cloth. Moisture and air can get through, keeping soil spash, bugs (hopefully) underneath. I doubt the black plastic would be of use - as the heat beneath it during summer, would most certainly cause the berries demise. I use it mainly to heat up the compost pile - it does a great job in that capacity.

I am growing 3 different varieties.

Tri-Star - (impression - poor yields - not a good berry for Ca.).

Camarosa (impression - purchased from local berry growers last year - very hardy, nice, large berry - forming now - but a bit hard - tasty though).

Sequoia (impression - plant usually sold here in nurseries as best for our climate. Fairly good blossom set - not as hardy as Camarosas).

All are still in the forming stage, with hopefully better yields than last year. Camarosa out-performing now.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay