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Fruit & Orchards

Over wintering STRAWBERRIES

12 years ago

I needed to dig up my strawberry bed and need to know if i can keep the plants over winter until next Spring. These are EVERBEARING plants with a very good yield.

I live in Zone 5 and we get freezing and snow.

The plants are all pulled out with a little dirt on them. My questions are:

1.- Is it worth trying to keep them? Or just buy new ones next year.

2. Should I repot them up in soil in pots for the winter?

3. Can I keep the plants alive with no soil ( drying them like Gladiolas)?

Thanks for any advice

{{gwi:125665}}

Comments (6)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 years ago
they can not be stored like a corm or bulb.. they will get too dry ...

why cant they go back in the ground???? you left out some facts ...

you seem to have bought sets before ... gather up the whole bunch.. tie them up with a rubber band... then put the whole wad back in mother earth .. very small footprint here ... and then after the ground freezes in your zone.. insulate them with.. wait for it.. a blanket of straw .. lol ..

if it works.. you save buying new..

if it doesnt.. go buy new.. what the heck ...

in my world.. you use media in pots.. not soil .. and the cost of many pots of media.. would be twice or 3 times the cost of just starting new next spring..

or band them up.. all in one pot.. pot stays out of sun all winter.. and out of wind... and give it a try ..

the key to planting or pots.. is GET THEM DORMANT.. and MAINTAIN THAT DORMANCY until spring... either way.. they can not go in and out of dormancy all winter ....

ken
mrsg47
12 years ago
I was hoping my 'Mara des Bois' could just stay the ground all winter long and survive. My Alpine strawberries, never die back to brown during the winter with lots of snow. I thought a bit of straw might be all they need, but bunch them up the way they arrived? I've had my alpine strawberries for ten years, but the 'Mara' are new. Yikes. more work!
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My mother always put her wine barels on dollies (platforms with wheels on it). That way she could move the heavy containers. That may be a way to get them inside if necessary. Sorry I'm not the one to talk about over-wintering strawberries. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!
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Phillip: In your zone 7 climate, you need no mulch at all, and in fact it could be detrimental to your plants. In a climate where there is no hard freezing in the soil, leading to frost heaving, mulch is just a nuisance, and can harbor pests that will attack your berries next spring. Strawberries are extremely hardy plants, not bothered at all by cold. The only danger my overwintering strawberries have faced in Northern Virginia is deer, which can pull up plants by the roots. The plants usually remain green all winter long. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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10 degrees warmer than the outside air temperature has not much to do with ground temperature, and freezing and thawing. We don't know just how much warmer it is under snow cover but igloos will raise the temperature inside by 30 or 40 degrees warmed by body temperature alone. Even half that beats your garage and there's not the fluctuation in temperature you would get in a garage. I'd sink your pots into your vegetable garden and throw some leaves over them. I'd do the same with the ones in your raised bed and I'd pile leaves or straw around the outside of the raised bed. That should get them through the winter just fine.
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Mindyw3
12 years ago
Just curious, do they love up to the hype?
flora_uk
12 years ago
MrsG47 - the OP was asking how to keep strawberries over the winter after the bed had been dug up out of necessity.

This does not apply to your situation. Just leave your strawberries alone the way you have in the past.
mrsg47
12 years ago
Mindy the 'Mara' are fantastic, not huge, medium in size but very, very flavorful.
claudia1975
12 years ago
Hi, I also live in zone 5 and I have always left my strawberries in the ground. All I do is cover them with a few inches of straw.

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