Topic: Strawberry plants - how to look after through the winter

[newspud9]

although I only harvested a massive 10 strawberries this year, the last few months saw positively rampant activity with plants putting out loads of shoots and the bed is full of new plants.  What steps should i be taking to protect them over the winter - leave them be, fleece, aerated box of some sort, or....

Thanks for all the responses

[Deb P]

I don't do anything to protect strawberries over the winter, I leave them until March and strip off any dead foliage then. If you covered them insects will have a nice cosy home for the winter...

[daveylamp993]

They do not need any protection,just clear any dead leaves,and any weeds that are growing near them.Strawberries NEED to have a cold spell for them to flower/fruit next year.I take any new runners and pot them on in 3 inch pots,i put these in the greenhouse for a few weeks to establish,i then put them outside until early spring,(March),then put them back in the greenhouse for an early crop.It has worked well for the last few years,my wife has had fresh home grown strawberries from early June this year,she even had a fresh strawberry out of the garden today,and there are quite a few still to ripen,if the weather holds.

[celestial]

brill you just answered one of my questions. i started off the yearwith 6 strawberry plants and now i have ended up with around 20 because of runners :) last thing i want is to loose them all with winter. i am keeping them in my greenhouse so i hope they are ok and im looking forward to lots and lots of strawberries next year (as long as i can keep my 3 yr old away from them lol)

[daveylamp993]

brill you just answered one of my questions. i started off the yearwith 6 strawberry plants and now i have ended up with around 20 because of runners :) last thing i want is to loose them all with winter. i am keeping them in my greenhouse so i hope they are OK and I'm looking forward to lots and lots of strawberries next year (as long as i can keep my 3 yr old away from them Lil)

If your greenhouse is unheated and does get cold in winter,you can put them in there and they should be OK for next year,DONT worry if all the leaves fall off,just make sure that you clear them from around the plants,as you sometimes can get diseased plants from rotting leaves,if it makes you more comfortable put a small amount of fleece over them,I am sure they will be fine.I remove any plants that are 3 years old as they are less productive,and replace them with new runners,i have 3 beds of them so it makes it easier to identify which are the oldest and need removing,i hope this helps,if you need to know any more just ask.

[Obelixx]

My strawberries are outside on th enorth side of the house so no direct sun in winter and survive temps well below -20C so yours should be fine outside. 

The only advice I would give is not to let them produce babies from runners next year but cut them off and let the plants concentrate on making flwoers and fruit so you get a decent crop.  Pot up some runners the following year so you can plant them in ane place and get a crop from them the following year.  Strawberries tend to run out of steam after 3 years and should be constantly renewed this way.

[celestial]

im keeping them in an unheated plastic greenhouse and im checking regular for dead leaves and removing them. i had heard that they run out of steam after about 3 years which is why im doing the runners. im going to start labeling the pants as well as to when they were grown so i know which ones to get rid of when the time comes.

[newspud9]

Thanks for all the responses and good advice.

[brown thumb]

how do people grow their strawberry's just planted in beds or through  black plastic what is every ones  favourite way of growing them and  fors and against each way

[Amazingrotavator(Derby)]

how do people grow their strawberry's just planted in beds or through  black plastic what is every ones  favourite way of growing them and  fors and against each way

We grow ours in hanging baskets to stop the slugs and snails nicking them.

[antipodes]

I grow mine on black plastic but I am wondering if it is such a good idea as it gets bindweed and I find that hard to weed properly through plastic. I think I might try some cardboard next year or straw (I had good success growing my  butternuts through a sheet of cardboard, no weeds and kept the feet nice and cool). Think the black plastic is a waste of time. I have babies on runners at the moment, I am letting them root then I will plant them up I think and just mulch them a little in winter. it stays pretty mild here;

[gavinjconway]

I grow in polypropylene type weed fabric and its brilliant. see my blog site here ( www.gavinconway.net ) where this year I also used it for sweet corn, onions and courgettes. Brilliant results and only had to weed a few stragglers that found the holes!! Next year I will also do my leeks and garlic thru it.

[CDave]

I grow in polypropylene type weed fabric and its brilliant. see my blog site here ( www.gavinconway.net ) where this year I also used it for sweet corn, onions and courgettes. Brilliant results and only had to weed a few stragglers that found the holes!! Next year I will also do my leeks and garlic thru it.

Good idea. I grew outdoor toms through it with an offcut of drain pipe next to the plants for watering. Great results with that and would work well for Strawberrys too. Great blog by the way Gavin. 

[Buster54]

[Jeannine]

I planted quite a big bed at the beginning of last year and let them just grow, this year I hardly had any time at the plot so I let someone else pick them. I am currently moving perennial  stuff from my plot to home . I don't have much space as it is mostly landscaped and lawned. I am having raised beds built down one side but don't want to put the strawberries there. Other stuff is going in large pots, blueberries etc and  I am wondering about putting the strawberries in tubs and then moving them around but I have never done that..ot should I just give up on them and scrap them. any advice?

XX Jeannine

[the_snail]

I just started to move my strawbs and planted them in black plastic. My old strawb bed was full of the dreaded buttercups. 

[manicscousers]

Other stuff is going in large pots, blueberries etc and  I am wondering about putting the strawberries in tubs and then moving them around but I have never done that..ot should I just give up on them and scrap them. any advice?

XX Jeannine

We have some in pots and, as long as you can keep up with the feeding and watering, they're fine 
Just cut back allthe old foliage and cut off the rooted runners. We surrounded ours with rotted wood chip from the paths this year, they seemed to like it

[Jeannine]

Thanks Manics, I would be lifting these from a bed and planting in tubs, should I do it now do you think XX Jeannine

[goodlife]

In our allotments we have many old chaps that do grow their strawberries in bucket size pots and not in ground at all. The pots are stacked up on metal railings to keep them off from ground (to keep pests away) and for easy picking.
Biggest job with care is watering and feeding..other than that they just do theyearly 'hair cut' to remove old foliage and runners. My next door neighbour grow his this way and he gets huge crops. Every year he start new number of plants from runners to replace some of the older plants.