Strawberries , Fragaria×ananassa , are low - profile , fruit - bear perennial suit to cultivation in USDA Hardiness Zones 3 to 10 .
Sometimes regard a challenging crop , folks in moth-eaten regions with freeze down wintertime often grow plants as annuals and discard them at season ’s end .
However , when you select the hardiest cultivar , and provide a little pre - winter TLC , your favorite Charles Edward Berry - makers can yield sweet and tasty treats yr after yr .
Photo via Alamy.
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In our comprehensive guide to growing strawberries , we cover all you necessitate to get laid to plant , care for , and harvest strawberries .
In this article , we focus on a few well-situated stride to take to winterize flora so they return with dynamism each spring .
Photo via Alamy.
Here ’s the lineup :
What You’ll Learn
There ’s a chill in the air . have ’s get started !
Why Winterize?
Most types of strawberry require 200 - 300 tingle 60 minutes with temperatures between 45 and 32 ° F for optimal yield production .
However , harmonize to Emily Hoover , wing horticulturalist at the University of Minnesota Extension , temperature of 15 ° degree Fahrenheit or belowcan cause fateful damage to the crownwork .
If you live in a region where the ground freezes in wintertime , your strawberries will gain from a few proactive measures to help them survive the cold month of the twelvemonth .
There are four reason why :
With a bit of cookery , you’re able to protect your plant from the depredation of wintertime and place them up for a healthy return after their full stop of quiescence .
Container - grown plants can be prepared using the same method trace below and then placed in a basement , shed , or garage to wintertime over .
Four Easy Steps
The four footfall to prepare strawberries for winter are : renovate , fecundate , water , and apply mulch .
Let ’s look at each step in more detail :
1. Renovate Your Plants
There are three types of strawberry mark works :
After harvest fruit , plant that are expected to winter over pauperization to be renovate . This process consist of rationalize leafage , thinning , and polish off debris and weeds .
For June - bearing varieties , you ’ll ask to snip the foliage to a height of one to two inch above the crown . you’re able to do this with pruning shears or hedge clippers .
If you have a expectant categoric strawberry mend , you may also practice a lawn mower with the steel set to the appropriate height , but be sure to mow no more than one week after the last harvest or you take a chance damaging the new leafage .
Thin industrial plant that have spread and matted together to rows eight to 12 inches astray , with two to three human foot between them .
Remove runners as needed to curb your plant to their objective width . You may employ a cultivator for this task .
If they are not growing in wrangle , slim them to five per straight foot , or about four to six inches apart .
put away all those that have been weakened by adverse weather conditions , disease , or plague by pests .
Remove any locoweed and debris .
For everbearing and mean solar day - achromatic varieties , crop off any leave that appear damaged , diseased , or plague - infest . take integral plants if necessary .
fragile those remaining to five per square infantry , or about four to six inches apart .
Remove ball carrier to preclude the ontogenesis of new plants and remove any weeds and junk .
Be certain to discard diseased and plague - overrun leafage in the trash , not on the compost heap .
2. Fertilize
Outreach Horticulturist Richard Jauron from theDepartment of Horticulture at the Iowa University Extensionrecommends the software of a balanced , 10 - 10 - 10 ( NPK ) plant food at a quantity of five pounds per 100 foot of row , or one hammer per 25 plants at least one calendar month before your average first frost date .
Take care to fend off direct contact with foliage , employ granular fertilizer or pellet between plant in beds and containers , and in the aisle between the rows . Water in well .
3. Water
After you have vivify your plants , continue to water right up until first frost . Provide one inch of subsidiary water per week in the absence of rain .
During the cold month , while they are torpid , there is no need to cater supplemental irrigation for those grow in the garden .
Container - grow plants rank in a cold shed or garage will require minimal weewee , just enough to prevent the soil from dry out out completely .
4. Apply Mulch
Mulch is the terminal step toward winter facility . An program of mulch provides a layer of insulation that is especially authoritative in region with trivial to none of nature ’s own insulating material : snow .
pass over plants not only helps to keep them uniformly cold during temperature fluctuations , it assist in retain the moisture essential to top wellness , while also promoting optimal drainage .
The app of mulch is not something to be rushed for three reasons :
The best time to go for mulch is between former November and early December , after first frost when much of the foliage is chocolate-brown and floppy , and before temperatures unload below 20 ° F .
As mentioned in the beginning , at 15 ° fluorine , plants not covered by mulch or nose candy are susceptible to fatal crown terms .
Choose a mulching material that is loose to avoid matting , facilitate air circulation , and aid in drainage .
Strawor pine needles are excellent choices . Avoid leaves and grass , as they are likely to mat , as well as hay , because it be given to be full of weed ejaculate .
To apply mulch , drop it around and over the flora by lax fistful . The pieces of straw or pine tree phonograph needle should discriminate as they fall down , create airy heaps , rather than tight clumps .
Completely bury all seeable foliage beneath a uninterrupted cover of mulch , all the way down the rows , or to the edge of the beds , raised beds , or container .
For those arise in the garden , the pros atIowa State University Extension and Outreachrecommend an app of three to five inch of mulch .
They recommend six to eight inches in lift bed , especially Great Pyramid planters , because the soil temperature becomes even colder than flat coat soil .
Some folks prefer to lay mulch when rainfall is in the prognosis , to avail hold it in place .
If you ’re in an specially blowy venue , you may want to cast anchor the mulch in your row and bed with chicken conducting wire . you may habituate bricks , rocks , or stakes to hold the chicken wire in position .
Regardless of when you lie it , or if you ground it , mulch will compress over time and you may need to make extra applications during the winter months .
If you are arise your strawberries in barrels or locoweed , you’re able to move them into storage in a insensate shed or unwarmed cellar or service department . Wrap the container loosely in burlap , and fill the side and top with six to eight inches of straw .
Berry On
That ’s all there is to it . To recap , there are four measure to take to prepare your strawberries for wintertime ’s onset :
And then , one dry day in other spring , after the winter winds have end to wrawl and the snow has ultimately melted , softly rip back the mulch .
If you see green shoot , it ’s clock time to remove the mulch and rent them enjoy in the sunshine . If not , try on again soon .
What should you do with the mulch ?
Rake it into the aisles between course , to soak up spring rain and make walk less swampy . go forth some tucked around the sprouts to inhibit weeds , aid in wet retentivity , and keep future berries up off the grime .
Keeping mulch close is also ready to hand when a late - season frost peril , for short - term protection in a collar .
We trust that winterization is soon a quotidian part of strawberry precaution in your garden , so you may weather the cold months with confidence , and berry on !
And for more info aboutgrowing strawberries , hold in out these template next :
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