Author Topic: when to plant out strawberry plants (Read 3859 times)

wolf1 · « **on:** February 07, 2015, 07:22:03 am »

Hi i am new to fruit and veg growing this will be my first year I have just taken delivery of 200 strawberry plants they are bare root plants and are dormant do i plant them out now or wait till the frosts have finished?

Thanks in advance

devonlady · « **Reply #1 on:** February 07, 2015, 08:25:49 am »

The best time to plant out strawberries is late autumn but I would wait now until spring. If you can, plant them up into pots and put them somewhere sheltered with fleece over them then set out in March. You will need to pinch the flowers out for this year to give the plants time to establish.

Caroline1 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 07, 2015, 09:44:54 am »

Wow you don't start small

good luck!

wolf1 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 07, 2015, 10:42:22 am »

Hi thankyou for your reply i am building a greenhouse could i plant them out in there now i love strawberries and am hoping to store preserve what we dont eat so i can have them through the winter i did want to order 1000 plants but husband thought we should start with just a few hundred and add to them next year with some different varieties

devonlady · « **Reply #4 on:** February 07, 2015, 11:32:34 am »

You could, maybe, leave the flowers on 50 plants to have fruit this summer but the plants will suffer. However, they may throw out runners which you could plant out in September?

Fleecewife · « **Reply #5 on:** February 07, 2015, 11:43:52 am »

Too many to pot up, but you can heel them in outdoors if you have some workable soil. Make a long slit in the ground, to the depth of the roots, and spread the strawberry plants in a close-together row, making sure their roots have enough depth that they are not folded back. Water thoroughly to make sure the soil is in firm contact with the roots, press with your heel possibly, then leave them to get on with it. If you are worried about them in severe weather you could cover them with horticultural fleece or straw, but they should be hardy (depends on where you sourced them - field grown or from greenhouses)
Plant them out in their permanent positions as soon as your soil is workable. You could plant some up in your greenhouse borders for an early crop, but they will need bees to pollinate the flowers, or you have to do it with a small soft brush.

wolf1 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 07, 2015, 11:57:18 am »

Thankyou im building some raised beds this weekend so might put them in there and cover with a small plastic tunnel and see what happens

Carse Goodlifers · « **Reply #7 on:** February 07, 2015, 04:24:34 pm »

I agree with Fleecewife - heel them in for just now.
There's too many to pot up.
And then when its milder get them in the final growing position ASAP.

HesterF · « **Reply #8 on:** February 16, 2015, 01:48:05 am »

You won't need to buy hundreds more - I bought about 30 plants to begin with and now have at least four times that thanks to their runners. I'm sure at some point it's sensible to get fresh stock in but it's a cheap way to propagate to begin with. No idea what you're going to do with all those strawberries anyway - I had enough leftovers for jam last year (just finished the last pot) and that's feeding five of us - 1000 plants would give you a huge amount of strawberries.

wolf1 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 16, 2015, 05:25:32 pm »

Hi Hesterf i have a large family between my parents and brother, sister ect and my husbands family there is 15 of us and we always give to neighbours ect and im hoping to make jams, freeze and dry them to use all winter i eat strawberries most days

im starting with the 200 i have and i expect to loose some as its my first time growing fruit and veg