Topic: I received my strawberry plants today

[bestofour]

please tell me what to do with them.  I was going to plant some of them in 2 window boxes I have but the instructions say to plant them 15 inches apart.  My window boxes may be only 3 feet long so I don't think that it would look so great with only 2 or 3 plants in each planter.  How do you guys have yours planted?

[Patty S]

Sheri, I think that the people who write the instructions for strawberry planting assume that you'll be putting them in a permanent bed, where they'll need room to  send out runners with new plants on them in subsequent years.  When they're put in planter boxes however, you can put them closer together, but not so close that their roots will be crowded together & compete with each other.

You may want to read though the Strawberry "How-to" topic, to see what I do with mine.  There is a section there on strawberry towers (which I use more as ornamental conversation pieces on my deck, rather than for berry production, so the plants are VERY close together) that might be helpful.

You'll get berries as well as runners, but to encourage berry production, you might want to keep the runners snipped off... although they sure are pretty when they hang down from the planter box.   Later in the season, when production begins to decline, you might choose to let them go to runner, so you'll have new plants for next year.  (More planters!)

Best of luck with your strawberry boxes... come back with pics this summer!

[Hillhound]

Nobody would go far wrong following the advice in that thread!

What a brilliant topic, thanks for the link Patty!
 

I'm going to lay a new strawberry bed this year, I think I'm going to do half early in the season and half toward the back end, could be an interesting experiment.

Think I'll try the tower method too, anything that saves growing space and weeding has to to be good.
 

[Wrennie]

Sherri I have cinderblocks turned up on their sides as the front wall of my veg garden. I have 1 plant in each space of the block.
Whats the word I want for those spaces? Openings? maybe

***Broken link removed.***

[Hillhound]

Sherri I have cinderblocks turned up on their sides as the front wall of my veg garden. I have 1 plant in each space of the block.
Whats the word I want for those spaces? Openings?

Holes?
BIG Grin!

[bestofour]

Does anyone have them planted just in the ground?

[barleychown]

Yep. I have a whole bed full of strawberries, and have an aunt who surrounds he deck with them. Works fine, following the same advice as Patty already outlined. I have a bit more trouble with slugs in the bed, than I do in planters, but that's easily controlled. 

[patches]

Sheri, I have mine planted in the ground in a raised bed.    I have a picture of them here on the site somewhere, but I'll have to try to find it.   

[Dianna]

This topic is where you will find a pic of Patti's raised strawberry bed, Sheri....

[bestofour]

thanks you guys.  I hope they don't die before I get them in the ground.  It poured yesterday and was too wet today.

[MassMama]

I have mine in the ground too .. They are finally filling in nice..(not that I have seen them in about 5 months )
Hoping this year I will have enough to snack and cook with

[bestofour]

it's cold but still today.  I'm going out in a while.

[bestofour]

This is the area where I planted my strawberries.  This is before.  I planted them and covered them with leaves.  Next question is do I need to pull back the leaves when it gets really warm?

***Broken link removed.***

[bestofour]

I got Jewel and something called Whopper Strawberries.  I don't know if they're June bearing or what.  I hope I didn't plant them too deep.  Will they for sure die if I did?

[patches]

Sheri, did you get your strawberry plants from Gurney's?     My friend does a lot of canning and she got her strawberry plants from them.  She always buys the Junebearing ones and she said Jewel and Whooper are both Junebearing ones that they have.     
 

[Wrennie]

Strawberries are pretty tough they should do fine. I would pull off the leaves if the temps are staying warm. How deep are the leaves piled? If very deep I'd take some off when it looks like the berry plants are trying to push through.

[Patty S]

Sheri, a couple weeks ago, it was several days after Sarah-bc picked up the new (bare root) strawberry plants for me, that I finally had the chance to get up to her house to fetch them... then, it was a full week before I got them planted, so I was woried about the same thing.   I mixed equal amounts of steer compost & regular soil together, then added added about a third amount of sand & the same amount of alfalfa pellets to the soil mixture, then got the plants in.  It rained right after that, & they looked like they loved it, cuz they all woke right up & seem to be very happy!

We've had a few frosts since then, but that didn't phase them.  Strawberry plants are VERY hardy, & actually need their "winter rest", so I guess I don't understand why you bothered to cover them.   I've never covered my strawberries at all during the winter... not even in Northern Montana, where the ground freezes 18" deep!  I've always let their own dried leaves provide any protection they might want. (Mother Nature seems to take care of her own, with strawberries.)

Your berry bed looks like an ideal spot! When they start waking up & show a little growth, you do want to have the leaves off them, so they dont waste growing energy, reaching for the light.

I hope I didn't plant them too deep.  Will they for sure die if I did?

YES!   I know it feels odd to plant them with the crowns exposed, cuz that's not usually the way we plant things! (There are other plants that require the crowns exposed, but we just don't run across it very often.)  It's absolutely essential that the majority of the crown is above the soil line, or the plant will smother. (If you're in doubt about the depth you planted them, just turn your hose on to a gentle stream, & let it run on each plant for a couple seconds, to clear the dirt away.)

It's going to be exciting to watch your strawberry patch spring to life!   Keep the pics coming as they grow, okay?

[Tonya]

Can't wait to see pics of your strawberry patch either Sheri! I pulled all the ones out of my side bed(I think they were wild ones anyway) and am planning on getting a few plants in a strawberry jar for the back deck.

[bestofour]

I did get mine from Gurney - guess they're June bearing.

I'll check with the water hose tonight and get the dirt off.

I covered them because I thought I read on here somewhere to do that.  Maybe I read it in the info that came with the plants.