Over wintering strawberries

tbw

I've got 12 plants in a stacking 'pyramid' thing and also another 12 plants which I took off as runners. The runners are growing well and are quite big now in 5" pots.

What do I do with them over the winter? Can I leave them out on the patio or would they be better in a cold frame or greenhouse? Any advice would be appreciated - didn't get many fruits this year and hope for a better crop!

Ruud

patio cold frame or greenhouse doesnt matter, just keep the compost moist over winter and dont let it dry out

morg_monster

Presumably they don't grow much during the winter? My runners are in 3" and 4" pots and I really don't want to have to pot them up into bigger ones before the winter!

Orange_King

I've just recently moved my main plants to a new raised bed thinking they'd be hardy enough souls through the winter? Also have the runners coming along in lemonade bottles with holes cut in their sides (2 per bottle) and placed in some old guttering. At least these can be moved indoors if necessary but will the others need protection too?

misskool

strawberries are tough. mine were outside all last winter without much protection and they have cropped really well. Apparently they need a frost to fruit better

flowerfish

Hi, they are tough as old boots, just leave them out in the garden and they will be fine. Mine last year had snow, frost etc etc on them and cropped really well. Even the ones I put in the g/h in spring so they fruit earlier are chucked outside for the winter. Don't molly coddle them, they will be fine.

Kay_Peel

The natural habitat for strawberry is in woodland, where it has some dappled shade from overhanging trees but it's open to the elements and gets mulched by fallen leaves.

It's a good idea to peg the runner into a pot for one good reason - it's easy to transplant from a pot. Four to six weeks after it has been pegged down it will form a healthy root system and then it needs to be planted directly into the ground or into a large patio pot.

Hope that helps!

tbw

Thanks for all the advice - I'd prefer to leave them outside as we go away for a month Jan/Feb and I don't want to worry about watering them.

Primrose

Strawberries are quite tough plants and ours survived all the winter's snow but if you're worried about living in a particularly cold or harsh environment, give your plants some protection in a cold frame or cover them with some garden fleece. Strawberries in small pots are exposed to the danger of having their roots frozen in frosty weather. so if you don't have a greenhouse or cold frame, perhaps put them into a cardboard or see through plastic box which has a see through lid and move it up close to the house wall for a little protection.

teapot2

My strawberry plants are all in pots outside all winter. I've pegged down runners each year and increased the stock that way. I'm in Scotland so we had a pretty severe winter last year [snow lay for a month] I didn't give them any extra protection and the strawberries were the best this year that they've been in 4 years we've been in this house.

dollparts

can anyone tell me if you should trim strawberry plants down or just leave them to die back? (if they do)