A sorrier state I have yet to see. Dead looking strawbs.

aliasojo

My strawberry plants have just arrived from Marshalls. They are seriously dead looking. I understand they *should* perk up if watered and planted immediately (which I am about to do) but how long do I give them before expecting signs of improvement?

The roots are very very dry and the plants themselves are brown, I'll be surprised if these grow tbh.

They were sent out by 2nd class post and things usually take longer to reach us because we're in the Highlands so the plants could have been without light and water for ages.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Last year's plant looked dead four weeks ago. It's now giving this year's mini plugs a run for their money.

savemoney

I got some from Suttons last year and they perked up after a week or two. I got some babies off them late Summer so bigger crop hopefully this year plus they are suppose to better 2nd year on

katholicos

Everytime i have had strawb plants from online orders, they have always arrived as roots and little, if any, leaf growth. They should be fine.

cootambear

we had a thread on this recently. they all look like that. water them and give them a feed in a week or so.

forgotmyname

I took runners from strawberry plants in my garden and planted them on my allotment, Was also given
some from another plot holder which looked dead, Both are now starting to flower although the
plants themselves are quite small.

Strange the plants at home are not flowering yet?

valk_scot

Strawberry plants always look like this when they arrive...skanky little bits of brown and dried out nothingness. They're dormant, that's why...if the company shipped them any other way they'd deteriorate too much in the post. Plant them up, give them a little tlc and they'll perk up just fine.

bendipa

At this time of year they should be growing strongly and are stressed if not already in the ground or containers. If they have dead leaves they will be even more stressed as no chlorophyll means the plants can't make food.

Put the roots in a bucket of water for an hour, then plant in soil and water in and hope they make new leaves quickly.. It's always a good idea to order bare root strawbs from mid October to mid March when they are dormant. That way they won't be stressed even if they arrive with dead looking leaves.

aliasojo

Thanks everyone. After they arrived yesterday, I left them soaking for 2 hours ( as advised in the leaflet that came with them) and then planted them out in the evening.

Fingers crossed now I guess.

Any

cootambear wrote: »

we had a thread on this recently. they all look like that. water them and give them a feed in a week or so.

I think that was me!

aliasojo wrote: »

Thanks everyone. After they arrived yesterday, I left them soaking for 2 hours ( as advised in the leaflet that came with them) and then planted them out in the evening.

Fingers crossed now I guess.

9 our of twelve of mine made it (even though I didn't believe it at first). 3 are not looking much better for some reason, still 3 weeks on.

cootambear

this late you prob wont get any fruit this year. thats quite a good thing - it allows the plant to grow strong for bumper crops in later years