Planting out strawberries

[moggssue]

The postman brought me a parcel on Saturday, 20 ikkle strawberry plants I'd ordered online ages ago and then promptly forgotten about! So anyway, I hotfooted it to the allotment yesterday and planted them all out. But now I'm worried the winter weather will do for them, since theyre so newly planted and so ikkle.

Do you think they'll be hardy enough to withstand the winter weather, or do I need to protect them with a cloche or fleece? Any thoughts very welcome folks.

[lynda66]

i've had loads of runners on mine, and just left them to it, the bad frost we had the other week hasn't killed them, so i'm guessing they'll be fine.

[Smuff]

How small is ickle? I've got a bunch of runners from this years plants in 3" pots; I'm late but will try to plant them out sometime this week. I reckon they should be ok *crosses fingers*

[Nicos]

There'd be no harm in putting fleece over them.Or a cloche which is water permeable,
My concerns would be that the roots may have dried out a little if they were 'dry rooted' and would need regular watering. In this mild weather, and warmish Autumn soil they may grow a few more roots- esp if kept a little warmer under fleece.
Problem is with such shallow roots that if you get a heavy frost .....well...to be honest I wonder if they would cope????

[lynda66]

dunno, if it's prolonged, but i have about 20 ikkle plants that survived a much heavier frost than we normally get here ...... the frost that killed the remaining tomatoes courgettes and peas, i've just bought some strawberries for next year, and i'm making a whole new fruit bed, and they are going in ......... might put a bit of fleece over when they are replanted.

[rustylady]

Strawberries are hardy, so should survive OK. However, if they're very small it wouldn't hurt to cover them with fleece or a cloche for at least a few weeks. Main thing is to make sure they don't dry out (HA, HA, here at the moment), and to make sure they don't get lifted out of the soil by birds, animals or frost. Keep an eye on them and they should be fine.

[Two_Sheds]

The postman brought me a parcel on Saturday, 20 ikkle strawberry plants

have they been grown outdoors?
If they've been grown indoors, all cosy and snug, they won't like being dumped outside without being properly hardened off.

[moggssue]

Well, they're maybe 2"-3" tall from the crown, with quite a few leaves on them. They were sent mail order in just a plastic bag affair so I left them in a bowl of water overnight to water their roots well before planting out on the allotment. I think they were grown outside, because half of the leaves are yellowing (the rest seem fine and healthy, and they have plenty of roots).

I've planted them with the roots going down into holes, but the crowns sitting on little mounds so they're not too low in the ground (as I was advised). My main worry is with them being newly planted and so not having an established root system in the ground yet. I would hate to lose my first ever crop of strawbs .....

[Kayt]

have they been grown outdoors?
If they've been grown indoors, all cosy and snug, they won't like being dumped outside without being properly hardened off.

Thats a good point!! I was bought some by a friend (a bit of bartering as I helped him with his accounts) at the weekend and at the moment they are on my kitchen windowsill until I can get to plot at weekend. Will it be best to put them outside at least during the day to harden them off a bit?

[moggssue]

Oohhh, I never thought of hardening off! And I'm usually so good as well - since they came in the post I was all of a rush to get them planted before they dried out totally!!

[coreopsis]

I've got some Honeyoe sitting in my kichen.I'll plant them at the weekend(weather permitting).I didn't know where to get strawberry plants(except from the garden centre).Somebody on this forum mentioed e-bay,so I ended up with:
25 Honeyoe
10Elsanta(already planted)
10Alice(still waiting to arrive)

Now,I'll agree with Bride that visiting this forum is highly addictive and makes you want grow more,more and more not considering limited planting space!!!

[BrideXIII]

I have just moved mine that coomber sent me, still have way too many ( can you have too many strawbs?), they have been in a cold frame , but are now in their permenant
beds, i am going to cover them with the rabbit poo mulch ( hay straw shavings etc), and then stick a fleece over them, hope they will like that?

Coreopsis, hun you shoul;d see my back lawn after today, or lack of it, just finished digging the last bit up for more beds

[coreopsis]

Coreopsis, hun you shoul;d see my back lawn after today, or lack of it, just finished digging the last bit up for more beds

That's exactly what I,m going to do-no lawn in the back garden

[bobleponge]

I have just planted out about 50 runners given by a friend. I dont foresee any probs, they came from healthy plants, and have been outdoor grown, just like moving house really.
They really are going to be left to their own devices as I go away on Saturday for 5 weeks, hopefully they will still be there when I get home again.

[lynda66]

it took me 6 weeks to dig up, add drainage and level my back lawn ...... there is no way i'm digging that up ...... well not all of it ....... i may have to dig up a little bit for my fruit cage, might have been ok if i hadn't bought another 12 raspberries yesterday ...... but i like my lawn lol.