Strawberry Plants

[treepixie]

i am over wintering my strawberry plants in an unheated greenhouse, they are in pots.

My question is do i leave the leaves to die off or do i cut them back?

[redser]

Hi - you should leave them outside. You could maybe sink the pots in the border soil which will keep them a little damp and protect the roots from very cold conditions.
They need to be subjected to the cold weather and not pampered. If you want early crops in the greenhouse bring them inside in late January. Dont water them until you see a little growth begin then start watering them a little at a time. Once you start to see flower buds then start feeding them.
You can leave the leaves on now as it is getting late for them to produce new ones. They will look a bit ragged come early spring at which point you can tidy them up a bit until all the new growth pushes through, then remove the remaining deseased looking ones.

[Alison]

They don't need any protection at all. I take runners every year from my established plants and pot them into 3" plastic pots. These pots always stay out all winter with no protection whatsoever and are then planted in the new beds in the spring. Not lost any ever regardless of what the weather has thrown at them. The only reason to put them in a greenhouse is for an early crop and I've found that this is best done by still over wintering outside and then bringing in nice and early.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I do take off any brown leaves, less hiding places for nasties, but as the others have said mine which are in pots stay out all winter.

Colin

[Florence Fennel]

All good advice for you TP. Strawberries are survivors, so use the space in your greenhouse for something more tender.