If you raise strawberries, then you know they need to be covered with straw during the winter because their roots are very close to the surface and need some protection from harsh winter temperatures. In spring, then you uncover the strawberry plants from the straw. So you can imagine my surprise on March 24 to discover that my strawberries were already growing through the straw! As warm as the temperatures have been, there was a risk of smothering the plants if I did not uncover them, so I did — at least 3 weeks earlier than normal.
This serves two purposes. First, the straw is nice and handy should you get a late frost after the berries are blooming — just lightly spread the straw back over the plants to protect the blooms. Secondly, the straw lets you pick the strawberries without sinking knee-deep in mud if you get a rainy spell during harvest. Take a peek under the mulch and see if your strawberries are starting to grow. If so, remove about half of the mulch layer and place between rows. Weather permitting nights above freezing , in a week or so you can take off the rest of the mulch, but keep it handy to recover plants in case of hard freezes—below 28 degrees F.
Your strawberries will benefit from some fertilizer in the spring, but make sure you do not apply fertilizer between the flowering and fruiting stages. Once they do start growing, place the mulch back around the plants to keep the weeds away. I use newspaper as the bottom layer of mulch with hay on top. Strawberries hate weeds, and they will thank you for the extra attention. It is also good to cover any exposed soil between rows or in the planting.
Remove the straw before springtime. It is important to remove the straw mulch from the plants prior to them beginning to grow. Gently rake most of the straw off the plants and into the rows as soon as the top inches of soil have warmed to 4o degrees. Leave a thin layer of straw over the plants. The plants will grow up through this thin covering, and it will also serve to keep the strawberries clean and minimize contact with the dirt beneath.
If cared for appropriately, strawberry plants will produce well year after year. In fact, with effective transplanting , your strawberries can keep replenishing themselves for a lifetime! So, mulch appropriately. Straw is an excellent choice for mulching medium, although some people like to use newspaper. So, plant to give a little tender loving care to you strawberry bed, and your strawberry plants will reward you with numerous harvests to come!
Good luck! I mulched our strawberries with straw this year for the first time. Previously they did ok but not spectacularly. The soil is heavy.
Today I checked one bed, the straw is soggy and the plants are black and look like they are in danger of rotting. Do you have any suggestions… should I leave it and hope they dry out or rake off the straw. They are going dormant now as some of the leaves are turned brown and temps have dropped.
Should I cut back all the leaves still green before covering g with straw? How much of the plant do you leave? They have grown into quite large plants. I have 8 in one raised bed thanks in advance. You say to mulch when the temp hits 20 degrees for consecutive days. Are your referring to overnite temps or hour temps?
To me, frost is frost!
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