Too late to plant out strawberries ?

I moved strawberries around this time last year from one bed to another and I find them to be tough plants so doubt it will be a problem. I'd harden them off first though if they've been protected in a greenhouse.

They should be fine, but bear in mind that we are in for a couple of cold nights Tuesday and Wednesday so it may be better to wait a couple of days before planting them. If you can harden them off first that would be best. I planted up some of my strawberry runners last week.

The plants will be shutting down now and moving them is not going to give the roots much time to establish, you may be ok but equally you could get some failures. My runners will stay under cover until the spring, just in case, it also depends on the varieties you have grown.

Hi and thanks everyone,
I'm still a little unsure about this.
These are the strawberries.
The largest ones are very well established and root bound in 2-3 inch pots but some are much smaller with practically no root system yet.
I think what I will do is pot up any large ones that need the extra space, and leave them all in the greenhouse until next spring.
I'm extremely impressed with the success I've had with these runners and experimented by growing some runners directly into pots (the pinning down approach) AND by cutting runners with any sort of crown development off the mother plant and plunking them into cell trays submerged in water for enough time for the roots to start developing, which typically look 2-3 weeks.
All methods yielded 90%+ success, but I don't want to mess that up now by killing them at the last possible opportunity.

Hi everyone,
So a little continuity on this..
I decided to reconfigure my strawberry bed as I've taken on some cow manure and needed a place to put it. In exchange I widened the strawberry bed in another direction and added 3 additional plants which are 3 of the largest strawberries taken as cuttings earlier in the year and grown on in pots. I think as a trial it is worth seeing if they can survive being planted out this time of the year and if I lose them I have plenty more. Planting was carried out this week.

The photo shows a cardboard plant collar which I've made for all the strawberries, and I will mulch with compost on top.. I aim to eliminate the need for the horrible woven weed control fabric which splits off everywhere. I want to eliminate my use of plastics wherever I can now. The aim of using the cardboard is to reduce some of the weed pressure, but I may wait until earlier next year to use it when the weed seeds start to germinate and leave the ground as it looks now until then.

I am in hardiness zone 9a, so let's see how it goes..


Ah,.. I do have a question..

What can I expect from overwintering my other strawberries in the greenhouse? At the moment humidity is high, sometimes reaching as high as 93%, and I am looking to counteract this with 2 new roof vents.

I'd get then in the ground asap - if you can give the plants a little temporary protection from say black plastic or poly-carb sheets to keep the ground warmer so much the better. Make sure you really firm around the roots hard after planting - you don't want any frost lifting them up.

Hi Nickdub and everyone,

Well 3 months on I have my roof vents fitted. Average humidity now is lower. I notice temperatures in the greenhouse have not dropped below 0 degrees once in the last 3 months!
I didn't pot this out in the end because I wanted to have some down time from the allotment.
At the moment it's about 10degrees during the day where I am, feels very mild.
I inspected the strawberries today and they are happily growing away.
I'm a little concerned how pot bound they are starting to get, so I was thinking about transplanting them out tomorrow. Even the smallest ones are becoming pot bound.
USDA zone 9, so hoping any frost due won't demolish them.
What do you think?

Strawberry plants are frost hardy (although frost does kill the flowers) but at this time of year, outdoors, they usually have no leaves. Mine appear dead at the moment. If you plant them out in a sheltered location I would be tempted to protect them with fleece for a while.

Hi Folks

I have 30ish strawberries in containers and was thinking of planted them out as soon as I have the raised bed built. The bed will be layered with cardboard, spent compost/soil, then MPC, any obvious issues?

Maybe where you are, but down here they tend to be semi-evergreen. The older leaves die, but they keep the young ones all winter.
Unless it's going to be cold enough that the soil might freeze solid, or wet enough that the soil might water log, I personally wouldn't hesitate to plant them out now, if the plants and the ground are ready to go.