Strawberries are a must for every backyard gardener. Before you have any plants to prep for winter, you first must have plants to grow! Check out this refresher video on strawberry growing! th-cam.com/video/upqmvFFHLw0/w-d-xo.html
What kind of strawberries you got this season! Would like to see your setup! I started two plants this year one with a broad leaf and another that’s more compact! Strawberries rock. Thanks for the tips!
THANK YOU! this was EXACTLY what i was looking for, i have potted strawberries and was so worried about how to prep them for the winter. you've saved me a lot of stress 💛
Good vid. You had me 30 seconds in.... "To ensure that next year is successful and that Winter is nothing more than a well-earned break" .... for gardeners too! Greetings from Zone 5a Iowa in February :)
Here in Zone 9, I pull my plants out of the ground and put them n pots for the winter, and clip runners and get those in pots. Usually I save about 75 and plant a lot of those in a row the next spring. Also in pots they set up the crowns above the ground without any help. I'm always amazed how resilient bare root strawberry plants are. Soak the in just water and even ones you think are dead come back.
Excellent! Just what I was looking for! Zero information on this technique on web. I am sure commercial growers do this prior to shipping out in spring
I live in Aurora, Oregon zone 8b. Location and temps make a difference as to how you treat your plants in general. Strawberries are prone to root rot if they sit in soaking wet conditions for very long. I have extremely heavy clay soil so I have to add 50% or more compost and plant in a raised bed or mounded rows for better drainage. We can have warm/cold weather swings clear into December so I don't amend my strawberries until the first week of March so they don't get confused as to when to grow. When they get about 4 leaves I also start fertilizing with home made diluted compost tea. When the first flowers start to become a berry I stop the tea and side dress with some more compost and they're good for the rest of the season. I love that you show the removal of the leaves in the fall! That is one of the best things you can do to keep your strawberries disease free.
My hubby worked in a strawberry field as a kid and said they cut off the foliage in the winter but I didn't believe him until I saw your video, thanks!
I appreciate the information. It would be nice to show a really full strawberry patch compared to a small scale setup. BTW, I cleaned up my June bearing patch in mid-July, cutting off the dying leaves and doing minor thinning, and now, early September, there’s another smaller harvest coming on. I’m in a zone 8b so appreciate the comment left by another person from Oregon about waiting to fertilize in early March.
I love watching this guy! I watched him give a demonstration about strawberries a couple of years ago and followed his tips and then either he or someone commenting said they used their push mower on their strawberry patch and then mulched with lawn clippings. So I tried that and had the best yielding strawberries ever last year - 9 overflowing collanders plus! I am still enjoying them! So that is what I did last fall also and hope to have another prosperous strawberry harvest!
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms just so long as you only use your own and not any of the neighbor's (since they use weed and feed on their lawn). I don't use chemicals on my lawn. 😊
Thank you for all the useful, detailed information about strawberries. You've helped me learn how to best care for my babies, and you remind me of my dad, which is nice.
I’m literally soooo confused this is so much information and I keep seeing so many different things that people do to winterize their strawberries….I’m just at a loss at this point 😅😫 honestly it’s stressing me out and giving me anxiety cuz I’m kinda a perfectionist and I really wanna get it right cuz I don’t want anything bad happening to them!! I’m verrrry new at this!! But anyways my question is why the heck you’re cutting yours back all the way to the crown?!? All the other videos I’ve watched or or anything I’ve read have said to just cover them up with the mulch, they didn’t say anything about cutting back so far to absolutely nothing lol🤔😅 so I need to wait until they’re looking like yours right because mine have just started to get the red tips , some leaves are fullly yellow too , like they’re just starting to get that color to the leaves but the plant is mostly green and very obviously alive still. I’ve finally started seeing blossoms too which I was worried about cuz they took so long to come in! There’s only like 2 tho ! I’m wondering if that’s normal?! And that’s why watching your vid stressed me out just now - cuz if I cut mine back like that I’d be losing the blossoms!! Idk what to do now lol lol I have them in a pretty big pot, it’s probably about 20, 30 inches or so. It came in a 10 inch pot but it was growing like crazy so I figured it would grow better if I put it in a bigger pot and then it outgrew that one super quick as well 😅 definitely going to be moving it to the ground in the spring because I feel like they need a lot more room to grow. Cuz they’re like really growing, they’re so bushy I can barely even push them aside to see the crowns lol. So what do you think I should do?!? should I really cut them back as far as you did? And when do I much , do I need to wait until they look like yours or should I start the mulch the second I see the leaves change color…? HAAALP!! Lol oh ya and I live in Northern California near sacramento so it doesn’t get very cold here at all during the winter! But the last few weeks it’s actually been in the high 30’s at night already which is rare! I know this video is a couple of years old so I’d be surprised if you responded to this haha but I figured it was worth a shot. it would help me so much !! 😅🙏🏻
Hey Molly, don't stress. Strawberries are really tough. Your biggest issue isn't going to be cutting them back or mulching or any of that...its going to be trying to grow them in a warm climate when in fact strawberry plants need a true winter dormancy period. In your case, cutting back the foliage could be a good thing as it will induce a dormant stage with no leaves and have your plants more exposed to the little cold you get. For a more updated video, check this one out. It may answer your questions more thoroughly: th-cam.com/video/-EI9K3yAaPQ/w-d-xo.html
One thing to also look out for is unusually warm spells in the winter. It can often bring dormant plants like strawberries back into a gruesome phase, which could be detrimental if the weather turns sour again. Mulching really does moderate all these swings of temperature, so don't forget it!
This is awesome information and exactly what I was looking for. Our beds were in their second year this year and did very good but I wasn't sure what to do to max out our production for next year. We started with one 4' X 4' bed and I let it spread into another 4' X 4' bed but now I need to stop them. This will help wonderfully. Thank You for the content, well done.
Ha ha, you've gone strawberry crazy! Love it! With that many plants, you may not need to cut down all the foliage... Instead you could just mulch heavily with clean straw...
Thank you for the information. This year is the first year I have planted strawberries and I didn’t realize I needed to cut them back. They have gone crazy and are growing all down the sides of my garden bed and I would’ve left them not realizing I could’ve looked lost them to the winter weather.
Wow.... l just found my strawberries. This video is a berry saver. Now I have to cut some of the leaves, do you know l waited a whole 12 months and now I find them to learn l have to cut the leaves. 🤣😂🤣. But l will. I want to save my 21 strawberries plants that l found. Hopefully I can save at least 15 of them for next year . Thanks again.
Hey Joan, thanks for watching! You don't HAVE to cut the leaves..I just like to to really clean them up. Here's an updated video for you!: th-cam.com/video/xBVI9-WfZb4/w-d-xo.html
Wow you really trim the strawberries back! I had no idea they were supposed to be trimmed back this much! Thanks for all the info, you are sooooo knowledgeable!
Hey Natalie, you definitely don't have to. A lot of times growers leave the old foliage on to act as a mulch. For me, at least every 2nd year, I'll clean the plants completely and give new mulch to keep them running smooth! :-)
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms Oh cool, very interesting. You must have been growing for a long time to know so much! Thanks for sharing with those of us just trying to get started, but having no clue what we are dong ;)
Do you cover with frost protection blanket? My first set of strawberries and I really don't want to do a million things to protect it during 30 degree winter
@@JazzyArcher30 I live in zone 5b so basically November through May I can have freeze, snow, ice or sunshine. ha ha ha. I let my strawberries dictate what needs done. I've rarely given any maintenance other than picking fresh berries and removing dead leaves. I allow them to die back naturally and do not rake any leaf litter from Fall that settles on them from the Maple and Black Walnut trees. My wild Virginia strawberries have taken over one section of the my yard and I'm ok with that. I do keep a nice 2 to 3 inch perimeter around each Everbearing plant to make sure that while in production she isn't fighting for nutrients. I don't use frost blankets unless it is an early Frost and the Everbearing is still fruiting.
First time growing strawberry 1 mother plant and the. Babies i replanted them in a different container.. watching your video, i learned so much, im geared up to over winter my berries . Thank you so much. Oh i subscribed too 1🙂🙂🙂😊😊😇
Hey thanks brother, i appreciate this video..This is my first year growing strawberries, i bought about 20 plants 2 months ago, and already have double that from the runners..Now i have built an 18" deep, by 6ft x12ft long raised bed and kinda getting a little carried away...lol...This video is great knowledge and i thank you for sharing ..B
I am so glad I found you. I was at the grocery store. When I walked out to my car I noticed they had huge hanging strawberry planters marked down to $5. I thought strawberries are all done, but I wonder if you can winter them over. I thought $5 is cheap enough for me to give it a try. After watching your video, I hope I get strawberries next year. In fact, I think I will go back to the store tomorrow and buy a second one if they still have them.
You totally can! And if the plant is big enough, now is the time to divide it to make more plants, as well as clip off any runners you see as they can be rooted to make even more as well. You can have a FIELD of strawberry plants off that one plant if it all works out! :-)
I live in UK and I never had to prepare my strawberries for winter. I just leave them in their hanging wall containers all throughout the winter including snow and they just grow back in spring more in volume!
Winters are different in severity and length all over the planet. I'm sure someone in tropical South America does Strawberries completely different as well.
Yeah, you definitely don't have to. Farmers with fields and fields of them certainly are not cutting them back, lol. I do find in smaller spaces cleaning out the old foliage does the plant good! Happy growing Dani!
How cold is your winter ? Il live in Québec, Canada so we will have a big amont of snow covering those containers. I am wondering if i should cut all the leaves like you do… I wanted to cover my containers with tree leaves.
Thank you for this video. I had some bare root strawberries delivered right at the beggining of spring this year, they've grown really big (despite a few haircuts) but have not flowered at all. I've cut the runners routinely and am preparing to settle them down in late autumn. This video was very precise and told me everything I need to know. Fingers crossed for flowers and strawberries next season!
Hey Connie, definitely. I'd try to grow the strawberries in the ground for more thermal mass and I'd mulch with coarse straw to really keep them in snug for the winter.
Yet another informative video! 👍 I do have some questions, however. Do you winters include snow? I'm in Canada and we get snow here. What pre-mixed soil ammendment would you recommend? I can't justify buying all of those ingredients to save a few plants. As for cover with grass clippings, what else could I use? Most of the grass around my house has white powdery mildew on it.
You could always move to Arizona. We have two seasons, spring and summer/hell. Strawberries don't need winterizing here but they need lots of tlc. Shade, etc. I have never been able to get them to grow well.
Saving ALL strawberry 🍓 video's!! I have learned so much from ur channel. Thank you sooooooo much!! Amazing video and great tips!! You get straight to the point!!
Strawberries grow like a weed in my garden and they are growing next to mint which also grows like a weed. I think I need some big plant pots for my strawberries and will leave two plots for the mint. I can't believe how much they charge for strawberry plants when I have them trying to grow on my lawn and between paving slabs. I've never had to do anything to them over winter and every year they just grow back with a vengeance.
Agreed! They are such an aggressive crop, its insane! Strawberry plants in pots and containers is all kinds of awesome. They just grow soooooo well that way!
Last winter I never cut mine down. I just mulched them with straw. They stayed a nice green colour all winter. They are starting to flower now in the Uk. I took 33 runner plants from last year too. Some of them are flowering now too. Will they produce runners this year too. They are Cambridge Favourite variety
I'm buying new plants? To start growing for the first time? Should I clip the growth? Of the stems? Or leave them growing as long as they like? I live in the south? In growing zone 8?
Hey Daryl, its a toss up. Many people cut the foliage back, and lots of people leave it on for insulation. I like to clean a little bit and then mulch for the insulation. Cheers!
I love your approach and your info my friend. Very glad I found the channel. If by chance you see this still. I have about 70 propagated runners that are now snipped from their mothers. I have them in fairly small containers but I am building a greenhouse. How should I winterize the daughters? Peace out from Chicago
What I do is I put them in a greenhouse I live in the middle of ireland so our winters aren't to bad and cold just it rains a lot I had some relatives that left there strawberries outside for winter the crown wasn't coverd all prep but they molded and didn't make it and I grow in pots and I cut off the old leaves 2 weeks beofre November that's when they usualy start to go dormant and my variety is honeoye and the new leaves are green and during spring when they wake up i wait to some leaves to grow and cut off those leaves I felt in the autumn because it has new fresh growth.
Very smart. Sometimes its not even the bitter extreme cold we have to worry about....but the cool, super wet Fall and Winter that can rot the crowns. Great point!
Hi I live in Alaska should I bring my plant in the house not sure if the temperatures will kill the plant. We can go in the negatives during the winter.
Hi Maria, strawberry plants are designed to take cold weather.....but HOW cold is the question. Sheltering the plants is the best option as bringing them indoors often doesn't allow them to experience a winter dormancy....which they really need.
I like to sprinkle super triple phosphate and alfalfa pellets over my strawberries in the fall. Top them loosely with chicken poo litter from the hen house. Thank you I like your channel. Mary Ann in Iowa
I live in Maine and have very cold winters. If I put my strawberries in a pot would you advise still keeping the crown up above the soil during the winter. I am concerned that the plant would freeze even though I cover with mulch.
I have not seen anyone cutting strawberries down. The strange thing is, that the without doubt best strawberries i have had, i had on a patch of an 'Ødegård' -a farm that had been abandoned. The berries was not only amazing in taste, they were also the largest berries, compared to both store and berries at home . The punchline here is that this patch was bewilded1 You actually had to search beneath meter tall grass, to find the berries, nobody touched the patch, only thing in coherence with your video, was that they were naturally mulched, when the grass died in the fall. Today there is a corn-drying facility where the old farm used to be 😢
Hi, thanks for the video, it is exactly what I need to know and do now 😀. About the soil amendments, do you use a mix or one of them should be fine? 🙏🏻
Hello, love you videos! They are very informative.I live in Michigan in zone 5. Even if I mulch, can I leave my strawberries in pots or should I bury the pots to prevent problems?
So i am growing one in a container. I used old soil. They were growing really slow. I guess they were not uptaking nutrients. Then i read on adding calcium. Added some. It did help. But mine got so overwhelmed they started absorbong all that fertilizer and burnt some leaves. So i have learned plants require calcium among the npk or else they suffer. My citrus are doing great. As for the strawberry i hope it recovers.
Yeah Valerie, Strawberries are one plant that's really affected by old soils. They aren't super nutrient hogs....but they definitely like a fresh replanting. Not only that, Strawberries "overstay their welcome" on their own within 3-5 years and need moving/replanting.
Are these the only soil amendments: rock dude, alfalfa meal, canola meal, rock phosphate, Epsom salts, and oyster flakes. And how much of each do you mix?
There's LOTS of soil amendments in the world of gardening....worm castings, vermipost, compost, seaweed, extracts....the list goes on for a mile. I chose these for slow release over winter when the plants aren't growing much, as well as for economics. I add equal amounts of all to no more than 10% of the container volume.
What cold temp can they survive in and leave at my roofed patio. Live in Chino, SoCal and the most cold here is probly 60 degrees or maybe 50s? Can I just leave them outside, my patio has roof but no walls.. Thanks.. Great informative videos you always share with us..
Questions…my strawberry plants are in a container in a greenhouse..so no winter rain or snow. Should the plants be watered during dormancy of winter? Next question…will straw or pine shavings work as a top mulch? Where does one obtain the “ingredients “ for the soil amendments you mentioned?
1st year growing strawberries. Cutting them down will be terrifying XD gonna have to figure out a soil amendment. I try to stick to byproducts like compost. May repot to use compost. Not gonna lie, seemed really coy in the lead up to the amendment reveal. Thought it was gonna be something more controversial like urine or something lol
Why do you have to cut the strawberry plants so there’s a few centimeters above the crown? Newbie here and would love to be informed. Thank you for such great content!
You definitely don't have to.. Every 2nd year I clean them out completely because strawberries die back and go dormant over winter. You can leave the old foliage on though, won't hurt anything
I live in Alaska at elevation of 2000 ft above sea level. My strawberry plants are in a large container. Should I plant them in ground that has permafrost in winter or shelter them in shed in pot? It can get -20 o -30 F.
I live here in Minnesota which gets near those temperatures aswell and my buddy grows strawberries in his backyard. He told me he did nothing to the plants to prepare for winter and like currently now, they're growing fruits completely fine.
Great video,your information is presented in such a clear manner it made it very easy to see exactly how to take care of our strawberries, tysm for posting it!
I can see you love what you do. Where will I find alfalfa meal and the other items you mentioned in the mix reasonably priced? I think I could grow it in a patch and dehydrate it grind it up and make a fortune at that price. We can grow alfalfa here in zone 8a but not for hay due to the humidity of coastal North Carolina. One pound of alfalfa meal is 18 bucks on Amazon and that sounds reticula's to me surely there are stores that have these things cheaper. Also I have leave spotting from watering my plants that are in pots from above. If a spraying of hydrogen peroxide appropriate? H2O2 works great to cure blight like spots that almost killed my okra when I watered them overhead when the plants were only 6 inches tall. One thorough spraying with H2O2 cured the brown leaf spots.
Strawberries are a must for every backyard gardener. Before you have any plants to prep for winter, you first must have plants to grow! Check out this refresher video on strawberry growing! th-cam.com/video/upqmvFFHLw0/w-d-xo.html
I know Im quite off topic but does anyone know of a good website to stream newly released tv shows online?
@Julian Coleman i dunno I'd suggest flixportal. You can find it by googling:P -mauricio
@Mauricio Otis thanks, I went there and it seems like a nice service :) I appreciate it!
@Julian Coleman Glad I could help :)
Can anyone tell me what the mix was for the soil amendment?
This is the most valuable strawberry video ever
Thanks so much, cheers!
Canola Mill?
Alfalfa Mill?
Where does one acquire these ingredients without costing and arm and a leg?
Love the channel!
What kind of strawberries you got this season! Would like to see your setup! I started two plants this year one with a broad leaf and another that’s more compact! Strawberries rock. Thanks for the tips!
Yet another fab video 👍 thank u 👍👍
Thanks for the kind words!
THANK YOU! this was EXACTLY what i was looking for, i have potted strawberries and was so worried about how to prep them for the winter. you've saved me a lot of stress 💛
Right on Jules...best of luck! :-)
Right! This was educational, to the point and clear
I agree!!!
Thank YOU! I have been looking for this info for forever it seems 😊
Good vid. You had me 30 seconds in.... "To ensure that next year is successful and that Winter is nothing more than a well-earned break" .... for gardeners too! Greetings from Zone 5a Iowa in February :)
Thanks Lea! Totally agree! There has to be a break, both for the soil and for our bodies....but I tell ya, I'm getting pretty anxious for spring, LOL!
Yeah the big question is Not whether they will live. More like will they take over whatever was there. Good Luck.
Here in Zone 9, I pull my plants out of the ground and put them n pots for the winter, and clip runners and get those in pots. Usually I save about 75 and plant a lot of those in a row the next spring. Also in pots they set up the crowns above the ground without any help. I'm always amazed how resilient bare root strawberry plants are. Soak the in just water and even ones you think are dead come back.
Excellent! Just what I was looking for! Zero information on this technique on web. I am sure commercial growers do this prior to shipping out in spring
hi, great video! Is there a video about how to make this soil amendment that you are adding?
Amendment ingredients
The tone of your voice at the end of a sentence cracks me up.
I live in Aurora, Oregon zone 8b. Location and temps make a difference as to how you treat your plants in general. Strawberries are prone to root rot if they sit in soaking wet conditions for very long. I have extremely heavy clay soil so I have to add 50% or more compost and plant in a raised bed or mounded rows for better drainage. We can have warm/cold weather swings clear into December so I don't amend my strawberries until the first week of March so they don't get confused as to when to grow. When they get about 4 leaves I also start fertilizing with home made diluted compost tea. When the first flowers start to become a berry I stop the tea and side dress with some more compost and they're good for the rest of the season. I love that you show the removal of the leaves in the fall! That is one of the best things you can do to keep your strawberries disease free.
Yeah, we've been adding sand the last couple of years to increase drainage and aeration. Strawberries seem to love it!
My hubby worked in a strawberry field as a kid and said they cut off the foliage in the winter but I didn't believe him until I saw your video, thanks!
Ha ha thanks Cee! There's proponents for both methods.....I sit on the fence mostly and do both, LOL!
Howdy from Victoria!! Subbed !! Good info Thanks!!
I appreciate the information. It would be nice to show a really full strawberry patch compared to a small scale setup. BTW, I cleaned up my June bearing patch in mid-July, cutting off the dying leaves and doing minor thinning, and now, early September, there’s another smaller harvest coming on. I’m in a zone 8b so appreciate the comment left by another person from Oregon about waiting to fertilize in early March.
This guys energy has me feel like I wanna get LIT after I do some gardening... #subscribed
I love watching this guy! I watched him give a demonstration about strawberries a couple of years ago and followed his tips and then either he or someone commenting said they used their push mower on their strawberry patch and then mulched with lawn clippings. So I tried that and had the best yielding strawberries ever last year - 9 overflowing collanders plus! I am still enjoying them! So that is what I did last fall also and hope to have another prosperous strawberry harvest!
Grass clippings make an awesome strawberry mulch Gail! :-)
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms just so long as you only use your own and not any of the neighbor's (since they use weed and feed on their lawn). I don't use chemicals on my lawn. 😊
@@gailsand4744 definitely!!
Thank you for all the useful, detailed information about strawberries. You've helped me learn how to best care for my babies, and you remind me of my dad, which is nice.
Right on Michaela, I wish you the best of bounties this year! :-)
Im Looking back at your videos to get ready for winter, thank you
Ha ha cool Naomi! I should have a new winter strawberry video coming out soon.....but our weather has been SOOOOO warm!
I’m literally soooo confused this is so much information and I keep seeing so many different things that people do to winterize their strawberries….I’m just at a loss at this point 😅😫 honestly it’s stressing me out and giving me anxiety cuz I’m kinda a perfectionist and I really wanna get it right cuz I don’t want anything bad happening to them!! I’m verrrry new at this!! But anyways my question is why the heck you’re cutting yours back all the way to the crown?!? All the other videos I’ve watched or or anything I’ve read have said to just cover them up with the mulch, they didn’t say anything about cutting back so far to absolutely nothing lol🤔😅 so I need to wait until they’re looking like yours right because mine have just started to get the red tips , some leaves are fullly yellow too , like they’re just starting to get that color to the leaves but the plant is mostly green and very obviously alive still. I’ve finally started seeing blossoms too which I was worried about cuz they took so long to come in! There’s only like 2 tho ! I’m wondering if that’s normal?! And that’s why watching your vid stressed me out just now - cuz if I cut mine back like that I’d be losing the blossoms!! Idk what to do now lol lol I have them in a pretty big pot, it’s probably about 20, 30 inches or so. It came in a 10 inch pot but it was growing like crazy so I figured it would grow better if I put it in a bigger pot and then it outgrew that one super quick as well 😅 definitely going to be moving it to the ground in the spring because I feel like they need a lot more room to grow. Cuz they’re like really growing, they’re so bushy I can barely even push them aside to see the crowns lol. So what do you think I should do?!? should I really cut them back as far as you did? And when do I much , do I need to wait until they look like yours or should I start the mulch the second I see the leaves change color…? HAAALP!! Lol oh ya and I live in Northern California near sacramento so it doesn’t get very cold here at all during the winter! But the last few weeks it’s actually been in the high 30’s at night already which is rare! I know this video is a couple of years old so I’d be surprised if you responded to this haha but I figured it was worth a shot. it would help me so much !! 😅🙏🏻
Hey Molly, don't stress. Strawberries are really tough. Your biggest issue isn't going to be cutting them back or mulching or any of that...its going to be trying to grow them in a warm climate when in fact strawberry plants need a true winter dormancy period. In your case, cutting back the foliage could be a good thing as it will induce a dormant stage with no leaves and have your plants more exposed to the little cold you get. For a more updated video, check this one out. It may answer your questions more thoroughly: th-cam.com/video/-EI9K3yAaPQ/w-d-xo.html
I love your video
what I do With mine i cover it with plastic and I get strawberry’s all year round
I live in Australia in Victoria
Awesome! From one Victoria to another!
Most important was the the word Organic in this video. 👍 from the 🇬🇧
I've been wanting to plant strawberries but didn't know how to care for them...thanks for the great info.
Now I know how to give my berries the care they need for the winter..great content sir thanks for the tips
Thank you for the video. I just decided this year to grow strawberries in pots. Looking forward to a bounty 2021 strawberry season in southern Ohio.
Super awesome... Keep us updated and if you have any questions along the journey, don't hesitate to ask!
One thing to also look out for is unusually warm spells in the winter. It can often bring dormant plants like strawberries back into a gruesome phase, which could be detrimental if the weather turns sour again. Mulching really does moderate all these swings of temperature, so don't forget it!
Sounds like my garlic this past year :(
Thanks. First year with strawberries. Didn't get any this year. This is what I needed to know.
This is awesome information and exactly what I was looking for. Our beds were in their second year this year and did very good but I wasn't sure what to do to max out our production for next year. We started with one 4' X 4' bed and I let it spread into another 4' X 4' bed but now I need to stop them. This will help wonderfully. Thank You for the content, well done.
Could try to plant some of those cuttings?
Thanks dude! This was extremely helpful and easy to understand. I have about 200 strawberry plants that I have to do this to!
Ha ha, you've gone strawberry crazy! Love it! With that many plants, you may not need to cut down all the foliage... Instead you could just mulch heavily with clean straw...
Thank you for the information. This year is the first year I have planted strawberries and I didn’t realize I needed to cut them back. They have gone crazy and are growing all down the sides of my garden bed and I would’ve left them not realizing I could’ve looked lost them to the winter weather.
My strawberries have been in the ground for 2 years and have barely grown. 😩
Hi. I am from UK. What is the soil ammendment mix that you used again? I want to follow your steps for taking care of strawberry in winter time
i would like to know that also as i was unfamiliar with the ingredients he mentioned
Wow.... l just found my strawberries. This video is a berry saver. Now I have to cut some of the leaves, do you know l waited a whole 12 months and now I find them to learn l have to cut the leaves. 🤣😂🤣. But l will. I want to save my 21 strawberries plants that l found. Hopefully I can save at least 15 of them for next year . Thanks again.
Hey Joan, thanks for watching! You don't HAVE to cut the leaves..I just like to to really clean them up. Here's an updated video for you!: th-cam.com/video/xBVI9-WfZb4/w-d-xo.html
Wow you really trim the strawberries back! I had no idea they were supposed to be trimmed back this much! Thanks for all the info, you are sooooo knowledgeable!
Hey Natalie, you definitely don't have to. A lot of times growers leave the old foliage on to act as a mulch. For me, at least every 2nd year, I'll clean the plants completely and give new mulch to keep them running smooth! :-)
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms Oh cool, very interesting. You must have been growing for a long time to know so much! Thanks for sharing with those of us just trying to get started, but having no clue what we are dong ;)
@@natalies753 its all a work in Natalie! Still learning every year, with every new crop! Have a great weekend!
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms Thank you, hope you have a great weekend too :)
@@natalies753 :-)
I leave them alone and let old leaves cover for protection, come spring I clean up :-)
Do you cover with frost protection blanket? My first set of strawberries and I really don't want to do a million things to protect it during 30 degree winter
@@JazzyArcher30 I live in zone 5b so basically November through May I can have freeze, snow, ice or sunshine. ha ha ha. I let my strawberries dictate what needs done. I've rarely given any maintenance other than picking fresh berries and removing dead leaves. I allow them to die back naturally and do not rake any leaf litter from Fall that settles on them from the Maple and Black Walnut trees. My wild Virginia strawberries have taken over one section of the my yard and I'm ok with that. I do keep a nice 2 to 3 inch perimeter around each Everbearing plant to make sure that while in production she isn't fighting for nutrients. I don't use frost blankets unless it is an early Frost and the Everbearing is still fruiting.
Thank you! I have always just left them and hoped for the best!
Mine are in my garden.i mow them over and every year I have a huge crop.i put nothing on any of my garden.and receive huge production.
First time growing strawberry 1 mother plant and the. Babies i replanted them in a different container.. watching your video, i learned so much, im geared up to over winter my berries . Thank you so much. Oh i subscribed too 1🙂🙂🙂😊😊😇
Hey thanks brother, i appreciate this video..This is my first year growing strawberries, i bought about 20 plants 2 months ago, and already have double that from the runners..Now i have built an 18" deep, by 6ft x12ft long raised bed and kinda getting a little carried away...lol...This video is great knowledge and i thank you for sharing ..B
I am so glad I found you. I was at the grocery store. When I walked out to my car I noticed they had huge hanging strawberry planters marked down to $5. I thought strawberries are all done, but I wonder if you can winter them over. I thought $5 is cheap enough for me to give it a try. After watching your video, I hope I get strawberries next year. In fact, I think I will go back to the store tomorrow and buy a second one if they still have them.
You totally can! And if the plant is big enough, now is the time to divide it to make more plants, as well as clip off any runners you see as they can be rooted to make even more as well. You can have a FIELD of strawberry plants off that one plant if it all works out! :-)
Thanks for the great video. 😁😁Super clear instruction and your voice is so calming :)
I second this. I don't feel intimidated at all and his voice is really calming.
Do you have a video on the mixer I know you said what but how much then how often to add what to look for
I live in UK and I never had to prepare my strawberries for winter. I just leave them in their hanging wall containers all throughout the winter including snow and they just grow back in spring more in volume!
Winters are different in severity and length all over the planet. I'm sure someone in tropical South America does Strawberries completely different as well.
Winters in Canada are completely different than the UK! I tell my UK friends that they live in the semi tropics...
I mulch my strawberries with.....straw. They like it much.
It's the best mulch!
This video is awesome!!!!!!!
Thanks, appreciate that!
INTERESTING! I don't clip mine down to the crown, I have so many and they're still huge. I did cover with hay. Great video.
Yeah, you definitely don't have to. Farmers with fields and fields of them certainly are not cutting them back, lol. I do find in smaller spaces cleaning out the old foliage does the plant good! Happy growing Dani!
Thanks good to know as i really dont want to do that. How far down do you cut them?
Krista B oh me? I don’t cut I just cover. :)
That was helpful, even though I live in England. I never knew about soil ‘amendments’!
Awesome Leslie, glad you got something from it! Cheers!
Thanks I'm a fairly new gardener. This was so helpful n easy
Thanks mary, happy growing!
How cold is your winter ? Il live in Québec, Canada so we will have a big amont of snow covering those containers. I am wondering if i should cut all the leaves like you do… I wanted to cover my containers with tree leaves.
Thank you for this video. I had some bare root strawberries delivered right at the beggining of spring this year, they've grown really big (despite a few haircuts) but have not flowered at all. I've cut the runners routinely and am preparing to settle them down in late autumn. This video was very precise and told me everything I need to know. Fingers crossed for flowers and strawberries next season!
Fantastic video. Excellent information. I really think this will help me winter my raised strawberry bed
Hey, thanks for that Wenona, best of luck!
Greetings from the uk.
Great tips buddy, going to try growing strawberries for first time in 21....
Awesome, thanks so much! You got this! :-)
Great video with lots of info! I appreciate you explaining the reasons behind each step as well!
Thanks for watching Vanessa!
Thanks for the awesome video
Dies thus work for extremely cold climates. I live in northern Canada.
Hey Connie, definitely. I'd try to grow the strawberries in the ground for more thermal mass and I'd mulch with coarse straw to really keep them in snug for the winter.
I am so glad I saw your video on winterizing my strawberries!
Yet another informative video! 👍
I do have some questions, however. Do you winters include snow? I'm in Canada and we get snow here.
What pre-mixed soil ammendment would you recommend? I can't justify buying all of those ingredients to save a few plants.
As for cover with grass clippings, what else could I use? Most of the grass around my house has white powdery mildew on it.
Yes dude! Love this video! I wish we had summer all year round though... no winterizing needed...
I wonder what the strawberries taste like in Hawaii? ;)
You could always move to Arizona. We have two seasons, spring and summer/hell. Strawberries don't need winterizing here but they need lots of tlc. Shade, etc. I have never been able to get them to grow well.
I very much enjoy ur tone in every video It keeps me super engaged
Thanks so much Dean. Super appreciated. Definitely trying my hardest over here! :-)
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms im a beginner and just got strawberry plants last week . Currently watching how to grow strawberries for beginners
I got so much strawberries this year
Yum yum, can't wait until next Spring, as I have loads of runners
The best! Given their low maintenance, I might even just plant Strawberries everywhere from now on!
My baby strawberry plant has long runners. Do i plant runners ?
Where would you recommend that I put the container in the winter, zone 5? I wanted to put it in my green house.. it's unheated.
I enjoy watching your straightforward easy to understand videos, many thanks and Best Wishes from New Zealand
Thanks so much! That means a lot. I really do hope there is value in the information. Cheers!
Saving ALL strawberry 🍓 video's!!
I have learned so much from ur channel. Thank you sooooooo much!! Amazing video and great tips!! You get straight to the point!!
Strawberries grow like a weed in my garden and they are growing next to mint which also grows like a weed. I think I need some big plant pots for my strawberries and will leave two plots for the mint. I can't believe how much they charge for strawberry plants when I have them trying to grow on my lawn and between paving slabs. I've never had to do anything to them over winter and every year they just grow back with a vengeance.
Agreed! They are such an aggressive crop, its insane! Strawberry plants in pots and containers is all kinds of awesome. They just grow soooooo well that way!
Last winter I never cut mine down. I just mulched them with straw. They stayed a nice green colour all winter. They are starting to flower now in the Uk. I took 33 runner plants from last year too. Some of them are flowering now too. Will they produce runners this year too. They are Cambridge Favourite variety
Right on, sounds like you'll have tons! Yes, the mother plants will always produce runners....some years more than others though.
I'm buying new plants? To start growing for the first time? Should I clip the growth? Of the stems? Or leave them growing as long as they like? I live in the south? In growing zone 8?
nice video , i have strawberry plants in a container , should i cut back the stems like you did for winter time ?
Hey Daryl, its a toss up. Many people cut the foliage back, and lots of people leave it on for insulation. I like to clean a little bit and then mulch for the insulation. Cheers!
Awesome video Sr. Much appreciated!! God bless!!!
Hey, thanks so much Holly! All the best!
I love your approach and your info my friend. Very glad I found the channel. If by chance you see this still. I have about 70 propagated runners that are now snipped from their mothers. I have them in fairly small containers but I am building a greenhouse. How should I winterize the daughters? Peace out from Chicago
My strawberries are in a dedicated 3x11' raised Hugelkultur garden. They don't know it is cold yet. It has not frosted yet.
Thanks for this information. It will come in handy for this year's winter
Definitely Sophia, thanks for watching! Strawberries grow awesome in Canada!
Very helpful and easy to understand. Cheers.
Right on Tom, glad you liked it! :-)
What I do is I put them in a greenhouse I live in the middle of ireland so our winters aren't to bad and cold just it rains a lot I had some relatives that left there strawberries outside for winter the crown wasn't coverd all prep but they molded and didn't make it and I grow in pots and I cut off the old leaves 2 weeks beofre November that's when they usualy start to go dormant and my variety is honeoye and the new leaves are green and during spring when they wake up i wait to some leaves to grow and cut off those leaves I felt in the autumn because it has new fresh growth.
Very smart. Sometimes its not even the bitter extreme cold we have to worry about....but the cool, super wet Fall and Winter that can rot the crowns. Great point!
How long. An you use those mother plants before you have to replace.
Hi I live in Alaska should I bring my plant in the house not sure if the temperatures will kill the plant. We can go in the negatives during the winter.
Hi Maria, strawberry plants are designed to take cold weather.....but HOW cold is the question. Sheltering the plants is the best option as bringing them indoors often doesn't allow them to experience a winter dormancy....which they really need.
I like to sprinkle super triple phosphate and alfalfa pellets over my strawberries in the fall. Top them loosely with chicken poo litter from the hen house. Thank you I like your channel. Mary Ann in Iowa
I usually just trow leaves on top of mine but this year I had access to straw.
I live in Maine and have very cold winters. If I put my strawberries in a pot would you advise still keeping the crown up above the soil during the winter. I am concerned that the plant would freeze even though I cover with mulch.
I'm going to be watching this....but my strawberries ALWAYS grow back. Live in zone 6b though. Maybe you are in a much lower zone
Strawberries are perennial....something would be wrong if they didn't grow back!
So even baby strawberry plants i planted a week ago will not die or get harmed from the harsh cold winters?
Can I use pine needles? Also mine have runners out all ready. So i prep them different.? We get snow and are in zone 5. Thank you so much.
Pine needles can work, straw is best and what the commercial guys use. You can also leave the leaves on to add more bulk to the mulch.
Thanks!
I have not seen anyone cutting strawberries down. The strange thing is, that the without doubt best strawberries i have had, i had on a patch of an 'Ødegård' -a farm that had been abandoned. The berries was not only amazing in taste, they were also the largest berries, compared to both store and berries at home . The punchline here is that this patch was bewilded1 You actually had to search beneath meter tall grass, to find the berries, nobody touched the patch, only thing in coherence with your video, was that they were naturally mulched, when the grass died in the fall.
Today there is a corn-drying facility where the old farm used to be 😢
Most likely corn sprayed with tons of atrazine, you know, the stuff that makes males think they're female, and vice versa. 😡
Hi, thanks for the video, it is exactly what I need to know and do now 😀. About the soil amendments, do you use a mix or one of them should be fine? 🙏🏻
What are the ratios you use for your mix of rock dude, alfalfa meal etc?
All amendments are used at a ration of equal to each other, with their total combined contribution being 5-10% of the soil mixture.
Hello, love you videos! They are very informative.I live in Michigan in zone 5. Even if I mulch, can I leave my strawberries in pots or should I bury the pots to prevent problems?
Yes, you definitely can! Burying the pots does help. You can also keep them close together.....strength in numbers!
So i am growing one in a container.
I used old soil.
They were growing really slow.
I guess they were not uptaking nutrients.
Then i read on adding calcium.
Added some.
It did help.
But mine got so overwhelmed they started absorbong all that fertilizer and burnt some leaves.
So i have learned plants require calcium among the npk or else they suffer.
My citrus are doing great.
As for the strawberry i hope it recovers.
Yeah Valerie, Strawberries are one plant that's really affected by old soils. They aren't super nutrient hogs....but they definitely like a fresh replanting. Not only that, Strawberries "overstay their welcome" on their own within 3-5 years and need moving/replanting.
Are these the only soil amendments: rock dude, alfalfa meal, canola meal, rock phosphate, Epsom salts, and oyster flakes. And how much of each do you mix?
There's LOTS of soil amendments in the world of gardening....worm castings, vermipost, compost, seaweed, extracts....the list goes on for a mile. I chose these for slow release over winter when the plants aren't growing much, as well as for economics. I add equal amounts of all to no more than 10% of the container volume.
What cold temp can they survive in and leave at my roofed patio. Live in Chino, SoCal and the most cold here is probly 60 degrees or maybe 50s? Can I just leave them outside, my patio has roof but no walls.. Thanks.. Great informative videos you always share with us..
I'm in Canada... Lol... They EASILY survive here. SoCal is a piece of cake.
I really love your channel. I learn so much. Thank you
What grow zone are you in
Questions…my strawberry plants are in a container in a greenhouse..so no winter rain or snow. Should the plants be watered during dormancy of winter? Next question…will straw or pine shavings work as a top mulch? Where does one obtain the “ingredients “ for the soil amendments you mentioned?
1st year growing strawberries. Cutting them down will be terrifying XD gonna have to figure out a soil amendment. I try to stick to byproducts like compost. May repot to use compost. Not gonna lie, seemed really coy in the lead up to the amendment reveal. Thought it was gonna be something more controversial like urine or something lol
LOL, I don't want anyone peeing on my Strawberries! :-0 Ha ha. Compost is great...actually, if you have enough of it, then it may be all you need! :-)
@@TheRipeTomatoFarms thanks rt. Fingers crossed
This is great, thank you! So do we then not worry about watering, water half the amount U normally would or usual watering?
Hey Ashers, thanks! My fall/winter is the wettest time of the year. Subsequently, there is simply never a need to water from October to April. :-)
Could you share more information about the amendment please?
Why do you have to cut the strawberry plants so there’s a few centimeters above the crown? Newbie here and would love to be informed. Thank you for such great content!
You definitely don't have to.. Every 2nd year I clean them out completely because strawberries die back and go dormant over winter. You can leave the old foliage on though, won't hurt anything
Great vid 👍🍓
Thanks, appreciate it! :-)
I just subscribed. Good information without all the hype.
Right on jane, thanks so much for the support! :)
I live in Alaska at elevation of 2000 ft above sea level. My strawberry plants are in a large container. Should I plant them in ground that has permafrost in winter or shelter them in shed in pot? It can get -20 o -30 F.
Hey Rhonda, I would opt for the sheltered pots at those temps... Take the edge off of those really cold temperatures...
I live here in Minnesota which gets near those temperatures aswell and my buddy grows strawberries in his backyard. He told me he did nothing to the plants to prepare for winter and like currently now, they're growing fruits completely fine.
Great video,your information is presented in such a clear manner it made it very easy to see exactly how to take care of our strawberries, tysm for posting it!
GREAT video! Thank you!!
Cheers Jana, thanks for watching! :-)
Keep for another very awesome and inspiring informed video cheers from Central Florida
I can see you love what you do. Where will I find alfalfa meal and the other items you mentioned in the mix reasonably priced? I think I could grow it in a patch and dehydrate it grind it up and make a fortune at that price. We can grow alfalfa here in zone 8a but not for hay due to the humidity of coastal North Carolina. One pound of alfalfa meal is 18 bucks on Amazon and that sounds reticula's to me surely there are stores that have these things cheaper. Also I have leave spotting from watering my plants that are in pots from above. If a spraying of hydrogen peroxide appropriate? H2O2 works great to cure blight like spots that almost killed my okra when I watered them overhead when the plants were only 6 inches tall. One thorough spraying with H2O2 cured the brown leaf spots.
Alfalfa meal can also be found in pellet form. Like rabbit feed. Most feed barn type stores carry it for quite cheap! :-)
can I bring them indoors. ?