Strawberries from runners - How to keep them protected and fed in the garden over the winter?

Hello everybody,

Last summer I bought nine strawberry plants. I let the runners develop in small pots and I have now 70 or so plants, which I plan to move next April to stacked crates.
As for the moment they are in my garden on a table. They are doing well but for some leaves turning red. Not sure what is that due to but I do trim off the affected leaves.

We have no space to shelter them all in the house, but I am worried about the frost.
I have some greenhouse, heavy, transparent sheeting, and I was thinking of placing the table in the sunniest place in the garden, and enclose them with the material, hoping it keeps them warm enough to survive.

So, I have a few questions, if someone can help:

1) What else can I do to keep them warm enough?

2) Do they need any watering/feeding over the winter at all? I have not been watering them over the last 6 weeks given they are not growing and it rained anyway, but of course the greenhouse sheeting will prevent rain from getting in.

3) I might bring 20 or so in the house, using whatever space I have on windowsills.
Will the ones in the house need watering/feeding over the winter, given the temperature will be higher?

Thanks so much for reading and for any advice!

Aldo

 

No expert but my strawberry plants stay out all winter with no extra feeding (they are not in the growth stage so feeding isn't necessary).
I have leaves turning red, but, they did the same last year and were fine this year.

The issue you would have in covering them in heavy sheeting is that moulds could develop; they don't really need that.

 

Thanks!
I did not consider the risk of mold, thanks for pointing that out!

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

You'll get an earlier crop if you bring some in, but they'll be fine outside

Only water sparsely if you do bring some in.

Don't worry about the red leaves

 

@Aldo to the GC forum from me too

Good advice from @"M" and @Zigs

agree with Zigs - the red leaves are the colour they go due to the Autumn, like many plants they put on their autumn clothes

 

Mine are doing it too



If I was a botanist I'd probably say something like Chlorophyll had been masking anthocyanin pigments, but i'm not so I won't

 

Strawberries, as has been already said, are as hardy as old boots, in fact if they get frosted, so much the better.

 

I would like to thank everybody for all the advice, much appreciated!
Being completely clueless at gardening, no doubt I will be asking more questions on the forum, and I am really glad it is such a friendly place

 

You're welcome

You don't know if you don't ask, I been gardening since I was 7. Still had to ask something on here yesterday

 

With dead/dying Strawberry leaves, if outdoors I leave them on to provide a little protection to the crowns over winter, but any growing under cover (for an earlier crop) have them removed to avoid botrytis.

 

Well, I guess it is a good thing, if one can never learn enough, it keeps it forever interesting and new

 

Hi
Just wanted to say again thanks to everybody.
As un update, my strawberries overwintered just fine, surviving even a few spells of snow, just like you all forecasted.

I guess that made me a bit too overconfident about the sturdy nature of the little ones.
I have been toying over the winter months with the idea of making my own planters, debating how tall, how large, self watering or not, side planting versus top planting, paint it red or blue..
While I was still lost in my fantasies, General Early Summer came knocking with that mini heatwave we had last month, and I noticed two days too late or so.

To cut a long story short, following a frantic weekend of sawing, screwing, hammering and other things which make me so popular with neigbours on early Sunday mornings, only 45 or so truly thriving plants are sitting in their new homes and making flowers.
I have given a chance to some other 15, some of which are recovering, but other 20 have gone to strawberry heaven.

Well, serves me well I guess.
At least the whole thing prompted me ordering other plants and putting some effort in making the best of our small garden this Summer
I even ordered some day neutral varieties of strawberries, given all my current ones are June bearers. They are coming late June, so I am not sure how they will fare this year, but it's worth a try I guess.

 

Enjoy your strawberries.....you will need plenty of clotted cream, Cornish of course