The confusing info may be because some are talking about container grown and others ground grown. Also you may be getting confused about the dormancy requirement while not allowing the roots to get too cold.

Strawberries have a dormancy period requirement and this means they need a month or two of cold. However, in the earth the roots are insulated by the ground and the earth generally doesn't get a lot colder than 30F even though the air temps are far lower. This is a reason container plants don't overwinter as well as in ground plants (without protection). In a container the root temps are going to be pretty close to whatever the air temp is. If that is -40 then it's -40.

So, you do need to provide cold for the dormancy period, but you don't want them exposed to temps in the negative territory in a container.

This means either bury the container in the ground or bring the containers into an unheated structure such as a garage, shed, cellar etc.

Thank you so much for your response.

I believe you are correct that my confusion was due to mixing "apples and oranges". Now I can clearly see that there is a HUGE difference.

I DO have a detached, unheated log garage, but I think that temps in that building could easily go from above freezing to below if there are successive days of extreme wind chill or lots of sun. So that might not be the best option.

I think I'll take your advice and dig a trench behind the garage and bury the plants for the winter. Do you think it would be a good idea to remove the dirt in the top container by using a larger than 'normal' piece of weed mat? It might be easier to place the dirt/root ball.

Thank you again!

Donna H.

I grew strawberries in SWC's last season and got 8 3-gal. double buckets planted. The harvest was non-stop all season with delicious, sweet fruit and as a bonus, I was fortunate to get lots of daughter plants and rooted those prior to prepping for the winter. At the end of last season, I WAS going to dig a trench and bury the plants for the winter while covering them. After thinking it through, I decided to try a little different approach.

Thinking that I would be removing the soil ball with the plants in it (to bury it), I had already lined each container with a large piece of HD weed mat. When the season was done, I trimmed all the strawberries of dead leaves and remaining blooms and runners. I first separated the water reservoir from the growing reservoir. I then tipped the pots on their sides and pushed up on the wicking chamber to loosen the soil ball. I then pulled the entire soil ball from it's summer home (leaving behind the wicking chamber) and placed it into a similarly sized 3-gal bucket that only had drainage holes in it. When all the soil balls were relocated to their winter homes, I lined up all the buckets along the north side of my garage.

Because the garage is also log, I placed a buffer of used plywood sheets between the buckets and the logs. I then watered every bucket very well until we got that first, hard freeze. Once that happened, I covered the buckets with floating row cover. Then I placed bales of straw around the entire group of buckets as well as piling loose straw on top of the row cover. Finally, I topped the whole batch of them with a huge piling of dried leaves for extra protection.

We had a fairly 'normal' winter with cold and a moderate amount of snow...except for the first storm which dumped 16" in one shot! I didn't see the buckets again after that until about 2 weeks ago when I pulled the leaves, straw and row cover off.

To be honest, I didn't expect that the plants would have survived. I purchased an ever-bearing variety, Tri-Star and they just don't do well in my zone; usually not surviving the deep, freezing cold of Wisconsin winters. But they not only survived, they look great! Every single one is growing with vigor and will be moved into their summer homes (freshened SWC's) in the next day or two.

Using the weed mat as a liner really helped to muscle out the root ball and made it easier to place into it's winter home so I will definitely be doing that again.

Because I wasn't expecting them to survive, I have ordered 25 more Tri-Star plants in addition to 25 Honeyoe plants which are a June-bearing variety. I will be planting 3-4 plants per 3-gal bucket and using a porous, soil-less mix as I did last year.

I am really pleased as to the results of my 'experiment' and would recommend that anyone who is unsure of how to over-winter strawberries in a harsh climate, to at least give this technique a try.

Donna H.

Donna, sounds like you have a great system!

Last year I dug up some strawberries, threw then in a plastic tub with no drainage or special treatment, intending to plant them somewhere. I never did. They sat out in zone 4 cold and snow in a 5 inch deep tub. I was pleased this spring to notice that they are alive and well, and have more blossoms then the strawberries in the ground. As I said this was in zone 4, but happened to be in an area that would have been protected from wind. I haven't decided where to put them, so they will remain in their tub for a little while yet.

donna h,
Congratulations on your sucess!
What did you use for a soil mix in your SWC?
What kind of SWC did you use? Did you make it or purchase it? Do you have pictures?
What did you do for fertilizer?
Thanks.

Seedsilly: It's funny how a seemingly dreadful accident turns into a happy learning experience! I never grew strawberries before and was terribly concerned that they would just all die. Like you, I believe that sheltering them made all the difference.

Isoh: My SWC's were homemade with two 3-gal buckets and a 6 oz. yogurt container for the wicking chamber. I used a small piece of landscape fabric to surround the wicking chamber (so the soil wouldn't get into the water reservoir, PLUS...I lined the entire bucket with a large piece of landscape fabric that laid on top of the wicking chamber so that when I removed the rootball, I wouldn't have to worry about 'fuddling' with the wicking chamber.

For my soil less mix, I used Raybo's (then) experimental mix of peat, bark fines and perlite with some lime mixed in for rooting the daughter plants. The older plants were originally planted in a denser mix which contained peat, compost and perlite. Although the denser mix worked fine for the smaller containers, it did hold a LOT of water and I have since abandoned using it in favor of a more porous mixture based on Raybo's.

As far as fertilizer goes, I added blood meal, phosphate, greensand, lime and Azomite when I made the soil to give the plants a boost. I was pretty lazy after that (OK...neglectful ;-) and only fed them one other time with MG added to the reservoir. I did try using fish emulsion, but take it from me...that stuff is just RANK in a water reservoir. I ended up flushing every water reservoir shortly after adding it. This year, I'm still trying to figure out a reasonable feeding schedule and what type of fertilizer to use. I have both chemical and organic. Only time will tell I guess!

Donna H.

OK...I guess I'm Gardenweb challenged when it comes to posting photos...ughh! It's obvious that the "Help" page wasn't much help. Sorry about that...

Donna H.

I think I've got it now...

{{gwi:5700}}

Donna H.

WOW!

Thanks.

Your welcome!

I would HIGHLY recommend you try the berries. I couldn't believe how well they did! But I guess I'm hooked since I'll be planting another 17 buckets to house 50 new plants. Gotta LOVE those fresh berries!!!

Donna H.

I left my berries in their SWC over the winter, simply because I was too lazy to clean a couple of the pots out. We had an abnormally cold winter (I think the lowest it got was in the low teens), with 10x the snow we normally get (we usually get a dusting or two...this year, we could measure it in inches). I didn't bring them inside or bury them or anything, and my strawberries have come back like gangbusters this spring.

donna h,

Outstanding strawberries!! I'm glad to hear the 3:2:1 Combo Mix worked better than the more "dense" potting mix. I want to attempt to grow strawberries next Season. You have inspired us!!

Raybo

Raybo:

Yes...the mix made all the difference! The plants were SO happy and since berries really don't like "wet" feet, the coarse, porous mix was the key.

Thank you Raybo for your kind words, but this forum has really been a wonderful collaboration of great ideas. Without everyone's advice, especially yours, I doubt that I would have even attempted that large of a SWC garden.

Thanks everyone!

Donna H.