Terrible luck with strawberry bare roots

7 years ago

Ive purchased a lot of strawberry bare roots from walmart last year and i had poor luck with them. I followed instructions and planted them in the ground outside and even soaked in water beforehand as some YT videos suggested.
Im thinking about giving them a try again this year instead of giving up completely but are there any tips that might give me more success?
Even though it would take more work, would it be more helpful if i planted them in containers with a heater pad underneath and coddled them until they sprouted the way most people handle cuttings? I would certainly be willing to try this if i could get a much higher success rate.

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Comments (3)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
First, I'd reconsider the source. Rather than a mass merchandiser that sells low quality plant material to begin with, get your strawberry plants from a proper plant nursery. They are not hard to find in CA :-) And if you are buying bare root stock, make sure that it has been properly stored before sale - the roots adequately protected so they have not been exposed to air and allowed to dry out. My nursery sells literally 1000's of bare root strawberry starts each spring in groups of 25 plants. As they arrive from the wholesale grower, each bundle of 25 gets immediately potted up into a 1G nursery can so that the roots are protected from the air and kept hydrated by the moist potting media.

Once home, the starts need no special attention. In mild climates - like ours - they can be planted out immediately. They only need a rich, well drained soil and a lot of sun to do well. Never let them get too dry but they should also not be overly wet either. I prefer to grow them in raised beds but they can be grown in well-prepared ground beds as well. They do not need coddling!

Can you describe what happened to your plants and how you planted them? Maybe something was off that can be easily corrected. Really, strawberries are one of the easiest fruiting crops to grow.
Holly Stockley
7 years ago
^^^ That. You probably need a better source for your stock. You might pay a bit more, but you'll get better quality plants that underwent better handling.

And also take gardengal's advice about assessing your bed. I found that one of mine was actually hardpan underneath the first 6-8" of tilled soil and was holding water. Berries don't like their feet wet for long periods of time. :-P
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nmfruit
7 years ago
I’ve had no trouble with plants from the Home Depot, but I only buy them as soon as they show up at the store, before they start sprouting and/or dry out. in my climate I have to plant them in the greenhouse at that point because it is far too early for them to go outside in my climate. Even if it were warm enough here, the plants would probably die in the ground from drying out, but that’s just the desert Southwest. Keep trying, and you’ll get it.