What are bare root strawberries?
These are dormant strawberry plants not planted in soil but appear in shrivelled foliage for easy and cost-effective shipping.
While planting bare root strawberry, you will want to make sure that they wake up from their dormant state and begin berry production as soon as possible.
It isn’t always quite easy to tell whether plants like bare root strawberry is alive or death but there are clues that tell if a plant is alive or not.
Hints that tell if it is alive or dead.
For you to tell if a bare root strawberry is alive or not, there are signs to look for. First, they should show no sign of mould or mildew and no rotten or odd smell.
The second sign that will give you a hint whether the bare root strawberry is alive is the foliage free from damage, heavy and not light or dried out roots system.
How to plant bare root strawberries
After preparing the bed with all the standard required conditions, make holes in rows with 3 feet apart. Soak the bare root strawberry in water, it is not necessary to submerge into water completely.
Soaking roots only is enough to rehydrate the strawberry and to break the dormancy. In each hole spread the bare root strawberry gently and cover with soil.
Water them and cover with mulch to preserve water. Make sure to water them every week. Thereafter some few weeks, your bare root strawberries should begin leafing and ready to produce berries.
How to store them?
It is not recommended to store bare root straberry, but sometimes life doesn’t present alternative option but to store.
It is in such circumstances that you should know how to store bare root strawberry to avoid damages. Here are some ot the tips for bare root strawberry storage.
- Make sure they are far from frost and cold weather. Make sure by winter season they would better be on the ground. If not possible make sure you pot them under quality soil and keep them in your garage or basement to avoid getting cold at all cost. The same thing applies to bare root strawberries during summer, keep them cool.
- Make sure your strawberries get some light, you can choose to store them outside in the open as long as they are protected from harsh conditions described above. If you choose to keep them outside in the open make sure they are covered during the nights. Make sure the temperatures don’t rise up too much because it might cause them to break dormancy and grow before the right time of planting.
- Make sure to protect the roots, that is why you should cover them. You can use anything that can protect the roots like, spotting soil, saw dust, sand or wood chips which helps strawberries hold moisture in.
- While storing bare root strawberries, don’t allow the roots to dry out. You should keep the roots moist and not waterlogged.
Now look at the gallery for pictures that will guide you handle bare root strawberries the right way.
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