Berry update

[Terry Coombs]

I think this is gonna work ! 10 of 14 plants appear to have new growth - I was worried because they got lightly frosted the very night I planted them . Finally , some strawberries in my berry own garden !

[David Hare-Scott]

The strawberries I have will take a hard frost, the other 4 may yet shoot.

D

[Terry Coombs]

I'll be covering them tomorrow night , temps predicted to be around 24F and I don't want to chance it . I'm just thrilled to finally get some to grow , I've had a couple of failures . Probably because of the quality of plants I bought . Funny thing is these were just as cheap as the ones that failed .

[Fran Farmer]

That's my experience with strawberries too. We get temps down to

-9degreesC and the strawb plants have never seemed to be frost damaged.

[Terry Coombs]

I may be a bit gunshy , these are the first I've gotten to actually grow . Right now it's about 23 here and mine are covered . I had to improvise , I put a foam plate over each plant ant held it down with a small rock .

[The Cook]

Here is the note I made when we got freezing temps in April 2007. All of the plants survived even if some of the berries didn't.

"April 7,8,9,10 temperatures got down to mid to low 20s. Beets were covered with thin row cover and most did not survive. The other cold weather crops mostly survived. The strawberries that were covered with blankets from the first night seem fine. The ones that were not covered the berries froze."

We have been getting freezing rain here this morning. Hope the onions survive. I'm not worried about the pea seeds.

Will get into the greenhouse when I can get down the steps from the deck without breaking my neck.

[Fran Farmer]

I'd be gun shy too in your situation. Once they start spreading all over your garden, you won't worry aobut them quite so much :-))

Well it's best to be a bit concerned about freezing temps with newly planted plants. I'd be interested to know why you've had to try so many times to get strawbs to grow. Any ideas as to why its been so difficult?

[Terry Coombs]

Because I bought those cheapie bagged and packed-in-moss suckers from Walmart . Were probably dead when I got 'em . These came from the nursery at a local grocery - and they have a very nice nursery , managed by a nice young lady with a hort degree . Fruit trees will be coming in soon , and I've already discussed what we want to do with her . Varieties have been selected according to what she's getting and what we want - she doesn't order anything that doesn't do well in this area . Melissa will be our go-to-girl for garden/vineyard/orchard questions and problems from now on .

[Ecnerwal]

Nah - the ones that failed where just as expensive as good ones.

Once established, anyway, the plants will take a great deal (they typically have some green on them right through the New England winter, though this year we actually have snow cover on the garden) - it's the blossoms &/or fruit that get whacked in a frost/freeze.