Planting and Preparing Strawberry Root Starts: Don't Bury the Crown
Strawberry plants are very rewarding to grow. However, they are a bit of challenge to start as seeds and they are fairly expensive to buy as pint sized plants. Strawberry seeds take a very long time to germinate, germinate poorly for most of us and take a long time to get to producing size. A great way to save money over the pint sized strawberries that can cost $2-$4 a plant is using strawberry root starts.
Strawberry root starts are older plants that are removed from the ground and stored it a mostly dry medium. You typically get 10 plants (roots and crown) for $3-$5 a bag. I found mine at Walmart for $2.98. The benefits are cost and established plants. The root systems are strong and the crowns are established. The root sets will leaf up quickly once planted. They will bear strawberries the first year but the second year will bring a full crop... unless of course you get jump to the season. Here is how I do that.
I show you how to soak the roots and plant the strawberries in containers. Always keep the crown above the ground. Planting them this way will get you bigger and stronger transplants when planted in your beds. You can use any similar sized container. The key is to know where the roots end and the crown begins. You have to keep the crown above the ground. That is were the leaves will sprout from as you can see in the video still above.
You can get a good 8 week start by planting your roots in containers and starting them in the house, garage (move them in and out of the sun during the day) or in a greenhouse. Strawberries can tolerate the cold. You just don't want them sitting outside in 30 degree weather, they will basically hibernate. The goal is to get them growing.
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