GETTING STRAWBERRIES READY FOR WINTER 



Getting the strawberry field properly prepared for winter is an important 

 operation as I believe most growers will agree after the troubles of last winter. 

 We can't control the weather but we can do some things to reduce its bad effects. 



One thing we learned from last winter's experience is the importance of 

 good drainage. Sections of a field where water collected were severely injured. 

 Contrary to popular belief, this is not because the water froze and the ice smoth- 

 ered the plants. Since water and ice are good conductors of heat, the crown 

 freezes rather than stoothers. The injury is more severe if there is a partial 

 thaw and water collects under the ice soaking the plant crowns. The remedy is 

 good drainage. Naturally, the best time to provide good drainage is before the 

 field is planted. A little grading to fill in small depressions may be all that 

 is needed. If the plants have already been set, then consideration might be 

 given to temporary ditching to drain low spots. 



The practice of mulching is becoming increasingly troublesome with the 

 increased cost of material and labor. Some growers appear to get by without a 

 mulch of any sort. I believe thsy are not doing as well as they think they are. 



For years the strawberry growers of Cape Cod have used pine needles as a 

 mulch. As pine needles became harder to obtain, the thickness of the mulch was 

 gradually reduced until it became little more than a thin layer to keep the 

 berries clean. In the spring one could go thru the field, cut the plant crox^ns 

 and find many badly browned by cold injury. Yields were still good but not as 

 good as they were formerly. They certainly v/ould have been higher with less cold 

 injury. 



In addition to pine needles there are several other materials that can 

 be used for mulch, such as, straw, hay, sawdust, shavings, chipped wood, and 

 certain types of leaves. Straw is probably the most commonly urad K"ulch. It 

 is one of the best if it doesn't have too much chaff, crop seed and weed seeds 

 in it. Hay, except certain types of mar'^'. hay, is seldom used because it 

 contains too many weed seeds. This fault can be corrected by v/etting the hay 

 thoroughly and fumigating it with methyl bromide which kills all v/eed seed except 

 hard seeds such as the clovers. Sawdust and shavings make good mulch provided the 

 field is protected from the v/ind and they are not too costly. Chipped wood, where 

 it is available, has been used successfully by some growers. A material so woody 

 and slow to decompose when plowed under, might cause nitrogen starvation in a 

 succeeding crop unless extra nitrogen is applied. In general, dead leaves are not 

 good strawberry mulch. They mat down too much. Leaves which curl considerably 

 as they dry, such as elm leaves have been used with good results. 



The time to apply the mulch is important. If applied too early, it may 

 retard or prevent the plants from "hardening" properly so that they will be more 

 susceptible to cold injury. On the other hand, if mulching is delayed too long. 



