I am unclear about the black plastic, as in "under black plastic(this part has been done by many growers)". I grown organic strawberries in central coastal California, planting them **through** dark green Infrared Transmitting Plastic and protecting them from frost with floating row covers. We only get a few frost a winter in my microclimate; and because of the lack of chill, I have to replant purchased bareroots every year.

I plant in mid October here and expect to begin a light harvest in late Feb. and the main harvest by mid-March. We are still harvesting but expect to end by early to mid June here.

Protecting against frost for what reason? I am guessing that you want to hit the early market by protecting the early blooming. Some of the heavy floating row covers will keep temps under the blankets 5 or so degrees warmer at night. Other alternatives include to growtubes/hoop types, straw, and even misting overnight. You won't get good berry set without pollinators, so heavy coverings will keep out pollinators.

You likely have enough chill time in your region to be able to grow out your own new plants from the seasons runners. However, there are numerous diseases/viruses that can accumulate in one's plantings. In CA we must plant certified bareroot supplied by special growers from inspected and tested stock. I don't know about your State. For your own use, go ahead a save the new plants. Throw away any that are off-type.

I have a similar problem. My daughter's husband dug up her everbearing strawberries last fall and put them in the cut-off bottoms of gallon buckets. They were set in their containers on the west side of a utility building all winter. Nobody watered them or did anything for them. Finally this summer when I saw they were blooming, I asked for them, as nobody was caring for them and the sun was about to kill them. I took them to my porch and watered them, planning to plant them this fall. Now I have found it isn't customary to plant them in the fall, and besides that, I'm moving. I was thinking of trying to keep a pot in my apartment either in a sunny window or under lights, and planting the rest at my son's house. Can I pollinate with a feather? I also have some runner type strawberry plants in sandwich bags of dirt which have rooted. Could I grow them in a hanging basket in a sunny window? I think that since the plants survived one winter in the pots they may make it another winter.

One experiment I intended to do this spring & never got around to it, was planting strawberries in those "pocket bags", as sold by companies like Thompson & Morgan.

I intended to use green rip-stop nylon, sewn into a bag, with Xs cut for holes, & use potting soil amended with cottonseed & kelp meal, plus the additon of some of those water-holding gel crystals, as I can see them having a problem holding moisture without this stuff.

My main idea was to keep the d****d slugs out of them.

Last year I had a ton of strawberries and I used half a dozen of those "pocket bags". I started them lying flat, then when firmly rooted hung them up, leaving a couple lying flat as I had nowhere to hang them.

It didn't work for me at all. I was out on hot days trying to water these bags 2 or 3 times a day and everything still died. They just can't retain enough moisture in my climate, and this was not even the hottest part of summer (this was low-90's, slightly humid). The water, once the soil is soaked, runs out the bottom and lower slots of the bag, so all you can actually do at any one time is soak the soil, with water dripping out -- but if they're in the sun, as strawberries should be, it takes very little time to dry that out if it's hot.

The two bags I left lying down on cinderblock grew really well. They were harder to water (have to kind of aim for each little slot), but they seemed to retain moisture vastly better than the others.

Palyne

The idea of using blac plastic or black fabric mulch is going through my head. My local strawberry field uses black plastic and their camarosa plants are great! I'm afraid I won't succeed if I use it because it's so hot at times here in So Cal. Would black fabric mulch work better? I can't decide on what todo. One of my strawberry beds is ready to be mulched....And I still don't know what to do! I looked for black plastic in the gardening section at my local home depot and came up empty. I had purchased some long ago but don't remember where.

Tania ~_~

Ok I just remembered something....duh.
I have earthboxes which come with plastic mulch covers. The very first time we grew plants in them we decided to use the plastic mulch, black side up. And even though they had a constant supply of water, it was just way too hot for the plants. The soil felt like cooking compost and didn't do too well. Now we only use the white side up. So.....I'm thinking of doing a little expirement. I'll watter an unplanted area in one of my beds, I'll lay a square of white plastic from a potting soil bag, a square of black plastic, and a square of black fabric mulch. Tomorrow evening I'll check the moisture and the temperature underneath each one. Hopefully that will help me in finalizing my decision on what to use! Somehow your post is helping me with my dilema! Thanks!

Tania ~_~