If you overwinter trailing strawberries, you don't have to plant new strawberries every year. Pruning, fertilizer, winter protection is the recipe for success in a nutshell. You can read the coherent long version for strawberry hanging baskets and flower boxes in these instructions. This is how you get hanging strawberries through the winter.
Strawberries - also trailing strawberries - are very hardy
Overwinter hanging strawberries - This is how it works in 3 steps
There is no such thing as a hanging strawberry variety. In fact, they are strawberry varieties with extra-long tendrils that dangle seductively from balcony boxes or traffic lights with their sweet load. Everbearing monthly strawberries are best suited for this cultivation. As a result, hanging strawberries are just as hardy and perennial as you know them from the garden bed. How to overwinter hanging strawberries on the balcony in three steps:
Pruning in the fall - How to cut properly
A strong pruning sets the course for hanging strawberries to master winter hardships. In the end, only the mother plant should remain. The drooping daughter tendrils do not overwinter. How to properly cut hanging strawberries before winter:
- Cut off any hanging branches
- Clean off dried leaves and remains of blossoms
- Caution: Do not cut or damage heart leaves of the mother plant
The best time for pruning is at the end of the harvest season, in November at the latest.
Fertilize the mother plant organically - this is how it works
An organic supply of nutrients guarantees carefree snacking pleasure. For this reason, strawberries in the bed and on the balcony receive their main fertilization in autumn. In contrast to fast-acting, complete mineral fertilizers, natural fertilizers need some time before the nutrients are available to the plants. How to properly fertilize hanging strawberries:
- The best time is after the autumn pruning
- Fertilize hanging strawberries preferably liquid with worm tea or organic berry fertilizer
- Alternatively, fertilize strawberries on the balcony with vermicompost or sieved compost soil
So that hanging strawberries can absorb the nutrients well, please pour in small sips. The trimmed mother plant only evaporates a little water and should not go into hibernation with wet feet.
Winter protection for traffic lights and boxes - tips
In the last step before winter, hanging strawberries are protected from the icy bits. A change of location is advantageous so that the blazing winter sun does not dry out the plants. How to do it right:
- Hanging strawberries move to a shady, sheltered location
- Place the box or bucket on an insulating surface, such as wood or styrofoam
- Cover planters with fleece, bubble wrap or jute
- Cover the substrate with straw, bark mulch, autumn leaves or sawdust
The strawberry plant itself only gets a breathable fleece as frost protection at temperatures below -10° Celsius, which is removed again when the temperatures rise.
tips
After two to three hibernations, hanging strawberries are exhausted. Instead of buying a new strawberry plant, simply grow a young plant from offshoots. For this purpose, place a pot with substrate next to the planter. Place a healthy, vital cutting in the ground, press down on the tendril and water. The connection to the mother plant is only broken when the offshoot has developed its own root system.