Q.Strawberry Question
Can I transplant some strawberry plants that I have in pots in my unheated greenhouse to outside? First, it is mid-Februrary in Southern Illinois. Here it can get real cold and real hot, but this winter has been mild so far. I have had good luck in my yard growing strawberries and have been potting up out-of-place plants/runners in pots and putting them in my unheated greenhouse, which gets real cold and real hot (on cold sunny days). I want to get ahead of the season by doing as much ahead of time as I can because I have two big gardens and I will be very busy when spring actually comes about (and for the rest of the garden season). So, I was wondering if it is too early to put those strawberries that are already in pots and actually growing outside right now. I assume I would not be doing as much root damage or shock since they are in pots, which means I will not be digging them up. I could use extra care planting them, making sure I put each plant in a nice big hole with a half soil/half compost/mulch mixture and even cover them up with some more mulch. So, what do you think?
Certified GKH Gardening Expert
As long as the temps are reasonably mild and the soil is workable, it should be ok to transplant them out. But I would still add some straw mulch over them as protection should some unexpected winter weather and freezing temps decide to roll in.
