strawberry bare roots... 2 1/2 months too early

[bower]

Yep... impulse buy.
10 Seascape roots in a sealed bag I can't see through (I haven't looked).
For today I have left them in my cool unheated porch with no chance of freezing for the next several days, until I figure out what to do. .
Along with 3 kilos of seed potatoes and 3 kinds of onion sets I also didn't intend to buy.
I'm assuming that cool is the best plan until planting, although they were out there in the shop aisle not refrigerated or anything. I'm hoping (and betting) that they weren't there very long, recently arrived and turned into a 6 ft tall by 30 foot long fresh and untouched thou shalt not pass barrier between me and the pots I went in there to get....

Any voice of experience would be appreciated.. how long would you keep them unplanted?
Well of course I'll pot them up and let them tough it out in the greenhouse with the alpines I grew from seed, within a few days.
TBH I don't have a lot of larger pots though, so I hope a half gallon will do until 'real' plant out time.
Or should I use up my gallon pots and hope for very early berries....
I don't have enough gallon pots. Will have to get more pots now....

Also wondering with these everbearing types, would it be a mistake to plant them out if they go into fruiting before LFD...

[Whwoz]

My initial thoughts were pot up and into greenhouse until suitable for planting in the ground. Don't think that replanting into the ground would upset them too badly, maybe slow them up a little bit but the next round of growth should fruit okay I think. My conditions do vary from yours by just a little bit though.....

The main thing would be to ensure that they don't dry out. A large dish and some damp sawdust kept that way may work if kept cool, at least for some of the time, but roots could get to be a mess if they take off.

[bower]

I guess I should rip off the bandaid @Whwoz and see how big the roots are, and whether I can get by with the half gallon pots or else get some bigger ones asap.

[rxkeith]

my wife thinks i have a problem with seeds. they are all over the place, she says.
HOW MANY DO YOU NEED?????

main problems with long term storage would be drying out or fungus or mold if too wet.
i would pot them up in pots big enough so that you can avoid having to re pot again before
planting out normally. growth will be dependent on temperature in the green house.
maybe try to avoid going out alone to places of temptation in the future.
lets just go look at the puppies. you don't just look at puppies. know what i mean.


keith

[greenthumbomaha]

Oh my gosh, I don't have the will power to leave the rubber band on for more than a day or two. It's such a gamble, like a high to see how many jumbo roots you got. Big box strawberries seem to be the runt of the litter.

I would use a very light soil to pot up and add fertilizer a little bit later. A few years ago I killed off 3 bundles of healthy bare root plants using an expensive dense potting mix. It was a gradual, sad decline.

This year I have a ton of White Soul saved seed alpines and they are getting fed with
organic fertilizer (Jobes bloom formula). They stayed tiny at 1/4 strength so I upped the concentration hoping not to kill them again, and they responded by growing like mad at 3/4 strength. Many growers commented strawberry seedlings don't like the form of nitrogen in the blue stuff when growing out. I agree, but I sometimes switch out to MG Liquifeed once in the field..

- Lisa

[bower]

I also have a ton of alpines started from seed. Had the same issue @greenthumbomaha they were growing so, so slowly, then I got some promix liquid fert and diluted way way less than specified, still it killed a few of them. Or maybe they weren't going to make it anyway. Just as well, because there is no shortage of plants and they all want to be potted up asap.
The thing that seemed to work best for the wee seedlings is worm castings. The stragglers that didn't get potted up were all in one 4 inch pot with lots of worm castings dug in, and they've come on beautifully. A few worm castings sprinkled on top also seemed to improve the others.

Buying roots when you already have seedlings is kind of nuts, but who wouldn't want to compare as many kinds as possible?
I'm honestly afraid to open them up and start them drying up, when I don't have time to lavish them with all the attention they deserve... I have not done the bare root strawbs before so it's gonna be a process.... I read that you soak them first etc.

@rxkeith LOL not allowed in a pet store.
Honestly, I went there to buy pots, empty pots for other things! The sneaky sneaky people put this giant display of things to plant, in my way!!!
Also replaced the big shovel that I cracked off last fall - a very necessary thing! But sad to say the field test quickly confirmed, only top two inches are unfrozen. Thar be deep ice in the ground as yet...
All these plants were grown in Alberta. Earlier spring, must be.

[Whwoz]

Buying roots when you already have seedlings is kind of nuts, but who wouldn't want to compare as many kinds as possible?
I'm honestly afraid to open them up and start them drying up, when I don't have time to lavish them with all the attention they deserve... I have not done the bare root strawbs before so it's gonna be a process.... I read that you soak them first etc.

Know that trial problem Bower, bare roots are generally easy, no fuss options that you should be able to pot up without soaking unless they have dried out somewhat. Never get fancy here and always 100% take off.