My strawberry order just arrived but the bed they are going into isn’t ready. OK, it isn’t even started! What can I do to hold them until I can get the bed set up? I was very excited last fall when I placed the order, but perhaps not very realistic about how much I needed to do this spring at my new house!
3 Likes
Just dig them in where they can get some sun and be well hydrated. They can transplant when bed is ready. Try to get some river sand and compost for your initial digin, as well as to incorporate into final bed. A sandy loam type soil with about 10-20% compost is ideal. A big pot that drains well will hold them a while
Dennis
Kent wa
4 Likes
A storage tote or 5 gallon buckets filled with some of the media you intend to put in the bed anyway would be a good place to start!
6 Likes
Strawberry roots are super small. You can put them in a basic pot.
1 Like
Wrap them in foil to keep out light and put them in you refrigerators crisper drawer
Source: Planting Guide
5 Likes
I have 100 plants in various tubs and totes that i scrounged up… they are in a mix of compost, manure and some potting soil that has been used up…they are happy as can be… tough plants.
3 Likes
Keep 'em in the bottom of the refrigerator for 10 days or something…unless it’s cool in that case just outside in the shade is good.
4 Likes
Thanks, everyone!! Excellent ideas! There will be a bed of strawberries…eventually 
@Bellatrix … My daughter decided last spring she wanted a strawberry bed… and I of course I helped her get a nice bed setup… and yes I did pretty much did all that work for her… but no complaints… love helping my kids with growing stuff.
I ordered the bare root strawberry plants for her and had them delivered to my home… best I remember we got 20 plants.
I did not want her to try planting bare root plants for the first time… so I planted each one in a small pot and kept them on my back porch (good morning sun) for a few weeks until they were looking good (see pic below)… then we did a weekend trip to her house ( 2.5 hour drive) and delivered the potted strawberry plants to her. I let her plant them herself and she did a great job of that.
These were seascape.
Think she got 12 of them potted and I planted the other 8 bare root in my garden.
If you do choose to pot them up… that would easily give you 3 maybe 4 weeks to prep your planting bed.
Good Luck with the strawberries.
3 Likes
Just keep them in the fridge. I did that when mine arrived too early and they were fine.
2 Likes
Strawberries are tough. I’ve held them in pots before planting, and they transplanted successfully - already growing. If you put them in the fridge, they’ll probably start growing in there, too. Make sure the medium isn’t dry.
2 Likes
Even the Walmart 10 packs for $3 are basically dry, and I expect at least one or two to come to life. If all do, it’s the best deal in town for mediocre varieties.
1 Like