I will restart mulching for strawberries (Japanese june bearing strawberries outdoor cultivation)
How to grow strawberries in open culture. Last time, I added chicken manure as fertilizer to the strawberries planted in the ground. About 25 days have passed since that fertilizing. This time, I will put the mulch back on, which was removed for overwinter.
https://www.vege-try.net/en/growing-and-additional-fertilize...When growing strawberries outdoors, January is the time for fertilizing, but the cold weather makes spring feel far away. However, in February, with “Risshun" (the start of spring), you can start to feel signs of spring.
Restarting mulching for strawberries keeps the ground warm and helps them grow faster. The strawberries will surely feel the signs of spring too!
Restarting strawberry mulching (Place back mulch for strawberries)
The method for restarting mulching is simple. Roll up the mulch you saved for winter and place it back over the entire strawberry bed. If there are any weeds around the strawberry plants, make sure to pull them out before putting the mulch back.
Be careful when pulling the strawberry leaves out of the mulch holes. If you pull too hard, the leaves might tear, so be careful.
Outdoor strawberries are about to finish winter and start growing for the spring harvest. Black mulch helps keep the soil temperature steady. When you cover the soil with mulch, it keeps the ground warm, which helps the strawberries grow better.
If the mulch you put back has soil or mud on it, clean it off. (Soil on top of the mulch can splash onto the strawberry stems or leaves with rainwater, which may cause disease.) Mulch not only keeps the soil warm but also prevents mud from splashing, so try to keep the surface as clean as possible.
After putting the mulch back, check the strawberries. The strawberries were in winter, but even during winter, they can grow buds and flowers.
If the strawberries have buds or flowers during winter, pick them off. The harvest time for strawberries is around late April, and flowers should only be kept from March. Buds and flowers before the end of February are too early, so remove them. (During winter until the end of February, the nutrients should go to the growth of the strawberry plants themselves.)
Also, if there are any dead or damaged leaves, remove them too. If you leave dead or damaged leaves, the strawberries could get sick from them. This finishes today’s work (restarting strawberry mulching).
Related information on strawberry cultivation（Frequently Asked Questions for growing strawberries）
How do you pollinate strawberries grown in open fields?
Strawberries grown in open fields are pollinated (hand-pollination) from March. The method is easy. Gently brush the center of the flower with a soft-tipped brush. If pollen is spread evenly on the pistil, you can grow well-shaped strawberries.
Hand-pollinating strawberries is good if you can do it, but for strawberries grown in open fields, you don’t have to worry too much. In open fields, strawberries often get pollinated naturally by wind or insects.
How do strawberries grown in open fields survive the winter?
For strawberries grown in open fields with plastic mulch, sometimes you remove the mulch during winter. (When strawberries are exposed to winter cold, they go into dormancy and start growing again in spring.) Strawberries are strong against the cold and can survive even light frost, so you don’t need to keep them warm during winter.
For strawberries grown in open fields, there isn’t much to do in winter because they are in dormancy. Basically, you can leave them alone, but if there are any dead leaves, buds, or flowers, it’s good to pick them off. (Flowers that bloom in winter don’t easily turn into fruit, so it’s better to remove them.)
Following is the video for how-to. English subtitles are available.