How to Transplant Strawberry Plant

 

 

More than half of our 30 strawberry plants died from transplanting woes than from Singapore tropical weather.

This is an experience earned the hardest way.

And the reason why this blog is set up, to share our knowledge.

 

2 weeks old Seedlings Transplant 

 

 

 

Young Seedlings ( 1 – 3 months old) –  Mind the roots 

Moisten the soil to loosen roots before separating plants.

In a tightly packed container, some of the roots may have tangled together.

Use water to gently separate them.

 

 

 

Young strawberry seedling have long tapered roots.

 

 

This is the same process if pests (such as mealybugs, ants, etc) invaded the soil.

We need to clean old soil from the roots zone before transplanting to pots with new soil.

Wash roots zone with water.

If infestation is bad, we may have to soak roots in the Epsom salt solution before transplanting and threw out old soil.

Do not use such soil for composting.

 

 

How to transplant  4th months and older strawberry plants  – Mind the CROWN!!!!

Matured plants including flowering and fruiting plants.

The crown’s healthy color is red.

It usually developed around the third month, from a single part to multiple.

This is where flowering starts, so we have to be mindful of not causing stress to the crown during the transplanting process.

 

 

 

Do not tug or pull the crown when removing mature strawberry plants from the pot.

 

 

To remove the plant from the older pot, it’s okay to cut some of the roots if they are stuck to the pot.

Do not tag the crown.

This is the CPU of the matured strawberry plants.

 

 

How to remove strawberry plants from plastic bottles?

 

 

For plants in the vertical plastic bottles: cut the plastic away from the crown area to release the plants.

 

Cut away plastic to release the crown.

Do NOT pull the crown to release from the bottle.

 

 

Release bottle from plants first then loosen the soil before moving the plants.

Some of the roots may be stuck to the sides of the pot.

 

Loosen the soil first around the plant.

My preference is to clean the debris from the old pot before replanting it.

However, this is up to the individual gardener rather than a “must-do”.

 

 

What do Transplant Stressed (Shocked) strawberry plants look like? 

No matter how careful we were with the roots and crown, sometimes the plants will still be stressed during the transplant process.

They looked like this in their new pot.

 

 

Don’t be discouraged!

Give it sun and water as normal, wait patiently.

There is no need to add fertilizer.

 

 

Properly transplanted strawberry plants can recover.

It may take between 2 – 8 weeks to see it well again.

 

 

TIPS on transplanting strawberry plants

Best to move plants to the permanent pot by the third month when the crown is not developed yet.

 

Summary :

Young seedlings – Mind the roots when transplanting. Loosen roots before repotting in a new pot.

Matured Plant – Mind the crown. Roots can be cut to separate plants from the pot.