growing strawberries under a plastic mulch

amandstu

My problem is if I should be watering them or not.

I was inclined to think not -or at least that I could get away with it but I have started to panic as they are starting to look a bit dull,

So I made a few incisions in the mulch to inspect and indeed it does seem a bit dry (not bone dry but them I did try to water them yesterday .

Actually now(today) I have made lots of little incisions to make the watering more effective..

But I was under the impression that you didn't need to water at all.

Could it be that I should have laid the mulch at ground level?

Is there a chance that these plants might now keel over and that the damage is done ?(they have quite a lot of small fruit now of course and a few runners that I took off today)

Or might the watering bring them back?
Also will keeping the leaves wet help? (I could cover them with fleece if that would make a difference)

redser7

Is the plastic over the soil or the plants? Porous weed fabric is best. It stops weeds but still lets water through. At this stage it seems you have a problem so I would remove the plastic, give a generous watering, then a feed and leave them to it. After they have fruited go bak to the drawing board for next year.

amandstu

thanks .Yes it is just a mulch over the soil.I did it last year as well and ,although I wasn't overwhelmed with the results I didn't have this problem.
But I know how quickly these plants can fail so I will get rid of the mulch this time and hope for the best.

redser7

You could mulch around them with straw (ideally) or even grass clippings.

sirpsycho

What sort of plastic is it? I'd be inclined to leave it as it is now and just make lots of slits to allow water/rain and air in. I always grow mine through weed fabric and get good results. Throw in some diluted tomato feed/liquid feed twice a week also.

redser7

Actually yeah that would be a better bet at this stage. After they finish fruiting you need to cut the foliage off anyway and can pull up the plastic then and lay weed fabric down fairly easily.

amandstu

Its pretty strong black impermeable (builders' I think) plastic.

I think it is sturdy enough to cope with lots of small slits and the water does seem to get through when I give it a good hose (I think it would probably withstand a storm without tearing )

I have also chucked in some chicken pellets around the plants and I think they are dissolving in the water and getting through in an inefficientish kind of a way.

If I need liquid feed I tend to dissolve some of these pellets in a water filled dustbin and walk around with a watering can.....