By Clint Thompson
Potential sub-freezing temperatures in the Southeast the first of next week has strawberry growers contemplating an important decision early in the growing season – apply row covers or do nothing. Temperatures are expected in the high 20s in some locations, which could impact young strawberry plants, says David Lawrence, regional Extension agent in central Alabama.
“I see some mid-20s scheduled for us on Monday. While strawberries can handle that cold weather, there’s a lot of small plants out there,” Lawrence said. “What is a hard frost going to do to them? We need to plan on covering early or let them ride and see what happens. Pulling covers on one acre of strawberries isn’t that big of a deal but when growers have 10 acres of strawberries, it becomes a little bit more work. You’ve got to have guys to do it and pay them to do it.
“Do we want to go out there and cover just for one night and then uncover the next day or just let them ride and see what happens?”
Potential Impact
Lawrence said they experienced a real cold snap at the end of November three years ago that resulted in plant death, but those temperatures were colder than what’s predicted for early next week.
“There’s a lot of real young tender plants out there, and they’re not quite acclimated yet. Right now, for this event, I just see it potentially stunting them, and it may not do anything,” Lawrence said.
“It’s awful early to be covering strawberries. I don’t know of us ever thinking about covering the first week of November. If it was me on large areas, I’d probably let them ride and see what happens, but I definitely wouldn’t question anybody who decides to go out there and pull a cover on them.”
Another Perspective
Jeff Cook, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension agriculture and natural resources agent for Peach and Taylor counties, believes the plants are in good shape to withstand plummeting temperatures, mostly due to growers applying water regularly because of the prolonged drought.
“As long as they’ve got the roots, plugs and everything, as long as it’s wet and has got moisture, the plants will handle (the cold temperatures). If they get frost on them, you’ll get a little bit of purpling, a little bit of red on the leaves. When they’re growing and not flowering, they can handle (temperatures) down into the teens,” Cook said. “Because everybody’s been dry, they’ve been watering nonstop.”
Plants are also in better shape because of how long they have been in the ground.
“For some reason this year, a lot of our growers got plants early. We got plants planted a little bit earlier than normal. We got plants planted the first of October instead of the middle of October,” Cook said. “A lot of what’s out there now has not just been planted but has already got a fairly established root system.”