In the gray, dreary middle of winter our thoughts can turn to the delicious fruits of summer, and if you find yourself wishing for bright, juicy strawberries the time to get them going is now.
Despite largely being associated with the summer time strawberry plants are fairly cold hardy and can tolerate temperatures up until the low 20s, which means they can easily handle the winters of south Louisiana.
Planting them now also gives the advantage of giving the plant a chance to set roots before the heat settles in, which means as temperatures warm up the plant can focus its energy into the production of berries.
The plants could go directly in the ground if you wanted, although putting them in pots have several advantages including saving space and making sure that you can get them in and out of the sun as needed (more of an issue in the summer months).
Since the roots grow together and the foliage vines out up to three plants can go into a 10 inch pot with out overcrowding becoming an issue, although a single plant in a pot would do just fine as well.
Potting the plants has another advantage and that is the battle against slugs and snails which are notorious for eating up your berries before you have a chance to harvest them.
Preventing snails from infiltrating your strawberry patch is easy to do and requires literally no purchases or additives it all comes down to when you water the plants.
Since snails and slugs need a wet surface to travel, watering in the morning means that the areas around the plant will dry by the evening preventing snails from marching right up to the plants and eating through the night.
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