Fall 2022 Strawberry Planting Advisory: Part 2 (Get Your Row Covers Ready, Now)

by Amanda McWhirt - October 14, 2022

Strawberry research plots under row cover at the Fruit Research Station in Clarksville, AR.

Many strawberry plants across Arkansas have been in the ground for a few weeks now, however due to plant availability or delays in soil preparation some plantings are just going in the ground.

There are freezing to sub-freezing temperatures predicted for the next week (10/18-10/20/22), which is likely to be an early first freeze for much of the state and potentially a hard first freeze.

Here are my recommendations regarding using row-covers in the coming weeks on fall planted strawberry crops:

In my mind there are two main issues to consider when you decided if you should apply a row cover this coming week:

• What is the low they are calling for at your location?
• How recently did you plant?

Monitor closely what low temperatures they are calling for at your site. If they are calling for lows below 29F I would think seriously about covering with a 1oz cover regardless of when you planted. This cold front is likely to bring the first freezing temperatures we have had this fall. Since we haven’t had previous nights near freezing the strawberry plants are less likely to be hardened off and to have started the process of acclimating for winter. In 2019 we had a freeze on Veterans day (Nov 11^th, 2019) where temps got to the low 20s across the state and resulted in cold injury to strawberry crowns on plants that were not covered with a row cover. Also be aware of differences in cold tolerance among varieties. Ruby June and Fronteras are both much more susceptible to cold injury than Chandler in our experience. Camino real is somewhere in between. If they are calling for low temperatures between 40-35F I would not plan to cover your plants, unless you planted late.

If you planted late (see Advisory: Part 1 for more info), I would recommend applying a row cover for the nights when temperatures are predicted to get below 40F this coming week. There are about 2-3 nights right now where a row cover might be necessary in the Northern part of the state. After that I would remove the covers as temperatures are predicted to return to daily highs in the 70s or above. If daily high temperatures remain cool (below 60F) leaving the row covers on for a few more weeks on late plantings may help the crop to establish.

Again keep an eye out for the low temperatures this coming week! Email if you have any questions, amcwhirt@uada.edu