{"id":9160,"date":"2023-05-16T14:41:42","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T18:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/?p=9160"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:11:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:11:18","slug":"frost-protection-tips-for-strawberries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2023\/05\/16\/frost-protection-tips-for-strawberries\/","title":{"rendered":"Frost Protection Tips For Strawberries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Frost\u00a0Protection Tips For Strawberries<\/h2>\n

A significant frost\/freeze event has the potential to injure and kill susceptible strawberry flowers and buds.\u00a0 Growers should be ready to protect their plants with irrigation and\/or row covers. Check your pump, pipes and sprinkler heads to be sure that they are all in good working order and ready to use when the temperatures drop.<\/p>\n

Critical temperatures at which injury will occur are as follows:<\/p>\n

At tight bud: 25 \u00b0F
\nAt the “popcorn”: stage 26 \u00b0F
\nAt the open blossom stage: 30 \u00b0F
\nAt green fruit: 28 \u00b0F<\/p>\n

Monitor\u00a0the temperature in the lowest part of your field; as this will be where the air is coldest, and start watering before the\u00a0temperature drops to freezing.<\/p>\n

At a minimum, apply water at 0.1 – 0.15 inch\/hour with a fast rotating head (1 cycle\/min). Water must be applied continuously to be effective.\u00a0 Under windy conditions, more water must be applied to assure adequate protection.<\/p>\n

If the air is very dry (a low dewpoint), evaporative cooling will occur when water is first applied to the plants, actually lowering the air temperature, so irrigation must be started at a relatively warm temperature (see the table in the reference listed below). Most local weathermen can provide the current dewpoint, or it can be obtained from online weather information services.<\/p>\n

Protection offered by row covers\u00a0varies by thickness.\u00a0 Thinner products may only offer 2-3 degrees of protection, while thicker covers can provide 4-6 degrees of protection. Put the covers on in the afternoon to collect some field heat prior to the freezing event.\u00a0 Irrigation can be applied over row covers.\u00a0 Place a thermometer\u00a0under the covers to determine\u00a0when to start irrigation.<\/p>\n

For a good reference on frost control see this Frost Protection in Strawberries fact sheet from Cornell Cooperative Extension<\/a><\/p>\n

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs also has a good frost control reference<\/a>.<\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/div>\n

University of Maine Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity institution and provider committed to nondiscrimination. For more information, visit\u00a0extension.umaine.edu\/nondiscrimination<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frost\u00a0Protection Tips For Strawberries A significant frost\/freeze event has the potential to injure and kill susceptible strawberry flowers and buds.\u00a0 Growers should be ready to protect their plants with irrigation and\/or row covers. Check your pump, pipes and sprinkler heads to be sure that they are all in good working order and ready to use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,152],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-strawberry-ipm-newsletter"],"yoast_head":"\nFrost Protection Tips For Strawberries - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/highmoor\/2023\/05\/16\/frost-protection-tips-for-strawberries\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Frost Protection Tips For Strawberries - Cooperative Extension at Highmoor Farm - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Frost\u00a0Protection Tips For Strawberries A significant frost\/freeze event has the potential to injure and kill susceptible strawberry flowers and buds.\u00a0 Growers should be ready to protect their plants with irrigation and\/or row covers. 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