[Abunndance]

I planted bare root strawberry plants (runners with lots of roots), making sure I kept the crown of them proud about a month ago. Slowly, they are turning black and dying.  I went from twelve down to three now.  Our weather has been cold, windy and wet.  I've never had any problems with strawberry plants before.  This Spring has been very challenging!  Any tips, please?  Anyone else with this problem?

[Gardener and Rabbit]

Yes, my parents have lost a lot of strawberry plants too,  their own rooted runners that they planted in the Spring, it was the prolonged Spring drought that finished them. Planted on mounds, it was hard to get enough water into their sandy soil. 

Plants that were moved into position in the Autumn have done much better, they had longer to establish and get their roots down, so that would be a tip.

One of  the problems with extreme weather is trying to work out what to do for the best, should you plant on the mound to avoid rot in wet weather, or in the hollow to make watering easier during droughts!

G&R

[Nobbie]

I planted two dozen bare rooted plants in December on ridges and lost about half of them. Suspect a lot of it was due to a very dry April. I planted out the strongest and potted up the weakest and all the potted up ones were fine. Given the timing it looks like yours have rotted off in all the rain. Surprising, since they are usually very resilient.