Posted May 18th, 2024
order Strawberry Plugs for the 2024-25 growing season now!
Order Your Strawberry Plugs Here
Many gardeners think spring is the time to plant strawberries. That's because spring is the busiest time in most garden centers and, thus, the easiest time for a store to sell strawberry plants. In fact, strawberry plants produce much better if planted in the fall and over-wintered for harvest the following May. We pride ourselves in selling plants during their optimal planting times, which for strawberries is late September / early October!
We order our strawberry plugs from Cottle Farms in Eastern, NC. Cottle's plugs are well established, rooted in soil, and ready to transplant when you get them. Some will already have small runners starting. They come in plug trays of 50 plants each. We also cut trays in half and sell half trays to small growers and home gardeners.
Please note that not all of the varieties below are available organically. Please read carefully...
Chandler – Available in conventional and organic. Top seller with u-pick growers; fast growing plant with high yield. Berries have good color & flavor, medium to large size, medium firmness, classic shape.
Sweet Charlie – Available in conventional and organic. Plants are vigorous and bear fruit 7-10 days earlier than Chandler. Berries are very sweet, firm & large. Easier to harvest because of large fruit size.
Camarosa – Available in conventional and organic. Plants have excellent early, mid, and late season production. Fruit is large, conical shaped, and sweet with a longer shelf life.
Camino Real - Available in conventional only! Camino real is a short-day cultivar. Plants are more compact, open, and erect, but less vigorous than Camarosa. Fruit is larger and per-plant yields are somewhat greater than Camarosa, but fruiting begins somewhat later. External and internal fruit color is also darker. Camino real is more rain tolerant than other strawberry varieties.
MOST POPULAR! Ruby June - Available in conventional only! - These plugs are special! Ruby June is a strong short-day variety that is more compact and has tighter plant architecture and leaf structure. As such, Ruby Junes can be more densely planted and don't tend to perish in extreme rain events the way other berries sometimes do because they allow for more airflow and grow more off of the ground. Ruby June has a darker exterior and interior color than most varieties. The Ruby June is sweet and full of flavor. We have offered Ruby Junes for a number of years and had extremely favorable local feedback on this variety. Ruby Junes are only available in conventional but have the same pricing as the organic varieties.
2024-25 Conventional Plug Pricing (Any Combination of Varieties except Ruby June)
½ Tray (25 plants) = $22
1-9 Trays (50 plants/tray) = $34/tray
10+ Trays (50 plants/tray) = $28/tray
2024-25 Certified Organic Plug Pricing and conventional ruby june
½ Tray (25 plants) = $24
1-9 Trays (50 plants/tray) = $36/tray
10+ Trays (50 plants/tray) = $30/tray
Ordering and Payment
We will be collecting orders a little differently this year due to a store-wide transition to a new software platform. As such, we are not planning to invoice our customers until our new software goes live in early September. We are asking all customers to submit orders through the Google Form link below. Payment for strawberry plugs will not be collected until orders are fulfilled at the time of arrival in late September. Cottle requires us to make a 50% down payment at the time we place our order, so although we are planning to cover that cost internally this year, we do require your order to be a firm commitment that you fulfill once orders arrive.
Order Your Strawberry Plugs Here
Important Dates to Remember
Order Deadline - Saturday, June 15, 2024
Strawberry Plugs Arrive at Store - Monday, September 23, 2024 (weather & crop availability pending)
Orange County Delivery Route - Tuesday, September 24, 2024 (weather pending)
SWSC Delivery Route - Wednesday, September 25, 2024 (weather pending)
Durham Delivery Route - Thursday, September 26, 2024 (weather pending)
Sandhills Delivery Route - Friday, September 27, 2024 (weather pending)
SWFH Delivery Route - Wednesday, October 2, 2024 (weather pending)
SE Delivery Route - Tuesday, October 8, 2024 (weather pending) - 2nd order of plugs picked up @ Cottle
ENC Delivery Route - Friday, October 11, 2024 (weather pending)
Order Early - Strawberry Fields are Not Forever
Every year we sell out of strawberry plugs even though we think we're ordering plenty of extras! In this case, the Beatles are wrong... Strawberry Fields are not Forever. Order early to secure your plugs!
FAQ About Growing Strawberries