The mostly warm weather we’ve had this fall has our strawberries growing very well. Last year, the weather stayed warm most of the winter, and we had too much growth. The plants put on too many crowns over the winter (7 to 8 in a lot of cases), hurting our berry size and quality.

Editor's note: Justin Ballew is a Clemson University Extension agent located in northeast South Carolina, also known as the Pee Dee region.