Some of my strawberry plants needed replacing, they were in their fourth year of fruiting and the yield was much less this year. Throughout summer the plants threw out lots of runners so I potted them up to be the replacements rather than buying new plants. This is how I did it:
- Fill 3in pots with compost
- Select a few runners from the adult strawberry plants, place the largest leafy section of each runner onto the surface of a pot of compost and place a small stone on the runner stem to weight it down
- Leave the pots in place until the leafy section of the runner roots into the compost, usually in a few weeks
Once the baby strawberry plant puts on some growth you can cut the runner stem, basically you are cutting the cord from the parent plant. You can then move the baby strawberries to wherever you like. If you grow your strawberries in a bed you could allow the runners to root themselves straight into the ground, dig them up if you need to move them to a better position. I have already dug up my old strawberry plants and replaced them with the strongest baby plants in a new patch, the smaller runners will overwinter in my mini unheated greenhouse and these will be planted out next spring.
Karin
/ October 31, 2010Can’t remember if I read this earlier, but life continues rather hectic at present. You’ve reminded me I need to see to my strawberries and I haven’t pruned the blueberries – I grow them in the same bed at present. Maybe I’ll get a chance this week.
Nikk
/ December 26, 2010Thank you so much! My veggie garden is my joy but my knowledge and experience is a mere year old! I had been looking for an hour about options with my strawberry runners before running onto your blog and it is perfectly answering my questions… I can wait to explore your blog further!
Karin
/ January 13, 2011Hello Karen and Happy New Year. It hasn’t been good weather for gardening lately has it? Hope you are well, Karin
savvymummy
/ January 8, 2012Hi there, when you mention that your strawberry plants need replacing, they were in their fourth year of fruiting, do you mean that your plants have been in ground/pot for 4 years without any dividing up done? I divide mine every year as I get so many growing up in the same pot and so the fruits get smaller. Also, my plants never produce any runners anymore since I got them through runners from the mother plant. I wish I get some runners rather than doing dividing.
Karen
/ January 8, 2012Hi Savvymummy. Yes, 4th year of fruiting in the ground, not pots. It’s best to create a fresh strawberry bed elsewhere in the garden after this time to reduce disease in the soil. I don’t buy strawbs anymore due to using runners so this works really well for me.
Carolyn
/ January 13, 2012I am about to start a strawberry section but am dithering about which varieties and how many to start with. I saw a super bed in Bury St Eds last year – it was strawberries in growbags and these were layered on one of those mini green house layers (without the plastic cover) How many plants would I need for a grow bag. The owner said it kept the strawberries off the ground so slugs didn’t attack the fruit. Any thoughts?
Karen
/ January 13, 2012Hi Carolyn,
If you want to be picking strawberries for a long season, try growing some earlies, mid summer and perpetual strawbs, pot up some alpines and place them in semi shade. Depending on how high the grow bags are (there are different types around now) slugs will still remain a problem. To remain slug free you can’t beat growing strawbs in hanging baskets, you will need to keep them watered through hot spells though. Grow bags also require a lot of watering in hot weather, an average size bag should be able to take 4 or 5 strawberry plants.
I grow strawberries in high raised beds, our chickens take care of the slug population. At my allotment I have gravel paths in between my raised beds to stop slugs attacking my crops and to keep my feet dry ;)