So, what is everyone up to today?

[eskymo]

I saw that offer the other day. It's OK, I have some other strawberries that I got this year that are new plants. It's just that I can't bear to throw things away!

[andrewo]

Strawberries should be thrown every three years but in that time you will get alot of new plants off them and they take well, so just pot up the new ones. I was always told that you had to leave them on the plant until they rooted, however I stopped this a few years back after an accidental mistake. I cut one off by accident and potted it on, just to see, and it took. Noted that if the new runners have those brown nodules were the roots run from, and they are fat and ready to burst, you can sever them from the parent plant, pot them on and put them in a greenhouse or against it south wall and they root quicker than when they're attached to the parent plant (I love nature). Good luck with the driving test and don't give up, I was 27 by the time I passed.

[eskymo]

I'm confused now...

The strawberry plants I've potted up were from runners from a parent plant that I foundin my garden when we moved here. They didn't do very well last year, but I didn't really look after them, so took new plants from them again and these are the ones I've potted up...does that mean they might be ok?

I thought that the 'three year' thing related to taking runners off the main plants - i.e you take the runners off and pot them on and throw the original plant away and then can only do this process for three years...and then buy new plants.

The ones I've potted up and given some TLC to are doing really well and I've already got some buds appearing - they're doing better than my new plants that I bought this year.

Can someone explain the whole strawberry process so I know what to do with my new plants?

Ta

[andrewo]

Strawberry plants explained:

1. New strawberry plants planted on a virgin plot are kept for three years, during this period you harvest fruit and runners.
2. Runners taken from them are also then used for three years, taking fruit and runners from them.
3. All strawberry plants last three years before becoming tired or prone to disease.
4. This means over the the first three years, you will have started a new cycle or strawberry plants, each living for three years e.g. original plants put into the soil in 2006, get dug up 2009, runners taken 2007 last until 2010, 2008 to 2011 and so on.
5. New plants should give you new runners and the cycle is continuous as the runners become parent plants and produce their own runners.

Hope this helps.

[eskymo]

ah - I see - thanks for the explanation - I guess the plants I've potted up are fine then and I'm determined to give them lots of TLC this year so hopefully they'll be very fruitful!

[Lesley Jay]

Eskymo if you can create 3 strawberry beds in your garden you will know how old the strawberry plants are in each bed. The first bed would have this years plants in, the second bed would have the runners from bed one in and the third bed would have the runners from bed two in it. Then the plants in bed one get thrown away so that the runners from bed three can go in. I hope I have made myself clear!

[eskymo]

that make perfect sense...not sure i want to put my strawberries in the ground though as they will get gobbled up by the slugs as we've got tons and tons of slugs. I'm going to label all my strawbs this year though and keep a check on which is which. Thanks for all the help as I was getting it completeyl wrong.

[andrewo]

I just clear mine out every three years and replant with the runners I took from the previous year, all potted up and waiting, this helps if you do it in pots as you can feed the soil again and make sure there's nothing evil lurking beneath like weevils.

[fruit&vegvirgin]

so, when my first ever strawbs (in a pot) start making runners, I chop em off, plant em and bung in the cold frame for a year? and then keep going? will the ones I've planted this summer (bought from garden centre) keep going for 3 years, or are they already at their peak?

[Lesley Jay]

The ones you have just bought will be last years runners so this will be their first year.