Are they too Old to keep? Strawberry/Rhubarb

[woodsmithsbakery]

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0RuZ...UdUQdxKKijDIQw

This is the state of most of the strawberries, most are flowering, and the sad part is the black long crown is growing on and through the weed suppressor fabric, I am thinking keep runners if any, and throw rest and buy a new year long variety and my Favorites Malling Centenary

Rhubarb it Broke my Spade!
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0ZVL...HU6rI1XDIrOLlg
This is bout 1ftSQ crown, I have kept 2 of the Eyes, and Will remove the rest, It's Heavily over Grown, I do not enjoy the stuff and never has a request for any.
The Roots were like Softwood Tree Roots! a thick shallow tangled mess of roots thankfully mum was there to pull the crown off the fork!

[SarrissUK]

I'd keep every strawberry plant and runner, and discard them only once they don't produce so much anymore. They do tend to throw out loads of runners in the first year, for me at least, then crop well for two years, then less well for the next two years, and at that point I get rid.

Rhubarb crowns grow massive! The one in my back garden that is in the sun is HUGE this year, and I think the crown must have grown massively this year, because it was tiny last year. They're clearly very happy there! If I have to split it, or move it, I'd probably put excess root pieces on FB as freebies, or give away at allotment open days. I can't bear to throw stuff away.

[Baldy]

Strwbs probably best to keep the runners and chuck the rest as you say.
Rhubarb - if you've got a good plant you'll be surprised how many people do like it - just depends how much room its taking up and so on - I've got a couple of plants and sometimes use it for rhubarb wine but mostly pass it on to those who really like it. Needs little in the way of care, just sits alongside my daleks and takes care of itself. By giving out the rhubarb I've had other stuff in return and so on...

[woodsmithsbakery]

SO I have inherited the plot and plants this year so I don't know how old they are, some of the crowns are over 5inches long.
They are in a bed I want to move and cover for next year as the whole area is covered in couch grass and will become my other half the following year.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I keep strawberry plants for theee years max as beyond that the return diminishes drastically. I take on two new rows every year and get rid of the oldest two rows at the same time. The strawberry bed thus travels around the plot and I'm always planting the new plants into fresh ground.

[woodsmithsbakery]

None of this is answering my question.

DO they look too old in your more experienced opinion and need replacing.
I have had the 'key' to the allotment since 05/09/2019 I have no Idea how old the strawberry plants are.
The crown has grown up and over onto the WEED SUPRESSIng Fabric, sending their roots in and through the Weed SUPRESSING FAbric, this tells me They are old. but I know very little on Strawberries APART FROM, after 3 years they show their age and need thinning/reducing/disposing. and that they need alot of protection from pests and weather (wet)

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0RuZ...UdUQdxKKijDIQw - DO they look to old and had it to keep growing?

[Baldy]

Try not to shout...
Pretty much impossible to judge the continued viability of a strawberry plant from a photo as the plant will most likely look fine but will be less productive after 3 years.
As you don't know the history your best bet is to take the runners and also buy a few new plants as you indicated you were thinking.

[Jungle Jane]

The only way you’ll be able to guess the age is by leaving them to fruit next summer,if the fruits are tiny the plants are old but you might be surprised & have some nice fruit from there. You could start another strawberry bed somewhere else to be a step ahead,so there’s always strawberries on the plot. If you remove as much of the weeds as you can,cut the old strawberry leaves off,I leave the green leaves on the plants until they die back,maybe cut away the weed matting that has holes in. In the spring when the plants start growing new leaves,I cut off any remaining old leaves,then put some straw down when they’re flowering/begin fruiting so the fruit doesn’t touch the soil. It’s nice for birds to get in between plants overwinter to forage for any soil pests.