strawberry questions

[plot apprentice]

hi folks

bought some strawberrie plants last year from dobies planted them in pots and got a small yield as expected last summer. not touched them since and i was wondering wot the hell to do now.

do i leave them in their pots or pot them on(they are in 6 inc pots at the mo)
do i cut them back and if so how much
do i add manure,chicken pellets or fish blood n bone
also staked some runners in autumn the above questions to apply to these little fellas as well and are they one year behind their parents or should i expect a good yield from them this summer.

any advice greatly taken onboard and used

thanks

PA

[SMS6]

I read some where that you shouldn't take runners on the first year, they should be snipped off. Then you plant on runners the second year and that way you get a constant supply of new strawberry plants because they only last about 3 years.

Is this right?

I have mine in grow bags - bought them all new just before the winter and they've been over wintering in a plastic greenhouse.

I lost all last years and they were in one of those strawberry barrels - we had very little fruit off them but I did let them set runners so maybe that was where I went wrong

[Flummery]

You'll get a better crop if you put them in the ground if you have room - beef it up with a bit of chicken manure. they will make quite deep roots if allowed. Just tidy up the old dead leaves - you'll soon get good crowns of leaves coming from the centres. I agree about not taking runners from 1st year plants, they need a bit of time to mature themselves first.

[lainey lou]

Is it ok to let them fruit in the first year? Probs a daft question!

[SMS6]

Fruit in the first year is to be expected - so yes that's fine

[lainey lou]

Fruit in the first year is to be expected - so yes that's fine

No I mean, you don't need to remove the immature fruit? Sounds like a no though!

[plot apprentice]

thanks for the advice peeps on my way now to tidy up leaves and make some space in a bed + manure.

ta again p.a.

[Flummery]

I'd remove the fruit in the first season if I'd grown them from seed. Otherwise I'd be happy to get a crop!

[lainey lou]

Thanks Flum!