strawberry runners

[sunrays]

Excuse the simple question - I'm new to all this grow your own business. I planted some strawberries last year, and have just come to weed the bed this year, to find it is a mass of plants with lots of runners and new plants. I can't tell which were the original plants. Should I remove all the runners and new plants to give more room, or can I leave them? If I should remove them does it matter if I remove the originals or new plants?

[vicky]

Welcome Sunrays!!!

You will need to remove some plants to give them enough space to grow properly.

Ideally remove the runners and plant them in another bed, then do the same next year and the following year create yet another strawberry bed and also dig up and destroy the original bed. So you have 3 strawberry beds of 3 different age strawberry plants. They crop best as 2 year olds and after 3 years they become too old.

Do you have space for that?

Personally I don't and have dug up my runners, potted them up to give away/sell. When my strawberry bed gets to 3 years old I will create a new bed (in a different area) with some saved potted up runners.

Hope that helps
vicky

[sunrays]

Thanks Vicky

No, I don't have room for more than one bed, so will give plants away. But does it matter which I remove? How do I tell what is last year's plant and will therefore be 2nd year now and what is new runner?

Ta

[vicky]

The runners are a bit smaller, in the 'wrong' spacings and not planted so neatly. The older plants have much bigger root systems you will prob realise if you dig one up. But I don't think it's too important, I've certainly left a few runners in.

[brooklynodog]

How best to plant runners? Dp you just cut them off and plant, or secure to pot of compost with a hoop or somesuch until rooted, then cut off?

[Raven]

Hi there, I think it's the latter of the two! I did just that earlier this evening. I put a few pots of compost round the strawberry planter then put the runners with the base touching the compost & secured it with a large paper clip that I'd bent into shape. Hope I did it right! I think once it starts rooting you can detach the runner from the main plant.

[TonyF]

Either way will work but the pot way is the more efficient. I luckily have masses of room and can indulge on an enormous strawberry bed, I just let the runners 'run', peg them down in place and carry on from there.

I don't do the three year things at all, especially with the tiny alpine strawberries. If you leave the plants, they work it out for themselves, the old ones will die off and the newer ones will become the replacements naturally. This even works with the cultivated plants and this year the crop from the 'old' plants, three/four years old, are superb.

[Two_Sheds]

I guess you've learned that you can't attend your strawberry bed just once a year! As you see, they run riot if nobody's watching them.

As Tony says, don't worry too much, as it's a bit confusing. Just make sure each plant that you do keep has about 12" of ground (ie, space them 12" apart each way).

Protect from slugs, woodlice and blackbirds. And children.

[JILLY JACKSON]

thats answered my question too,thanks all.