How often should i be feeding my strawberries?

[toms-galore]

im just starting growing my own in the garden and have a few strawberries that are almost ready to pick but the question is how often should i be feeding them with tomorite and also should i take the runners off or just leave them? also do i just throw them away at the end of the season or is there some way of saving them for next year?

[ardroil]

ive got runners on mine too, and would like to know if i should remove them,[i want loads of strawberrys this year], ive never feed mine but maybe i should be, ill wait for more replys,
glad you asked these questions toms-galore

[FB.]

Runners will draw energy from the fruits and reduce the size of the plants for next year - reducing future cropping potential. Strawberries are at the peak cropping in years 2-4.

Fruits will draw energy from runners.

The plants only have so much energy - it's up to you how you use that energy. Remove what you don't want/need.

[Two_Sheds]

I have never fed my strawberries ... and I get more fruit every year than I can eat.

[ardroil]

should i snip half the runners off, to get plenty this year,
if so how should i do it [ sorry if its a stupid question, but i havint got a clue ]

[theusualsuspect]

Runners are good if you want to grow plants for next year. You can use them to propagate next year's plants. If that's not the aim, then just cut them off.

[coreopsis]

I never fed my strawbs either.They started having the runners but they are still small.
Last year I had plenty of runners,never cut them off.This year the strawbs are even bigger.

[Alison]

I feed my strawberries which are in a tub once a week during the fruiting season but am not so good with the ones in the ground. Tend to use a general seaweed fertiliser or sometimes a weak tomato feed. I cut all the runners off while they're fruiting and then take one per plant (or a max of two) for the following year. Have always grown strawberries on a three year cycle. Year one (ie the first year after being a runner) they produce some fruit, year 2 they go a bit mad, year 3 isn't quite as good and then I replace in year 4. In order to do this I have 3 beds, each on a different year and replace one bed each year. That's how it works at home anyway. As it's my first year on the plot this year I only have one bed. Will be doubling my number with runners later this year to form a second bed next year and then on from that. Hope that this makes sense!

[ardroil]

thanks everyone, think ill cut of half the runners, do i cut them right back the whole length ?

[FB.]

Cut them back as far as you can, but a short length of stem remaining shouldn't cause a problem.
The less runners that you keep, the bigger and stronger will be the remaining runners, but they will still draw some energy from the fruits.

We have several small strawberry beds (for "parent plants" of each variety we grow) and the plants are allowed to grow, fruit or produce runners as they please. We then take runners each year and plant into barrels (easier to protect from pests than when in the ground). Older plants get binned as part of a rotation. The strawberries in the barrels are encouraged to fruit to the maximum and are not allowed any runners (since we have a stock of "mother" plants for that prupose).

[toms-galore]

thanks for the advice im going to take half the runners off tonight and then with the other half im going to try and start some plants ready for next year (hopefully)ive just noticed that we've got 2 strawbs ready to be eaten and am resisting eating them before the boys get bk from school!

[Bramble Lover]

I never fed mine either......last year was the first substantial crop we had. Didnt cut runners either. Wanting to plant a fair few runners this year as I have promised some to friends and neighbouring allotmenteers.

Got plenty of flowers on both my beds.....one of which is in its second year (wondered why they didnt get many fruit last year lol now I know!)

So hopefully lots of yummy fruit this year.

[emilykf]

Erm, probably a silly question, but what are runners please? I don't know if our strawberry plants have them, but would be nice to know if they do or not! Thank you!

[Two_Sheds]

Erm, probably a silly question, but what are runners please?

have a look here: STRAWBERRY PLANTS FROM RUNNERS

[snake the squadie]

over the years i have tried all the top tips people use with regards to feeding them and cutting runners etc. a few years ago i had a spare space on my allotment and decided to try a "wild" strawberry patch. i just planted some old plants and left them alone. trust me it was outstanding i got loads of big jucy tasty strawberris. i didnt feed, water or prune etc all i did was pick the fruit. i am not saying this is the best aproach but strawberris will grow almost anywhere with no or little care