Ripe Strawberries Ripe ...

[lettuceleaf]

My daughter has grown some strawberries in a container and they are doing well (don't know the variety). They are gradually turning red, some more than others and some are still green.

A few questions someone may know the answer to:

(1) Is it true if you put the fruit into jars while they are still growing will they grow quicker and ripe more quickly too?

(2) Is there anything you can do with the spreading tendrils. They are in a container so the tendrils are overlapping the sides, eg. can they be cut off and planted elsewhere?

(3) When is the end of the strawberry growing season?

[Cosmo and Dibs]

(2) You can cut off the tendrils/runners and plant them.

[valmarg]

(1) don't know.

(2) It's easier to peg the tendrils down into pots containing compost to replace your plants after three years. Peg down the first plantlet, and cut off the remaining tendril.

(3) I'm sorry, I don't want to sound too smartypants, but when there are no strawberries left to pick, unless you have perpetual fruiting varieties, which carry on fruiting until the first frosts.

valmarg

[Hans Mum]

Some plotholders have put their strawbs in glass jars to ripen them more quickly, I've never tried it, the runners you can pot on now to increase/replaceyour stock next year and so on....just put the runner in a pot of compost and peg it down and when your'e sure its rooted, cut the runner from the parent plant. The end of the season depends on the variety of strawberry youre growing....i've got some earlies and later ripening ones which means i pick them over a longer period of time

[SMS6]

If the plants are new this year, cut the runners off because the plants will fruit better next year, if they're established then peg the runners down in to plant pots for new strawberry plants ready to replace the old ones when they get tired - usually after year 3.

[lettuceleaf]

That answers my questions - thank you to all who responded.

[ohbeary]

Oooh Lettuce you are easily pleased, my dad used to put jam jars over the fruits it did ripen them quicker and kept the birds off, our garden was a mine field of black netting and glass jars during strawberry season......