strawberry runners

[gan heather]

I've read through the recent thread on strawberry runners, but had a few more questions...

I was tidying up my strawberry bed today (it was looking pretty overgrown) and ripped out a bunch of strawberry runners. I was going to throw them out as I don't have the room for them, but then thought, what would happen if i put them into pots? I'd like to have a plant sale with the school I work in (next summer) and was wondering if these little guys stand a chance? Can I just leave them in the pots (4" pots with MPC) until May/June? Outside on the allotment? Or will the unorthodox way in which I just ripped them out of the ground and jammed them into pots prevent them from growing?

[bramble]

Well gan heather, the usual way is to pin them down in a small pot still attached to the parent plant and cut it free when it shows signs of growing.
you may well be lucky to get them to grow.
yes, you can leave them out over the winter as the frost is not harmful to them unless the weather is really severe.
Left all mine out last winter and only lost two, so good luck with them.

[gan heather]

Thanks for the reply. I'll hope for the best!

[gojiberry]

If they had some roots on them then they should take OK. Even without roots and detached from the main plant I have still had some success.

Ian

[Complete Novice]

I've had some runners off my plants (the ones I didn't want to keep) attempt to root themselves in the gravel nearby, so they are very industrious and will do their best to survive.

As already stated, however, the best idea is to pin them down into their new pot, leave them to prosper, then cut off the runner from its mother and let the new plant grow on. In my limited experience you'll get way more strawberries in the second season than the first season so its worth hanging on. I loved our strawberry harvest this year!!!

[FB.]

Yes, strawberry runners are born survivors - they'll quickly and easily root into almost anything.

If you're thinking of potting and selling the runners, they should mostly survive.

One thing to be aware of, is that certain varieties of strawberry (and other fruits) are "patented" and are covered by "plant breeders rights" (to stop people stealing someone else's hard work and research).
Plant breeder's rights ("PBR") means that you're not authorised to propagate them for selling them to other people and you could be prosecuted, although it would require a really mean and stuffed-up person to spoil a school's fund-raiser on a minor technicality.

However, if the pots don't specify which variety (or just say "early-ripening", "late-ripening", "sweet", "vigorous", "compact" or the like), then you'll probably be fine.