Please help, should i cut off flowers on 1st year Strawberry plants ........

[Chive Bunny]

they are in a strawberry pot outside, about 3 different variety's, lots of flowers with some green fruit. A friend said i should cut the flowers off as i'll have a better yield in the future? is this correct?

Plus, what do i do with the runner's? Is it ok to leave them on, does it make any difference? can i "save" them for next year?

Apologises for the firework of questions, never grown anything before and don't know who else to ask!
Many thanks in advance for any advice.

[roitelet]

I have taken the flowers off my 1st year plants as ther are looking a bit spindly. Normally I don't.

I dont take runners off until the second year and only from the best plants and only about 3 per plant. Anymore will weaken the mother plant. Cut all the other runners off once a week or you will be inundated with them.

[rustylady]

Strawberries are completely different creatures depending whether they are in pots or in the open ground. I have grown them in pots, but must say they do better for me on the allotment. If you are growing in a permanent bed (allotment, etc) then the general advice is not to let them fruit in their first year so they can really establish themselves and produce a better crop in their second year. If you are only intending to keep your strawberries in their planter for this year, then obviously you need to leave the flowers (and fruit) on the plants.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I grow in planters and have never removed flowers. I take all my runners off except off the 3 year old plant, these runners will be used to produce 6 new plants for use when I trash the 3 year olds at the back of the season.

Colin

[Chive Bunny]

Thank you for your advice, very helpfull :0)
Kim

[Chive Bunny]

Thanks Colin for the advice, very helpfull
Kim

[Chive Bunny]

Many thnaks for the advice

Kim

[Snadger]

I personally never remove flowers as the plants can sometimes die if we have a bad winter and you won't even have had a taste of their fruit.

Let them do what they do naturally I say.

Probably the 'not by the book answer' but as far as I know strawberries don't read books!

[Flummery]

I do like Snadger. If I grew them from seed I would nip off first year flowers but from a decent runner I'd take the crop. I always have except for the first lot I bought, when I did everything by the book. I now treat the book as a list of suggestions!

[Hillwalker]

I'm with Snadger and Flummery on this one. There's nothing worse that buying a fruit plant covered in flower buds and being told, "no, you must cut them all off and wait 2 years." That's an age, especially if you've got exited and expectant children, or adults for that matter. I've experimented by growing with and without the book and found no difference...apart from a contented palate. You'll get a bigger crop next year anyway, with or without de-flowering.

Like most of us, I also used to do the same thing with blackberry and raspberry canes, but don't any more. Good to know my decision is the same as some of the American Universities' horticultural departments.

[Flummery]

I heard the experts on Gardeners' Question Time yesterday saying you should cut them off. They did this experiment at Sparshalt College and the second year they had massive ammounts of fruit. Mine were new a couple of years ago. I had a moderate fruiting the first year and massive amounts the second. We had 12 plants. We ate as many as we could (and that's a LOT!) and I had enough to use 4lb in jam. I've taken more runners and now have 15 at home and another 15 at the allotment which will produce their first little crop this year. I shall let them!

[Chive Bunny]

Well again, thanks for the advice. I've done half and half!!!? Maybe they don't do so well in the first year as the second because it takes a while to establish "themselves"!?!

While i'm here, what do i do with the runners if i want strawberries next year, surely you don't pick them off and put in little pots now?
Apologises in advance if this sounds dum! This is my first year planting growing anything - i only heard of runners on your strawberries plants a couple of weeks ago! Now i've got loads!

[Hillwalker]

There was a recent thread on this subject: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ers_58106.html

[Chive Bunny]

Thanks, i'll look into it :0)

[Snadger]

My thinking is that different nutrients are involved in flower production and leaf production. By nipping the flowers off which are reliant on potassium, I can't see how this will effect leaf growth (nitrogen reliant) and shoot density (phosphate reliant)?

Apart from that.............I like strawberries!