Establishing new strawberry plants

[Robert D]

I bought some new pot grown strawberry plants back in July, planted them in the allotment, and they seemed to establish well. Now someone tells me (in a voice of doom) that I ought to have cut the leaves off after I planted them (they were in leaf when I bought them, and suckered during the ensuing month) and that they may have some chance of survival in spring if I do it now. I'm a bit alarmed (they weren't cheap) and would welcome some advice/reassurance. What should I have done? What should I do now? Are they doomed? Am I (as a newbie) having my leg pulled?

[jackarmy]

Im no xpert on strawberries but i think the idea of cutting the leaves off was simply to help the roots establish, so if their looking ok then i wouldnt worry too much . When i planted my runners i took all leaves off bar the one or maybe two if one was too tiny.

[Bigmallly]

Hello Robert & welcome to the Jungle, I remove any dying or diseased leaves as I see them, they have served me well so far.

[veggiechicken]

Don't panic! They'll be fine. Just cut off any old leaves now - the ones with autumn colouring or dead!
...........and Welcome to the Vine

[Chris11]

I don't think they need the leaves removing, apart from any dead or brown ones.

If you leave the green healthy ones on the plant, I can't see how that could be anything other than beneficial for the plant. I think the advice is usually to remove the old dead leaves to help the newer ones to start showing through and growing for the following season.

Strawberry plants are pretty hardy, and I've had no problems getting them through the winter the last few years.

[Robert D]

Don't panic! They'll be fine. Just cut off any old leaves now - the ones with autumn colouring or dead!

Thanks to everyone who replied; I'm very much reassured by what you say.

[More basil]

As others have said- can't see a problem with the leaves. Regarding suckers: The advice is usually to remove the suckers on plants that you'd like lots of fruit on the following year as the plants will otherwise spend some of their energy on producing lots of new plants (but you will still get fruit). So if you haven't already, snip off any suckers. You can use the attached young plants. The proper advice regarding these (which lots of people ignore) is to stop them flowering in their first year to get lots of fruit the following year. You can stick them in pots somewhere out of the way if needs be and replant them when you have space. Strawberry plants are usually replaced every 3 years or so as the yield decreases so the plants from any suckers come in handy.