Strawberries - How to grow them!

[Jonnyt]

Having seen other peoples strawberries down the allotment last year I've decided I want to join in the action. However I cannot seem to find any concise growing guide

Most say plant at 12 inch spacing which is fine as I intend to buy 12 plants and set up a 4x3 raised bed with anti bird mesh and weed control fabric. Does this sound right?

I also have the following questions:

1) Once I've planted the plants do I remove any runners?
2) If I remove the runners can I plant them elsewhere?
3) How long do the plants last? Is it one season or 3 or 4 seasons as some guides seem to suggest?
4) If they last more than one season do you have to cover them or protect them from the winter weather in any way?

[veggiechicken]

Growing Strawberries | How To Grow | Grow Your Own

[nickdub]

2 seasons is what the commercial boys aim for
keeping the pests off is the main prerequisite, if you want to eat any fruit (ask others at the allotments what they do)
strawberries love muck - if you know anyone who keeps horses, that's top of the list

[Penellype]

A huge amount of information on strawberries here: https://www.kenmuir.co.uk/image/data...rawberries.pdf including advice on growing in raised beds.

[bramble]

I usually let them grow for three seasons Jonnyt.
I cut off the runners the first year to give the plant a chance to strengthen up.
Second and third year I take one runner from each plant.
Plants are hardy so won't be killed by frost.
Read up on strawberries as there are several varieties.

[Miss Mousetrousers]

I got some called "Elegance" from D T Brown. You get large fruits and the taste is brilliant. After planting nip any early flowers off to give the plant more strength. Don't plant too deeply, and beware of slugs and snails. I grow them in deep window-sill tubs which are stood on some pallets and find they don't tend to climb up for a feed.

[chris_m]

2) If I remove the runners can I plant them elsewhere?

If you want to grow them on, you need to let the runners take root, either in the bed or in pots, before snipping them off. Until they are established they get all their nutrients, etc. from the mother plant.

When I moved here two years ago I inherited a strawberry bed which cropped pretty well, although slugs and weeds, mainly horsetail, were a problem. No idea what variety the plants are, just that they are summer fruiting.

In the first year, it had some gaps so I trained some of the runners into the gaps and just left them to slough off naturally. I also trained more of the runners into small pots of soil beside the patch and, when they'd taken well, snipped them off and potted them out into larger pots.

When the plants in the bed had finished cropping, I gave them a damned good haircut down to just above the crowns, then laid weed barrier fabric down around them and a 6" strip of gravel around the perimeter to see if that would deter both the slugs and the weeds. I also made a netting frame with hinged panels since I found it a pain lifting and refitting a loose net every day.

In year 2, they again cropped well and I had no slug damage and only a few weeds managed to find their way up through/around the strawberry plant roots. The plants in pots that had been year 1 runners also did well.

I gave them all another haircut in the autumn and will see how they do this year.

In the meantime, I also have some Sweet Fresca seedlings under the grow light which, assuming that they grow on OK, I'll be planting out in the fruit cage.