Baby Strawberry Plants

Lol, glad I could help, Llama Momma! It's easy to get your info mixed up when you're trying to remember how to plant and grow dozens of plants. And yes, you will need to trim those runners. They can get out of hand! I usually need to do it every few days with my strawberry box (and somehow they manage to send out runners in the winter so I always have some babies growing in the yard by spring).

I love the shim grid idea! I'm gonna go out and stick some in my boxes right now!

Yes! So nice how we all help each other. Enjoy the shim grid idea, I got the idea while wandering the aisles at Home Depot. It hit me what a nice low-tech, rather no-tech idea!

Shock. Can't believe it. I'm grinning from my very first 2 ripened sweet strawberries. I did not expect anything till next year. These are Earliglo, a June bearing, medium size berry. It's my dream come true, a personal stash of berries in the backyard. Thanks to Mel's Mix: home made compost with a dash of home grown worm castings, and special thanks to my llamas for their aged manure : )

LOVE the shim idea! It will be perfect in one of my beds where I'm using 1/2 the bed for a greenhouse and 1/2 for planting...



Been wondering what I was going to use there...

Thanks!

congrats LLM!!!! i bet they were yummy!!

hugs

rose

Woo, congrats Llama! You probably won't get many berries this year, but that just makes them extra special.

Enjoy those shims kittykat, I like them a lot.

Thanks Rose, yes they were very tasty. I am so happy.

Littlesapphire, plants are still throwing blooms and the last berry count a few days ago was just over 75. I'm so pleasantly surprised.

First year bed. I clipped the earliest blooms and am still clipping runners. Found maybe 6 berries that I must have missed the bloom.



Spaced 4 to the square and taking over the bed. But they are healthy. Question, can I dig up some in the fall and make another bed so all will be less crowded?

Kay

Ok so what is a runner , what does it look like? I am to lazy to google it

It is the long shoot that creates new plants. Like the babies on a spider plant. The first year you cut them off so you don't weaken the mother plant. Next year they will be allowed to grow so I will have new plants.

Kay

Went back and read the packing instructions which said to cut off all the blooms on first year plants to ensure good root development. I couldn't do it. I ate the first 55 berries, yes I counted them and wrote it down each day. The flavor was quite intense and very, Very sweet. My husband thought they were too strong tasting. Nah, I was enjoying the heck out of each one of them. I thought of the cold winter westerly winds that will pummel the table top bed and the thought of losing plants next year because I didn't let the roots set properly this year....it was so hard to cut off the clusters of little green berries but I did it...and counted them..two hundred and fifty-three, gone. I hope this guarantees a heavenly load of berries next year even though I cut them off later than the instructions said.. Here I didn't think any berries would appear this year, to having a surprise of berries, to spending the rest of the summer/fall tending to their needs for next years harvest. Talk about mixed thoughts and a test of patience! I don't know if I did the right thing, but it is a done strawberry season for now what would you have done?

let the green turn red i just cant cut them off......i figure who knows....next year the slugs might get them

.....but....i havent planted first years plants/bare root either.....i do cut off the first runners though in my hanging plants then after they are done producing i set them on the ground to allow the next runners to set....then in spring we cut the runners off/baby plants and hang the baskets back up.....so far this has worked really well.....this year it looks like we are going to have a bunch of strawberries as long as we can keep the slugs away....one reason for some hanging baskets

hugs

rose

The table top prevents slugs I believe. I could go ahead and keep some runners and let them root in cups to give them a new home somewhere else. I think you and Plantoid discussed that somewhere else. I could add them to pots like you or put some in the regular veggie boxes. The table top is stuffed with all the plants it can handle.

I am eating every berry that turns red and letting the runners run wild. I am betting that here in GA the growing season is so long that the mother will have plenty of time to develop strong roots. I originally planted the 2" potted plants about a month ago. Yesterday I transplanted them to a permanent bed. The roots had already grown to about 5-6" deep and 5-6" wide.

This goes against common wisdom. But this year I am experimenting with everything. Besides, I have a 3 year old grandson who loves to eat the fruits and veggies right in the garden. I have not been able to get a carrot to a good size because he keeps wanting to eat them. He loves the strawberries. How can I deprive my grandson of his fruits and vegetables.