Can we talk strawberries?

quiltbea wrote:@gregrenee.....Leave the plant alone to overwinter and come back next spring. You'll leave her there til she produces her biggest harvest her 3rd year.

@plantoid......I can only go by what works for me here in Maine,USA.

I leave my strawberry plants right where they are but after the 3rd year, they start to get weaker and stop producing. Sometimes you'll still get a good amount of berries a 4th year, but its always iffy. Its the nature of the plant. They are NOT perennials. After 3 years they really should be replaced, either by putting in new plants, in which case you won't have any berries that year unless you've allowed some runners to root before this. That's how I do mine.

The 2nd spring, I allow 2 runners to form from each 'mother' which will take root. This 2nd year the runners are establishing themselves and energy is growing roots. Mother is also giving many blossoms this year.

The 3rd year Mother is at her peak and the runners have some blossoms, too, so there's a lot of berries. When I'm done with 'mother's' harvest, I remove her completely from the bed. The runner will now take over as 'mother' next year. The plant configeration is a little different because I've removed the old one and the new mother is in a different place. The cycle continues. I hope I am making myself clear here.

Thank you Quiltingbee! We have 8 plants and they are starting to produce some berries.

Renee

llittlesapphire - the last ones Tarpan, is the right color of those I saw. Will watch for the berries to see if same.
Thanks for the info, will google as well to see where to get seeds. Might just give it a try. Always up for a challenge!
Lee

I know this sounds odd but I saw pink flowered strawberries at my local Walmart. I didn't think to check the variety though... The flowers were the lighter pink...

I'm actually thinking of marking my latest mothers this year. Usually the runners just come out at the sides and I let them do their own thing, When its time to remove the mothers, they are all down the middle (or left side or right side mostly). This year there are new mothers on both sides with the center being almost empty and ready for the next crop of runners. I'm getting at the age tho, where remembering which is which might be a prob so I'm going to 'tag' them by putting a piece of fabric punched in the soil near mother.



Above: I've got new mothers along both sides now with the center and right side mostly empty.

UnderTheBlackWalnut wrote:QB - I have 8 plants in their second year and probably 8-10 more new plants this year. When you let the runners form do you guide them to a particular place? As my plants multiply, will the older plants be obvious? I know what the original 8 are but the runners are rather willy nilly. I'm wondering if I should have been more concerned with placing them so I'd know. I thought about tagging them in some way, but is all this necessary? Are the plants that are ready to come out obvious?

Your last post made me smile QB . I have a memory like that and have had to revise how I do things as I can no longer rely on memory alone .


If you train the runners in to 3 inch plant pots around the host plants , it's a cinch to sever them when they have got growing ,. leave them in situ for a few weeks after severing them so they are independently growing .

The runner will grow to about four to six inches long from the host plant and start to form a cluster of leaves at the end .

Fill the pots with MM and gently press the underside of the runner leaves into them leave it attached at this point .

Place a small, stone or use a bent wire to gently hold the runner tip into the MM and keep them watered . After 14 day the runners should have developed octopus type legs going dow into the mm .. try and gently lift one of the runner to se if it has developed roots , if it has sever the withering stem
that attached it to the host plant .


Once fully independent lift the plant pots with the new strawberry plants in them & re plant the new plants out of the pots elsewhere in straight lines , you will also be able to write a label for each potted plant if you feel like it.

For the ambitious amongst you all , last year I sucessfully cut 45 runners off eight plants that were growing in a grow bag in the glasshouse . Straight away put them in clean water till I had enough then snipped the runner cleanly off the leaf head ,then pressed the head into wet compost from a new unused grow bag , fixed them down with light wire clips and found that ten days later they had 1/2 inch roots like octopus legs . Three weeks later I planted them out into my new strawberry barrel .

I have some in vermiculite right now to see if I can get them to root. These are where I cut them off my first year plants.

Kay

Neat vermiculite may not be nutricous ( sp ) enough to grow the roots down , it may be that the nutrients are what spurs the roots to break out . Perhaps hedge your bets and do some in MM as well .

I put in some weak liquid fertilizer for the immediate. The ones I tried to start in MM all died.

Kay

I forgot ( seniors moment & 3/4 ) to add I kept the fledgling plants damp on the leaves by regulary lightly watering and spray misting them with a hand triger spray for a couple of days till I got my misting/ spray system up & running properly.

I've always had the worst time with bareroot strawberries... Out of the three times I've tried, I've only managed to get 1 strawberry plant to survive. Maybe I'm doing it wrong... (or probably not *actually* reading the directions, lol)

But no matter! I bought four large potted strawberries several years ago and have just been letting them run amuck in their own special box.

The secret to transplanting strawberries is to replant them no deeper than the container from which they came or in the case of barerooted ones, the little demarcation line (where one part joins another). Too deep and the growing tip rots.

So I wanted to share my planted raised strawberry bed... Can you all take a look and let me know if you think I put on too much straw mulch?? I have 10 live plants and 30 dormant ones that I replaced. The first set of dormant never took off unfotunately...

[img]https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/[/img] My son ate the first strawberry of the season... I'm a low carb dieter but had a small bite, WOW!!!! It was that good!!!

Phil - so am I! You need to check out this link:

Your Lighter Side

It's great and very helpful! BTW - I have 8-10 strawberries everyday!
Lee

philct wrote:So I wanted to share my planted raised strawberry bed... Can you all take a look and let me know if you think I put on too much straw mulch?? I have 10 live plants and 30 dormant ones that I replaced. The first set of dormant never took off unfotunately...

[img]https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/[/img] My son ate the first strawberry of the season... I'm a low carb dieter but had a small bite, WOW!!!! It was that good!!!

I'd leave off the straw til they start growing. You should put some around the live plants only. By putting the straw you are keeping the soil too cool and the plants will stay dormant. Only put straw after leaves start growing. Jo

I agree with littljo. Remove the mulch for now so you don't keep the soil too cool.

[img:93d3]https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/[/img] So I didn't have time to remove it, but it didnt matter. They all popped in 2 days, and in fact, I just squished 8 more into the bed they grew so well...

[img:93d3]https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/[/img]Also getting some strawberries.. Ate my first one with my 2 year old son the other day, sooo good!!!

[img:93d3]https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/[/img]Here is one of the new plants

[img:93d3]https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/[/img] And yes, I broke down and bought this contraption... sigh

Just came across this site and thought you all might be interested. Anyone else tried this method for getting more berries from their plants?
Get more berries from your plants
Lee

Excellent Swampcat, the pictures help so much.
My berry starts were planted in April are producing, and when I first saw those things, I thought, Ahaa, they must be runners I keep reading about but never saw till now. The article said to make sure it is a runner, but didn't elaborate. So I wonder if I have cut off long stems that might have produced flowers and berries, thinking it was a runner? Wonder whats the difference? Other than a runner is really long.

@llama mamma.....If you have a definite strawberry plant with green leaves and maybe blossoms on it, then look for a runner coming from the base of this mother plant and traveling 6-10 inches away where it will send out a tiny root to stick in the soil. It might have a green leaf or 2 on the end of it. That's the one you want to remove if you are removing most of the runners.

Thanks Once Again QuiltBea, yes, I have plants w/blossoms and fruits and from your description, 6 in + runners that are going into the next box with a green tip. Although, my confusion are the other plants without blossoms or berries that throw runners too, I've been cutting them also. :scratch: Reading material suggests plants throw runners with or without blossoms, What is your experience? Much appreciated.

I never check for runners until my plants are getting bigger. They may not have blossoms yet, but they are definitely larger plants so the runners are easily noticed. I know that runners can have their own runners. Even if letting a few runners establish for the next generation, the 2nd set of runners coming off of those first runners need to be removed.

You and others have been kind and extremely helpful throughout my strawberry journey. Could not have done this alone. Or with books.
Thank You so much.
LlamaMomma

quiltbea wrote:I never check for runners until my plants are getting bigger. They may not have blossoms yet, but they are definitely larger plants so the runners are easily noticed. I know that runners can have their own runners. Even if letting a few runners establish for the next generation, the 2nd set of runners coming off of those first runners need to be removed.

That was a question I asked last season. Thanks for the answer, Quilt.

As it happened I did remove the 2nd runners.

Can strawberry plants be transplanted? The ones I have in the new plot(just got the assigned plot yesterday) and the strawberries were there already. Not happy about where there are and how they were planted.
I don't care if I get nay berries this season, I don't even know if they are ever-bearing or not.
Suggestions? I don't see any runners, and I'd like to move then soonest.
Lee

i have transplanted plants before with no problems....just dig a bit deep to get as much roots as you can....they may even grow roots side ways...... ....then make sure that when you transplant you dont cover the crown part of the plant....water real good....they may look real sad for a few days.....just make sure they dont dry out and they will perk right back up.....

hugs

rose