Planting strawberry runners

Can I cut my strawberry runners and plant them now? I planted a box of strawberries in the spring and they look beautiful and healthy, and are sending runners out. I know those need to be cut, but I wondered if I could cut them and just plant them in another box because I did want to add more. But it might be too late in the summer to plant them?

I am doing the same thing.
Cutting the runners is very good for the mother plant, in fact I cut all the runners and my strawberries from last year started to make HUGE strawberries.
I tried to get all the runners going, but I think it was too hot, however I am going to keep on trying.
The runner plants will not likely produce much this year, but getting them going now will be great for next years crop.
I hope someone with longer experience will verify this.
I have only had my strawbs for 2 years.

Check the runners carefully to see if any of them have developed their own roots. If so, you can carefully plant them where you want them after you have cut them from the mother plant. Keep well watered. They should do fine. You are in a hotter climate so you may have to assist them with some shade until they are established.

Great, thank you. I have noticed roots and keep lifting them up so they don't root into the ground outside the box. I'll cut the runners (I assume at the plant) and plant the rooters.

And the runners that don't have roots yet? Just watch them until they do, and then cut/transplant?

If the first runner from the "mother" also has a runner cut that one off. Just keep the one that is first.

Yes, you are correct about cutting the runner at the mother plant.

Some people take a u-shaped clip - like a very large staple and they anchor the runner down a bit so that it is in contact with the soil. It will most likely get roots then. Don't cut a runner until it has roots.

It works pretty well too! I have rooted runners re-planted and they look healthy. Best guess is about 20% didn't make it. The mother plants have many double crowns and should be pulled apart and re planted but I'm hesitating disturbing the intertwined roots. Wonder if there is a trick to ensure success other than watering well first to loosen up things?

Next year will be my strawberries' third year, and I've heard that after three years the plants start producing less and should be replaced. But I also know that new plants don't produce very much their first year, so I dont really want to pull up my strawberries and plant brand new plants and have to skip a year of strawberries.

I decided instead to do a kind of work around. This year I'm saving runners from my strawberries in pots. I'm going to overwinter them, then next year, after my older plants have finished fruiting, I'm going to pull the old ones out and plant the potted runners in their place. That way I'll have more established plants that might produce better the following year. I don't know how well it'll work, but I figure it's worth a try, and it'll save me some money too!

greatgranny wrote:If the first runner from the "mother" also has a runner cut that one off. Just keep the one that is first.

Yes, you are correct about cutting the runner at the mother plant.

Some people take a u-shaped clip - like a very large staple and they anchor the runner down a bit so that it is in contact with the soil. It will most likely get roots then. Don't cut a runner until it has roots.

I was always told the same GG ,not to cut runners before they had roots but.. around this time last year I opened up a bag of spent tomato " grow bag "growing compost and simply stuck the new growth end of the runners fairly deep into the well wetted compost , watering them in well .

Leaving as long a runner stem on the runner as possible so it had a food supply .

Some thirty runners took root out of 38 runners taken . They were watered daily & as soon as I noticed a couple of new leaves on each runner I potted them on for I knew that they had grown independent roots themselves .

I did this for I noticed that on the end iof each runner there is a slight development of nodes where the new roots will spring from .. I think it is safe to say if a runner has these nodes it is OK to sever the runner and grow it independently like I have done.

Hey, Good to know. See, when we're just brave, enuf to Experiment we can be in for all kinds of happy surprises... Thanks for this tip plantoid!

Wow. We could get into a business here, selling new strawberry plants.

I was noticing my runners outside the SFG box, but looking more closely there are a ton IN the box. This is going to take some time to look thru them all and find the rooters, cut them, plant them, and keep an eye on the rest...

I watched some youtube videos, and they seemed to recommend leaving the runners attached to the mother plant when you replant, which is interesting, kind of like an umbilical cord, and then eventually when the plant gets stronger you cut. But I don't think I want a collection of little pots all around my SFG box...

How can you let a good strawberry plant go to waste? I may end up with an entire yard covered in strawberries... ha.

NHGardener wrote:Wow. We could get into a business here, selling new strawberry plants.
U-tube videos recommend leaving the runners attached to the mother plant when you replant, kind of like an umbilical cord, and then eventually when the plant gets stronger you cut.
How can you let a good strawberry plant go to waste? I may end up with an entire yard covered in strawberries... ha.

Yeah well - your yard full of strawberries is ALOT better
(than a yard full of dandelions like here, I need mow some more of, so I can make more compost in them nifty bags Plantoid told me about just now) - GO! strawberries

I went through my strawberry bed about a month or so ago and cut off all the runners, as I had read that was how you get the mother plant producing better strawbs...
and boy did that work, we are eating lots of really great strawberries now.

I took all the runners and put them in jars to get them to root and even the ones that had not rooted, rooted.
The problem is that the bed I put them in, I did not climatize them and they were exposed to direct sun and did not get enough water.
I guess I actually forgot about them
It was a day I was expecting it to rain and.... it did the opposite.
I think if I had paid attention I would likely have lots of new plants right now.
However back to the strawberry bed.... they are busy as ever sending out tons more runners so alas, I will get yet another chance.

GWN, how did you get them to root in a jar? Did it have water in it?

sorry bout that, yes it had water in it.

Huh. Maybe I'll try water then.