Strawberry Runners

Can someone please tell me when is the best time to remove the runners on strawberries,mine are in the 1st year and are looking really good its just not knowing when to remove the runners ?, any help would be most appreciated.

 

Hi Chris,If your runners have rooted and the young plants seem to be growing well then I think it will be time to sever them from the parent strawberry plant and move them using a trowel to where you would like them to be ready for fruiting next year unless they have already started flowering and setting fruit where they are growing

 

Hi Kandy they are full of flowers and fruit so what you are saying is to leave them until they have finished doing so.Once they are finished fruiting should i remove the runners then ?

 

I'd also add that I like to add one or two new plants when I make the 5 year move, I don't like to use all runners, a bit of new blood line if you like.

 

This is year two, just need some sunshine now.
Strawbs by R MAURINS, on Flickr

 

Hi Chris,you can cut through the stem with scissors now if you want if they are already in flower and fruiting as like John says they are sapping strength from the parent plant.Just leave them where they are if you are happy with them in that position but want to move them to a new bed it will be best to wait until the Autumn when they have finished fruiting.

You basically leave them attached to the mother plant until the runners have rooted and then you can sever them and they will become independent plants

 

Thank you all for your advice i will take heed and do as required

 

A bit late to the party but here is a little more for your consideration.


Runners severed from the parent plants.


Choosing daughter plantlets with signs of root growth.


Potted up in plastic drinking cups.




I use a mixture of spent compost and sharp sand but nearly any growing medium will work because strawberry plants grow like resilient weeds.

Why plastic drinking cups? Well, they are cheap - you get 100 for 99p.

Now, place the potted up plants in a location with dappled shade. Add a few slug pellets on top around the edges after watering and then wait for mother nature to take its course.

 

Last year I used all runners, should i be picking thicker ones over skinnier ones ...or are the skinny ones from the new plants from last year?

 

Slug pellets actually have an attractant in them, by using those you are attracting slugs to your plants, I stopped using them 30 years ago.

 

True.

My own line of thinking is that unless you can guarantee an absolute slug free zone in which to raise your plants then it is better to use it in a strategic way than not.

Slugs will naturally be drawn to potted plants anyway, if not for the plant itself then for the shelter which a pot can provide. So, why not lure them out to where you can see them and kill them, otherwise, come re-potting time, you will find a mass of them inside the pot near the drainage holes.

 

My own view is that the runners from a year 2 and year 3 plants are better than runners from a year 1 plant.

In any case, apply the Darwinian gardening principles: select the biggest and healthiest looking specimen to propagate.

 

I found with pots to put copper tape under the rim or diagonally up a strawberry sack.. never found snail or slugs at the bottom though luckily. I use pellets sparingly around the pots on the patio too.

Thank for the input @misterQ I'll pick the biggest and sever the skinny ones..

Just another q when's best to move them, after fruit has finished? Mine are so over crowded, planning on taking up some lawn for a strawberry bed

 

You could use other more environmentally friendly methods than slug pellets that have been linked to killing birds and hedgehogs. I prefer not to use chemicals if I can avoid it, each to our own methods though.