when to cut strawberry runners

Hello,

My strawberry plant, which is in a second flush of fruiting (local blackbird got a feast on the first lot ), has also put out a runner. It's in a high pot and so the runner won't reach the ground.

From all the advice I've seen online, I need to get it into soil somehow, to let the roots grow before cutting it off from the mummy plant. Is that correct?
I could fashion some kind of makeshift pot thing, or perhaps tie a bag to the base of the runner.

The baby plant has grown two sets of leaves now and there are "nodules" underneath which I guess are the beginnings of roots. If I just cut it off and put it directly into a pot now do you think it will survive please?

Thanks.

 

Just keep it well watered & you should be in with a chance. Mine take a couple of weeks to root.

 

Blackbirds have been having mine too, execept for tonight when daughter Willow was caught outside saying "mine, not blackbirds" & lobbing them in her mouth.

 

Hi Karuna, I recommend you do not remove the runner from the mother plant yet. I recently did a fair bit of online research on this same subject myself and this is the advice I gleaned from that:

1) fill a 3" pot with drainage holes with potting soil for the runner;
2) take a piece of wire bent in a U-shape (a hair pin works well too if no wire to hand);
3) peg down the runner with the root nodules in contact with the top of the soil in the new pot;
4) keep watering and allow the runner to establish its root system and only sever once the roots start poking out the drainage holes in the base of the pot (should take a few weeks);
5) at this point the runner may be severed from the mother plant, cut leaving about 1 inch of runner remaining.
6) Nurture plant as with mother and overwinter for Spring growth.

I have done this with 4 runners which sprung from my one plant. Hope you find this helpful

 

Thank you! I'll have a go at getting it in touch with some soil and take it from there.

 

Some of my strawberries are grown in one of those 'strawberry planters', which means the plants at the top are some 18" off the ground. It may not be very pretty, but I just do exactly what livs has suggested, except where the runners aren't long enough to reach down to the soil, I bring the soil up to them by standing my 3" pots either on upturned flower pots or make a 'shelf' by laying a bit of wood on a couple of bricks and standing the pots on that. It's only until the runners take root and I rather like to see the mother plants surrounded by their babies in their cots :lollol:

 

My strawberry plant is growing about 3 runners. The leaves are very firm and I am watering regularly, but I haven't had any flowers yet and no strawberries. The plant seems healthy enough and it is in a large pot, do you think that am I likely to get any strawberries or is it too late now?

 

hello all,
i was going to ask this question as well, as my strawberry has produced runners tried cutting and potting it but didnt work have placed one still attached into another pot so hopefully that will take and found another tonight.

kathryn

 

No fruit? How old are your plants? If they're young, then it's quite possible they won't fruit in their first year. I had 6 new plants last year from which I picked .... pause for drumroll .... 1, (yes count it), 1 strawberry! If they're older plants, it could also be your soil, strawberries don't like it over-enriched which just causes them to produce leaves, well-drained or sandy (even slightly acidic) soil is what they like best and whilst they like water, don't let them get waterlogged.

I look on strawberry plants as 'an investment'. The a/m plants produced loads of runners, in the absence of fruit I merely pegged down just about every runner I could find (although this isn't to be recommended, 3 or 4 from 1 plant is probably better) and now have loads of plants. The original plants have produced 'a crop' - not amazing, but it'll be even better next year - while the new plants have spent this year just .... growing.

Just as a BTW - the bit of the runner to peg down is the bit with the leaves. All you need to do is to make sure the underneath of this leafy bit is kept in contact with the soil (as opposed to 'buried' in it). Also you might find that as the runners get longer, (even if pegged down this might happen) they'll have more than 1 little cluster of leaves along their length. It's generally accepted that the first cluster (that's the first away from the mother plant) will be the best and that those which grow further away from the mother will be weaker. You can try propagating from these further clusters, but the plants if you get them to 'take' will be weaklings and I wouldn't really bother. But then I guess you knew all that.

 

My strawberry plant is only a few months old. Maybe I need to wait until next year!

 

'Fraid so. But, Oh! the anticipation :hehe: