Strawberry plant question?

Hi again everyone, I think my strawberry harvest is finished for this year! I had six plants which were in two hanging baskets & I managed to root about ten runners from them! My question is what to do with the plants now, do they need trimmed back to come back properly next year? Thanks

 

I hope someone who knows comes along. I think it depends on what variety. Some you crop this year, then discard the plants and use the runners from this year, next year, if you know what I mean 'Arry. If you're gonna keep them, I think you leave them alone until next Spring (Februaryish) then cut them back to about 2" and let them do it again.

 

All the goodness in the hanging basket sompost/soil will have been used up and no amount of fertilizer will make it as good as this year!

If you are wanting to grow straws in the baskets next season, best to start afresh with new compost and your fresh runners.

And it is best to start them off now, to get them growing before the winter sets in.

Happy munching!

 

Thanks for the replies.

Could I plant them in different compost, or even outside and get another year out of them? The runners are already growing well in small pots.

 

I would have thought so, although I'm not quite sure what effect transplanting will have. Strawberry plants are usually good for 3 or 4 years before they start getting worn out. They actually get more productive in terms of weight of fruit, although the fruit is never quite so big as in their maiden year.

 

Wouldn't it be ok to leave them in their current spot, and just give them a good handful each of pelleted chicken poo in spring to restore the compost structure and nutrient level? And of course regular liquid feed throughout the growing season.

 

If you put them in some good soil somewhere you will probably get a few more runners out of them before they are done for this year. They should transplant perfectly well-and I would leave them outside, they are perfectly hardy.

 

I sort of did that last year. I cut back the plants in the autumn and kept them in pots over winter until I had space for them. I planted them out early in the year and had a good crop from the earlies and now the second lot are ripening, so assuming we get a late summer, I'm looking forward to some more strawbs.