Strawberries

[Elderflower]

I`ve just finished potting up my strawberry runners - and sturdy little plants they are too!
Tell me - will they fruit next year?

[Beryl]

Yes they will but they do say if you pinch off the flowers the first year you will have stronger plants and more fruit the following year.
I can never wait that long and always let mine fruit.

Beryl.

[Elderflower]

Thank you - I`ll probably let them fruit too then - I`m low on self discipline and high on instant gratification

[Primrose]

I planted up a lot of strawberry runners last autumn, gave them a light dressing of manure and got a crop in June. And even better, many of them have produced a second crop this September/October. Poor things have probably exhausted themselves, but I'll manure again in the Spring and see what happens.

[Johnboy]

Hi Primrose,
Your Strawberries will be just fine treat them as you have done previously and you will have a super crop.
Hi Elderflower,
There is absolutely no reason why you should not get a good crop next year.
It is said that Strawberries should be replaced about every third year but I have been taking runners for the last twenty odd years and if a plant looks like it is not going to perform I ditch it and put in one of last years runners. You can easily tell when a plant has had it's day because it loses all it's vigour and the leaves are smaller etc.
I also run a rotary mower set fairly high and get rid of all the old leaves and debris at the end of the season. I will do this shortly. It is said that Strawberry debris harbours many pests so even if you are not brave enough to run a mower over them make an effort at the end of the season to clean the strawberry bed of all the old leaves and rubbish.
JB.

[Elderflower]

Thanks JB - I`ve been carefully doing a fingertip tidy of the strawberry bed - very tricky!
I can be a bit more robust then?

[Primrose]

Wow Johnboy, putting a mower over your strawberry bed. That's brave! I would never have dared even thinking about it. But it obviously works for you so maybe I might try a strimmer if I can pluck up courage. I'd been planning to clear out all the dead leaves which had dropped off by hand as they're all brown and shrivelled. I was wondering about leaving them there to overwinter, thinking they would help protect the crowns from frost. But I guess they'll also protect the bugs, so not sure what to do now.

[Johnboy]

Hi Primrose,
The trouble with using a strimmer is that you do not have control of how far down you cut so I would advise against it.With a rotary mower set high you are really sucking up all the debris and there is very little cutting because the upward draught made by the mower really does the job. It is not as brave as you think.
I must admit that very occasionally I have severely damaged a plant which gets replaced with a new plant from that years runners.
It really is laziness on my behalf that even made me even consider the use a mower but it does mean that the job is done in minutes rather than hours and no bending and stooping. I regret that age is the governing factor there.
JB.

[Primrose]

Johnboy. I'll take your advice and give the strimmer a miss. With ongoing back problems and awaiting a knee cartilage operation, I'm all for easy options at the moment. Unfortunately my strawberry plants are in in between gooseberry bushes (not a sensible plan but trying make the use of what space is available) so using a mower isn't really an option.