Moving strawberry plants

[gardenqueen]

Is it alright to move strawberry plants now? I want to put some of the younger plants in a new bed once some of the runners have rooted. Is it better to have just one plant on a runner root or can I aim for more?

[gardenqueen]

[chriscross1966]

Can I add a voice on advice for other times to move them.... I need to rework my entire patch this autumn/winter.... firstly I want to stick a bunch in a bed (guessing slightly raised, a foot wide and 10 feet long) in the cold greenhouse on the plot, what should I do, should I trim the foliage, when will they want a feed and of what?,,,,, also I need to pretty much dig up and introduce control to the outdoor patch.... three years ago I planted out about 100 Cambridge Favourites and about 20 assorted modern varieties whose names escape me.... two years ago I had a small crop of strawberries, last year nothing..... if I'd had time I'd have dug the lot out, this year I had plenty of strawberries, enough to make me fall in love with the flavour of homegrown ones again, but the patch is now basically a mix of invasive weeds, some of which are strawberries, so my plan is to put some lowish dedicated beds in and use a combination of mulch-sheet and wood chips to put a patch between each one.... I'm guessing 1 foot wide beds with 18" wide paths.... and next year be brutal with the runners... it gets a pot or it gets chopped....

[Digeroo]

I would suggest rooting the runners in compost in a full litre pot.   Not potting compost, I use the recycled stuff and add extra BFB.  Keep them well watered and fed.  By the end of October there will be a huge root ball and I find that they crop well the next year.

[caroline7758]

Thanks for that from me too- My strawberry. bed is completely swamped with grass. Think I'll pot up runners and plant them into weed suppressant fabric next year.

[ACE]

And thanks from me as well, never done strawberries before apart from ornamentals in flower beds. Good tip about the runners in a compost mix. I have been just putting a lump of dirt over the runner, but I can see that a better plant will be had if they are 'potted'.

I am going to make a small raised bed exclusively for strawbs, were they can be easily netted and properly looked after. so the move should be easier on the plants and plantlets now.

[George the Pigman]

Early this year I had the same problem - a weed smothered strawberry bed. I just dug all the strawberries up, chucked the ones that were too old, and dug the bed over getting rid of the weeds, then put them back in along with some 1 year plants. Got a great crop in June/July. Of course you will still get annual weeds but a hoe is a wonderful device!
Remember it's a good idea to have a mixture of plants of several ages. Then you can chuck the old 4 year ones and put in fresh ones. (After 4 years production drops dramatically!)
The good things about strawberries is they are tough as old boots!

[Deb P]

Strawberries are difficult to keep neat and weed free. My plot is heavy clay, and all but 5 of my first year strawberries perished this spring due to lack of water because of weed competition, totally my fault. The replacement plants I've purchased are in pots until later this year when I too will be moving them to a dedicated raised bed, where they can get the TLC they deserve and I can keep the blooming runners and weeds under control!

[gardenqueen]

Good advice, thanks very much. The one thing unanswered is how many plants do I let grow on a runner please?

[johhnyco15]

ive mine in a raised bed with wood chipping all around it i let the runners sit in the wood chip path untill big enough to pot on then they are very easy to lift just shake off the chippings job done i only let each plant have 1 runner  and 1 plant as i have a load but 2 or three perplant is ok i think hope this helps

[George the Pigman]

You can create as many runners as you want. Pick the best ones and chuck the rest.

[gardenqueen]

Thank you for the advice on how many runners to root. Will play it by ear and look for the strongest!