[Andy J]

Hi,

I've started this year growing my own vegetables and some fruit, Strawberries!!

I have a question which I hope someone will be able to answer:

I have my strawberries in a planter on the wall and I have been getting fruit now for a few weeks.  One of the plants has started to develop shoots and I know if they were planted in the ground I could peg them in place (I learnt that from Jamie Oliver) and they will grow in to their own plants.

So I want to know can I cut the shoots off the plant and pot them separately without harming the original plant or killing off the shoot?

Andy

[lucywil]

it is best to leave it attached to the 'mother' plant until it has established it's own root system. could you not leave it attached and put it into a small pot of compost?

[birmancats]

Hi Andy.  Best thing to do would be to get a small plant pot with some compost in and attach it to one of the openings on your planter close enough to pot the shoot into.  Given a bit more time the runner the plant sends out will get longer if needed to reach a planter gap.  An old hair grip will keep the base of the plantlet in touch with the top of the compost.  An old coat hanger or some strong wire wraped round the lip of the pot can then be poked into one of the planter gaps to hold it there.  As soon as the little plantlet looks like its growing you can detach it from the parent plant.  Good luck.

[sclarke624]

Lat year I had mine in hangers so was difficult to root into pot so I cut a runner off and planted it in a pot to root most worked one or two didn't.  Leaf on runner cut off was at least an inch half big though.

Have also cut a runner off and rooted in water then planted worked well enough.

Its not the way you are supposed to do this though so its a risk.  Won't Do any harm to mother plant any which way you do it.  

You are supposed to take flowers off in first year so more energy for plant in year two to make lots of strawbs.........I don't ...what a waste.

You are supposed to cut runners off, whilst fruiting.....I never do can't bear to waste plantlets/runners. You are supposed to root runners when finished fruiting.

I still managed to get loads of fruit of 16 plants and still fruiting (Elsanta variety).  Started with 8 plants some in one B&Qbucket and some in hanging baskets.  Ones in hanging baskets died, ones in B&Q bucket were too crowded.  This year they are 4 plants to each of 4 troughs.  Two troughs being plants in second year of life and two others.  Two other troughs being runners from last years therefore in their first year of life.

This is how it goes.......First year some strawberrys second year loads of strawberries third year some strawberries.then you are supposed to chuck plant away.............maybe I will maybe I won't.

The shoots are called runners by the way incase you wondered what I was talking about.

[gobs]

These shoots Andy, runners or stolons, will have nodes, where leaves and roots form, you want the first one, it will grow little rootlets without being pegged down. At this stage, as you can see tiny white rootlets forming cut it off and plant up.