[RJR_38]

I want to redo my strawberry bed before next cropping season - take out the plants, fill up the bed with some new soil and replace some of the less prolific plants. When would be the best time of year to do this to minimise the effect on next years crop? Also, how close can I plant the strawberries together without impacting on cropping? The things I have read on the Internet seem to vary wildly

[JayG]

Your dead right about spacing suggestions - I've seen commercial growers with them apparently almost stacked on top of each other, and other recommendations of up to 2 feet apart!

I suggest about 1 foot apart in each direction is plenty, and autumn is the best time to move them - they've finished growing and fruiting but the soil is still warm enough for them to be able to establish their root systems before winter.

[RJR_38]

Thanks Jay - I was aiming for early autumn so that's good. And I'm glad I'm not the only one with spacing 'issues'. Mine are currently about a foot apart but I didn't know if I was being overly generous and I could fit more in the bed!

[Baldy]

My main bed has seriously underproduced (i.e. next to nowt) for the last two years. Its a bit overcrowded but the plants look healthy - they just never produce much fruit. I'm going to try growing them in 'troughs' made from pallet wood - taking up less floorspace by stacking them vertically (somehow) and along fencing. Suspect I could have fed them more comfrey and less nettle tea...
I'm thinking of spacing them a foot and a half apart in these troughs... might even need two foot?
Not sure what I'll put in the old strawberry bed - onions perhaps judging on their performance so far this year.

Pip pip,
Balders

[Nobbie]

I think 18" to 2ft between rows allows space for picking and stops the fruit getting overcrowded. You can space them much closer within the rows. I planted mine about 15" each way and found it tricky to pick the crop since the fruits from each plant were overlapping resulting in some not getting much air and rotting. It was a massive crop this year, so it's not like they were lacking nutrients from the close spacing.

[Headgardener22]

I've seen it stated that you shouldn't replant strawberries in the same place as you remove plants from as they may get "Replant Disorder" and not grow as strongly. It can also lead to a build-up of diseases. You should try to plant them in a different place every three years.

[JayG]

Thanks Jay - I was aiming for early autumn so that's good. And I'm glad I'm not the only one with spacing 'issues'. Mine are currently about a foot apart but I didn't know if I was being overly generous and I could fit more in the bed!

It has to be true that up to a point the more space you give each plant, the better, but although you have to take more care with closer spacing I reckon I just about come out on the winning side overall, although it's very hard to prove one way or the other - like you I don't actually have much choice though. 

[Yorkie]

I've seen it stated that you shouldn't replant strawberries in the same place as you remove plants from as they may get "Replant Disorder" and not grow as strongly. It can also lead to a build-up of diseases. You should try to plant them in a different place every three years.

Even if true, RJR is replacing the soil - which means replant disease is not an issue anyway.

[Goosegirl]

My main bed has seriously underproduced (i.e. next to nowt) for the last two years. Its a bit overcrowded but the plants look healthy - they just never produce much fruit. I'm going to try growing them in 'troughs' made from pallet wood - taking up less floorspace by stacking them vertically (somehow) and along fencing. Suspect I could have fed them more comfrey and less nettle tea...
I'm thinking of spacing them a foot and a half apart in these troughs... might even need two foot?
Not sure what I'll put in the old strawberry bed - onions perhaps judging on their performance so far this year.

Pip pip,
Balders

Like you I'm going to plant mine from their pots into some plastic flower troughs but am going to make one of those trestle tables with attached benches from some pallet wood to stand them on (she says confidently!). If I align the bench so it runs north to south, the plants should get the sun on both sides. Whilst still in their pots they have fruited really well and had no slug or snail damage at all.

[RJR_38]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. The reason I want to keep the plants where they are is because when I took over the plot it had been completely neglected for over 5 years and the only built thing was a semi- raised bed right at the front which has proved ideal for strawberries as it a) keeps more slugs out and b) has allowed me to easily attach net with nails I put in round the edges. When I got the plot nearly 3 years ago I just sick the strawberries in and concentrated on starting to clear the jungle. Now I am almost on top of the jungle I want to refresh the strawbs, improve their soil and possibly put weed membrane down as well.

[Annen]

I took runners from my four year old main bed last year and started new ones.  I kept the old bed going for this year as I wasn't sure how well first year plants would produce. 


So this year I had four 1m square beds each with nine plants (3 rows of 3) and the old bed (3x1m) with all the plants crowded in higgledy-piggledy.


 The new beds produced fewer but bigger fruits and the old bed produced mostly small ones, and more went mouldy and were misshapen than in the new beds, presumably because of poorer ventilation. I saw a definite difference between the crowded, old plants and the open, new plants bed, both in size and condition.


Some of the difference will be because of the age of the plants, but in my opinion much of the difference was because of the wider spacing so the plants got more sunshine and air.

[cadalot]

My brother in law used two 3" sq timber post and then gravel boards and made 'troughs' and then planted them about 8" apart and had great results, but said if he did it again he would make the troughs wider as they needed a lot of watering and dried out quickly.

Me I have had strawberries in donated from various people from the forum and on site, and they all seem to just not produce and then die on me. I have one plant putting out runners, so I'm potting them and start a smaller bed in autumn. 

All but 3 of my strawberries at home have died, I just don't seem to be able to grow them for some reason.

[Goosegirl]

I contacted D.T.Brown re- their Elegance strawbs and how good they tasted. I also asked them about planting in troughs. They said they were a good variety to do that with and suggested a spacing of 10"-12."