[gavinjconway]

Hi - im a newbie to Strawberries... I rescued some plants from a neighbour who forgot to water them and gave them to me to bring back to life... I planted them 3 each to a 5" deep x 18" long tub - only lost one plant...  

I have just taken over a new garden share plot and want to do lots of strawberries to make jam as grandad gave up his allotment so no more jam!! eeks!!

My plants have given off many runners now so I have placed lots more tubs around the others and training them into them to grow - I assume I would snip the runner off the mother plant when the runner has rooted and growing well..

My question is - am I doing the right thing and when do I dig up the new runners and plant them either in big tubs on my patio and flat roof or into the ground at my plot.. I'm undecided here to grow them. home or away situation.  

When should I replant the main plants into my plot if I decide to plant out at the plot?

[Trillium]

The easiest way around this is to pop the runner's leafing end into a small pot of compost, whichis partly buried in the ground. The runner needs time to set good roots before you can safely snip it away from the parent plant. Being in a pot, when it's got good roots, you can plant it out anytime, just be sure to keep the same soil level or there will be problems.

Strawb plants live a maximum of 5 years before they die off, so its hard to know what age your original plants are. Runners are a good way to get new plants started. Prepare the new areas well with lots of manure, compost, BFB, etc and regularly water them. It can be open ground or pots, but if you can find space, open ground will yield more copiously.

[chrissie B]

i got 6 plants and only had a handfull of strawberries , the plants are healthy looking and one has a runner wich has rooted on its own , what should i do with them in the winter will they freeze  ??
chrissie b   sorry to hijack your post

[gavinjconway]

No probs Chrissie... they are fine in the winter.. my grandad is in Scotland and his just keep going ..

[gazza975526570]

Ive potted into small pots the runners of about 40 plants today. Gotta admit i love the way you get free plants each year from them!!

[gavinjconway]

cool - I need some please !!!

[Rangerkris]

Iv'e done a load to this last week keep them wet at the roots to help them start of well. My dad always used to grow them on in old milk bottles.