[rogertb]

Hi chaps I am growing some new strawberry plants from runners, I'm pegging the runers into pots of compost, I guess I'll get a dozen plants eventually but it's not the right time of year to plant out, can I over-winter them or whatever ?

[Auntiemogs]

Once the roots are established, they should be fine to plant out (as long as they're watered) but should also overwinter ok (as they're quite hardy) if you don't have a space for them yet. 

[Beetroot Queen]

I am yanking my runners out the bark and putting them straight in, no problems yet

[Tracybutton]

I just keep mine in the pots over winter  connected to the main plant and then snip them off in the spring  when they show signs of life.

[pigguns]

I let them grow where they fall and then re-plant everything where I want it next year during the big autumn tidy up.

[rogertb]

Excellent advice thank you, so I can leave them in the pots (in a shed or greenhouse) over winter ...

[chrisnchris]

I have some strawbs in a terracotta pot, the type with holes in the side with plants hanging out.
The pot is really too small & I would like to transplant the plants.
There are 6 plants at least, it's all very compacted, how do I get the plants out without damage, or doesn't it really matter

[JayG]

You should be able to get the top ones out quite easily, and then if you shake the pot upside down you should be able to remove the soil and release the others.

My terracotta strawberry pot has lived in a remote, dark, corner of the shed for several years now - it proved to be a better home for woodlice than strawberries! 

[mumofstig]

Mine has got lobelia trailing from it now, rather than strawberries   

[chrisnchris]

Thanks, I'll give it a go, perhaps give a good soaking beforehand. Lobelia is a good idea.

[pigguns]

Excellent advice thank you, so I can leave them in the pots (in a shed or greenhouse) over winter ...

They need a bit of frost to tell the season.  I might be wrong, but I think they need to be allowed to get cold in winter in order to set fruit.

[rogertb]

Ah I see, so in pots outside somewhere ?

[pigguns]

Ah I see, so in pots outside somewhere ?

yes, if you like, but then you might have to water them and I'm lazy.....do you not have a bit of bare land? They transplant fine in the spring if you change your mind.

[Asherweef]

Ah I see, so in pots outside somewhere ?

I vaguely remember reading that they shouldn't be in pots with the cold (because of the chance of them getting a lot colder than in the ground). Last year I buried them, in the pot, in the ground. Proved very easy to get out...

[Christine]

I had a big clearing out of an old strawberry bed last January and potted up something like 100 rooted runners - big pots as I was given a lot from another allotment where someone wanted to get rid of them (pots). I've just planted them out as I was moving the strawberry bed after three years and because the onions were out there was a lovely big space - lovely big, well rooted plants. I'd composted with spare compost and well rotted leaf mould, added bone meal and fertiliser to get them bedded in. So next year .... 

Sure you need space to bring runners on but I do have a large concrete hard standing where I've acquired pallets to go on top free - not to waste the space eh?

And yes there were an awful lot of wood lice around the pots.