[chrissie B]

been cleaning up around the strawberries and found a whopper big and red so picked it only to find a horrid slug on the other side ugg got alot more fruit than last year and my plants have huge leaves they are sending out loads of runners , should i be trimming off some of these ?
chrissie b

[compostqueen]

Mine are the same. You can't see the fruit for the huge leaves    I'm not sure whether to start hacking at them.  I haven't done yet

[Plot74]

Mine have had lots of flowers but only small fruit. Again lots of runners and large leaves.
My plants are first years. And are very strong plants in a raised bed.
John

[sarajane]

Most of my strawbs were new last year so I will be triming off most of the runners they are producing to hopefully make stronger  plants for the next year.

The runners produced on the older plants will have their tips put into pots of soil so I can fill in any gaps later on.

I,m not having a great crop this year and have to be quick to pick what is there as the slugs appear to be getting to the red ones quicker than me 

[LilacSandy]

Most of my plants are 2nd year so I will be using quite a lot of the runners for replacements as I will be moving beds the following year, and they should be big strong plants by then.

I have loads of big lush leaves, but I do have lots of fruit and more on the way, however it does seem to be one for me and one for the slugs at the moment.  I am quite happy to cut the strawbs in half and discard the slug bitten half.  I leave them on a small patch away from the main bed to tempt them away from the new fruit.  I do not use slug pellets, I do not like to think of them dissolving into the soil and then me planting new crops on top, so I just have to put up with them.

[chrissie B]

i was just wondering when iv picked the strawberries will they send up any more or will that be it for this year , ive just been slug picking i through them on the shed roof for the birds , who said they wouldnt clamber over gravel and sharp stuff , ive seen them do this they must be the hardy geordie breed ha ha .
chrissie b

[Trillium]

If they're not the everbearing type, then that's it for the year.

Once your berries are done, your 2 year and older non-everbearing plants can benefit from a haircut, meaning, trim off all of this years taller leaves and leave behind the shorter ones forming at the crowns. Also manure and feed the plants now as this years growth and feeding will determine next year's crop. Some folk just run a mower set high over the plants, others use shears (carefully).

[chrissie B]

that sounds abit rough putting a mower over them , they still have berries and one has some more flowers the leaves are quite big i might take off a couple its like spageti junction with the  runners .
chrissie b

[Trillium]

I did say they could be mowed once they finished cropping.

The new runners will be quite low at this point and if you set the mower to it's highest setting, it will completely clear the new runners.

[chrissie B]

i think i will do it by hand though ive only got 16 plants .
chrissie b