[dumplings]

Hi i have a strawberry bed with about 40 plants, they are four or five years old, I intend to move the bed and renew the plants, would it be best to grow new plants from seed, or harvest the runners and plant those out later this year? My concern is that the runners will be from old plants and not very good, but the plants from seeds will not fruit next year? Which do you think would be best?
thank you

[Headgardener22]

I thought the received wisdom was to take new plants from runners.

I was planning to do the same next year and I've been out and bought six new plants from a garden centre (of six different varieties with different cropping times), I've put them into pots and will take runners from them to make the plants to go in at the end of this year.

That way I plan to start with defined varieties and fresh plants because the ones I've got at the allotment are all mixed up after a few years of growing.

[mjpalin]

I'd definitely take new plants from the runners. Plants grown from seed never seem to be as strong, and in my opinion seem to produce much smaller berries.

[lochnesslass]

Can I also ask is it OK to move strawberry plants at the moment.thanks

[Headgardener22]

Can I also ask is it OK to move strawberry plants at the moment.thanks

I don't think I would if you don't have to, my straberries are just beginning to flower. They would recover but it might knock them back a bit. All depends how big they are, how much you disturb the roots, etc..