[rao]

Hi.
Two years ago I shared my strawberry experiences on this forum.

"I currently have three strawberry beds on my allotment.
A two year old bed of variety "Alice".
A two year old bed of variety "Albion". (Perpetual)
A one year old bed of half "Alice" and half "Albion".
All the plants were grown from runners and planted out the previous early Autumns.
All three beds have the same conditions.
By March this year the plants in the new bed were bigger and stronger than the older plants.
All three beds are now cropping.
The strawberries from the new bed are better both in size and quantity than the older beds.
This is particularly apparent with the perpetual variety.
I know that commercial growers plant new every year and root out the old bed.
If I can produce enough new plants from runners then I shall be planting new every year.
The only problem is that the perpetual variety does not produce many runners.
Last year, the parent bed only produced enough runners for half a new bed so I may have to buy in a few new plants to make it work.
To be honest, I'm not overly impressed with the perpetual variety, but the attraction with them is that they produce fruit until late September, albeit at a much reduced level.
All the gardening books talk about keeping strawberry beds for three years with the second year the best.
Based on my experience, I'm no longer sure.
Has anybody grown perpetual strawberries and kept them for three years?
I cannot find much useful information about them so any help would be appreciated."

Two years on I have sort of changed my opinions based on my experiences.

1. Having grown numerous "normal fruiting" strawberries I maintain my opinion that strawberry "Alice" is the best variety to grow for a mid-season crop.

2. Perpetual strawberry "Albion" does not work for me. It produces a decent crop during June/early July but very little after this first crop.

3. However, I have started growing a different perpetual strawberry called "Mara des Bois".
This variety is the best thing since sliced bread! Honest!
I bought 24 plants in the summer of 2010, grew them on in pots and planted them out early autumn. These plants started fruiting early June and also produced masses of runners. The plants had a rest from fruiting from in July but starting flowering and then produced fruit, albeit at a lower level, from mid August through to October.
The early runners were grown on in pots, which turned into decent plants, and were planted into a new bed early Autumn 2011. Exactly the same cycle is being repeated this year.
I cannot recommend strawberry "Mara des Bois" enough. The flavour is wonderful.
The only drawback is that the fruit does not keep very well after picking and I guess that is why it is not available commercially.

I have attached photos which were all taken yesterday (17 August 2012)
The runners were removed from the parent plant at the end of June. 

[rao]

More photos

[azubah]

I have grown perpetual strawberry 'calypso' for around15 years, but find that they do not produce many runners, so I still don't have very many of them. They did fruit well for the first few years, but are not very good now.
My other strawberries have been a failure this year, and I can't even blame the weather as others on our site have done well.

[rao]

Just to give some idea, my bed of strawberry "Mara des Bois" which was last years runners planted out early September (About 60 plants) has this year produced, via runners, over 90 new plants. (see photo 3).
With regard to fruit I am currently picking between 500 and 700 gms each day and the plants are still producing more flower.

[azubah]

Whereabouts in the country are you?

[rao]

Hythe, Kent

About 0.5 miles from the sea.
Usually very mild with few late frosts.
But, very very dry.

[azubah]

It must be a good area for strawberries even if it is dry. It has been very wet here in the midlands and the few berries I saw have rotted or been eaten by slugs.

[Dazzer]

Have you changed your mind about the best replanting cycle? 2 or 3 years?

[azubah]

I intend to set out another strawberry bed this year when I have the space, but leave the old bed as it is so that I will get fruit from the old bed..I hope.. whilst the new bed is settling in.

[rao]

I root the runners in small pots when they first appear. These are then watered every day and separated from the parent plant as soon as small white roots appear at the bottom.
These plants are then grown on and I plant them into the bed beginning of September.
Before planting out, most of these new plants produce flower and if allowed fruit before planting. ( I do remove all the flowering stems when they appear.)
The following season these first year plants produce the same yield as the second year plants.
What I have found is that if I keep the bed for a further year the yield falls.
So my strawberry beds are now replaced every two years as long as I can produce enough new plants from the runners.
This regime did not work with strawberry "Albion" because very few runners were produced.
Incidentally, I have  propagated new plants by digging up the old plant and breaking off pieces of the root. This method seems to work ok but success rate is less than 50%.

[rao]

 Just to clarify, the main crown seems to produce smaller side crowns. It is these side crowns that I have used to make the new plants. I will take a photo to give some idea of what these side crown plants look like. These "side crown" plants were removed from the main crown about 5 weeks ago. All the foliage is new growth.