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.