aqh88 wrote:I just planted strawberries this year. I did 24 plants in a rectangle. My plan was to pull all the runners they send out this year which has already been 3 but otherwise let them flower and do their thing. We've already had some flower and start producing berries. Then next year let the runners develop, collect them, and plant them in an identical sized rectangle that is already setup next to the current strawberry patch. Once those new plants are established after a year or 2 we'll dig up the old plants and repeat the same process with the new patch. Wait a year, harvest the runners, replant, and continue. I'm hoping that keeps the strawberries from making a thick patch full of runners and keeps healthy plants with plenty of large berries. It also means I can till in compost to each patch every few years when we dig up the old plants. Currently the empty section of strawberry patch is being used to grow melons and lettuce.
I have taken the time to use popsicle sticks and numbered each plant, and logged & tracked like a genealogy. Thus after 1/2 year in 2006 and the first half of 2007. I now have full knowledge of plants who do the runners and/or berries. Thus I am moving the slow movers into pots and using that space for new ones.
My berry production has increased 300% and I gone from at the start with 62 ot 145. Purchased 50 more and I also have 60 runners so far this year.
Not sure if this is my quirk but I have an issue destroying any plant, so the slow movers are kept but in a pot, expect to flush out the best if any and I might get the motivation to just chuck them by the fall.
I don't mow them because they are in a raised garden so I pluck the lower leaves throughout the season, they are usually already brown, or have turned the red/orange. The only color I want is the flower and a red berry.