Repalce Strwaberry Plants Yearly or Not?

[ID jit]

Have been researching growing strawberries. Found some contradicting info which is confusing me. Some sources say to keep new plants pruned and let them build a root system and don't let the plants produce berries nor runners the first year . This is suppose to bring about higher yields in the following years. Other sources make no mention of this. Still other source say the plants should be replaced yearly. There does seem to be a decent consensus about plants loosing the productivity as they age, generally with the plants being 3 to 4 years old.

Application I have is growing the 48 strawberries in 8 SIPs. From what I understand, I will need to be cleaning out the SIPs yearly due to probable anaerobic / swampy stuff happening in the bottom of the SIPs and salts build up. This means the plants will need to be removed and replanted yearly with the mix being replaced. Seems kind of wasteful to me to just compost prefect viable plants which are under 3-4 years of age.

Original plan was to have was to have 12 plants / 2 SIPs each of new plants, 1 year olds, 2 year olds and 3 year olds, and at the end of the season, replace the 3 year olds with runners rooted that year which would set me up in the spring with the same combination of plants.

The two big questions I have:

1) Do I need to replace the plants yearly or is the original plan I had a viable plan?

2) If I drill a couple of drain holes in the bottom of my SIPs and use them like regular planters, and go back to watering more regularly, will I be able to just replenish the 70 - 75 gallons of mix since there shouldn't be any salty, anaerobic swampiness building up in the bottom of the draining container?

Will own up to jumping in head first into something which is way over my head with no real preliminary research nor well thought out plan and just a goal in mind. (This is so different from"Work in organic matter into the soil, plant plants, keep them watered, keep the weeds and bugs down and you get vegetables." which I know.)

[I do know the containers I have respond well to plastic welding. Had to repair an errant cut with a circular saw in one of them. So, If I do drill in some drain holes in the bottom, they could be easily converted back into water tight SIPs.]

Thanks much.

[applestar]

- What if you make a secondary open/close drain that is flush to the bottom so you CAN drain completely when needed or occasionally?

- I'm an intuitive gardener and consider myself pretty good at recognizing event patterns. I've noticed the discrepancy in strawberry growing guides that you speak of, and my albeit vague spidey sense has been telling me that the difference might be based on/due to growing climate and conditions -- with vs. without significant cold/dormancy/rest period for the plants and soil-borne diseases and microbes like pest nematodes in the warmer/non-freezing areas.

[ID jit]

Thanks for the idea.... sort of a convertable SIP/planter with a 1/4" PVC plug on the side flush to the bottom.

https://pvcpipesupplies.com/1-4-plug-t-850-002.html

Containers I have are rather thick-walled too.

Think you are spot on with the plant rotation thing too. The replace plants yearly thing generally goes along with green house, towers and such. Off production time may be a storage or soil maintenance issue issue.

[imafan26]

In my case, strawberries are very prone to fungal disease. In the ground it is less of a problem because if you have a balanced soil community the fungi are consumed by other organisms as long as the soil is not sopping wet all of the time. In a pot, the soil sours over time and strawberries are very prone to fungal issues. I have to repot my strawberry baskets every six months to a year just to keep ahead of any fungal issues. Cinnamon does help with that and the roots are sprinkled and soaked in an antifungal (physan 20) before being replanted in fresh soil in a clean pot. I would need a license for Subdue which works on soil borne fungus and it also costs about $200 a quart. Over time the older plants do become less productive and need to be replaced. They usually die a fungal death for me. I do live in the tropics and there is only one cultivar, Waihiawa strawberry, which is hard to find now that resists fungal problems longer. The temperate strawberry varieties are much harder to grow in the tropics. In the tropics the strawberries do not have a dormant time, but strawberries planted in the sun need to be mulched in summer to protect it from the intense sun.

[ID jit]

imafan26,

I'm listening and paying attention. Am in a much different environment; is almost becoming arid here in the summer and hotter. Am fairly certain certain, that if I don't make a prone-to-be-soggy mix I shouldn't have a fungus problem. Then again, that is just a just form reading and minimal first hand experience. Had plants in window boxes for 2 years and no fugal issues that I saw. Well no dead plants.

Am thinking the drain plug idea is a very good fail safe. The drain plug not only offers up a way to dry out any sogginess; it also offers up some good options on flushing the mix as well. I still have eleventy-billion holes to drill, so what's a few more.

Good thing is that I have more plants than I know what to do with, and I will be getting 25 day neutrals as soon as they can be shipped. Thinking on doing a wattle-walled hugelkultur bed to carry the excess plants for now and use it as a nursery bed for the new plants I will need next year to replace the 3 year olds and any non producers.

Your fungus, die-off and salts build up warnings are not going unheard.