ROOT YOUR STRAWBERRY RUNNERS

Then grow these on for more fruiting plants next year

Freshly picked strawberries warmed by the sun are delicious and well worth growing in the garden. Early crops can be grown undercover in pots and the main crop outside if you can protect them from birds.

Although easy to grow, the life of a strawberry plant isn’t that long and after three seasons starts to lose vigour and produce a smaller crop. To grow new plants you can root some of the runners that are produced after the fruits have been picked. Only propagate from existing plants that are healthy and producing quality berries. Any weak plants not producing much fruit or that look virused with mo led foliage shouldn’t be used.

The long runners are the strawberry plant's natural way of spreading and if left to do their own thing a single plant will soon form a carpet of growth. When raising new plants, select a number of healthy runners and peg them down into pots or the soil to root. Often a runner will have several small plantlets along its length, but the largest one closest to the parent is the best to root and all others beyond it should be removed. Once runners have a good root system they can be detached and grown on for next year.

Finally, if you have more than one variety of strawberry, make sure you label them to prevent any mix ups!