Guide for Multiplying Strawberries through Runners
In this article, we'll walk you through the process of propagating strawberries from runners, a simple and efficient method to expand your garden or maintain a fresh strawberry planter. Monty Don, a renowned gardening expert, guides us through this process in a video.
Identify and Prepare Runners
When your strawberry plants produce runners—long stems with small plantlets at the end—gently peg or pin these runner plantlets down so their bases are in contact with moist soil or potting mix. Use small landscape staples, bent wire, or paper clips to hold them down without piercing the runner stem.
Provide Proper Moisture
Maintaining good moisture is essential, as strawberry runners root best when the soil is damp but not waterlogged. Keep the soil consistently moist to encourage the plantlets to develop roots.
Wait for Rooting
Allow a few weeks for the runners to develop roots and new leaves. You do not need to dig holes—just ensure the plantlet sits on the soil surface and is held in place to stimulate rooting.
Detach Rooted Plantlets
Once the runner plants have firmly rooted and established themselves, cut the connecting runner stem that links them to the parent plant. This allows them to become independent plants.
Create a Strawberry Planter
You can root the runners directly in pots or a designated strawberry planter filled with quality potting soil. This setup makes it easier to manage new plants and keeps them contained. Place the rooted plants in rows or clusters to form a compact, manageable patch.
Timing is Key
The best time to perform this process is after the strawberries have finished fruiting. Once the plants are strongly rooted, snip off the stem connecting it to the parent plant.
Choosing the Right Soil Mixture
To help the rooting process, use a soil mix of three parts compost to one part sand. Keeping the compost moist at all times during the propagation process is important.
Encouraging a Bumper Harvest
This process helps to produce more plants and a bumper harvest next summer. By creating new strawberry plants for free, you can ensure a plentiful crop in future years by creating a new strawberry bed or strawberry planter.
Preventing Pests
Clearing away straw or matting from the strawberry plants discourages slugs and snails.
Getting Started
To start the process, select healthy runners with one or more leaves and remove stems from new leaves. Place the selected runner on the surface of pots filled with multi-purpose compost.
This method is a straightforward, efficient, and commonly recommended way to propagate strawberry plants from runners to expand your garden or maintain a fresh strawberry planter. Happy propagating!
While propagating strawberries from runners, ensure you take the rooted plantlets and create a home-and-garden setup, such as a strawberry planter filled with quality potting soil, to manage new plants effectively. By choosing the right soil mixture of compost and sand, and providing proper moisture, you can encourage a bumper lifestyle of fresh strawberries come summer.
