Tending to strawberries..

[Aspergallus]

I have a newly built fruit cage and am having my first really go at growing various berries and fruit.

The cage is against a wall in a warm south facing garden. The strawberries are growing from bare root plants in large guttering in rows against the wall.

I have small plants now, with flowers. What I am wondering is if I should prune the flowers just now to let the plants put a bit more energy into getting bigger rather than fruiting? What do folk think?

Btw we're far north of Scotland so spring has just sprung and our growing season is a bit delayed compared to southern Scotland and England...

I wouldn't prune them back. Just let them do their thing! My 3 plants 2 years ago turns into hundreds. I had to bin loads of the old ones last year and replant. They're tough creatures!

I've never done anything to my strawbs and they produce so many we cannot get through them!

Had to thin them out this year and gave away about 20 plants to a friend.

if you read about them, then most things say you should remove flowers from runners in the first year. then the plants put their effort into growing and become better plants. and you should remove any runners from new plants for the same reason

Thank you. So maybe I should if wanting stronger plants...but perhaps not if I want strawberries this season?

I have just had someone I bumped into the shop over the road take away all my extras. Honestly, let them do their thing. When they shoot out runners, anchor them, so they grow new plants. But you will soon be overrun!

We left our strawberries to it last year, didn’t get much from it. This year we’ve got in the range of 70 flowers between one mother plants and 5 healthy daughters from 7 original daughter plants from one mother plant that self rooted last year.

I think the second year is just generally better than the first but the first seems to be just as good if you have grown them from a parent plant and they have lots of room so they aren’t root bound to small containers.

I would just leave them as they are unless it doesn’t look like you getting anymore buds.

Two/three weeks ago none of my strawberries were doing very much, last week they started flowering by the end of the week saw in the range of 30 flower buds and this week I’ve got more than double that.

I also have hanging basket 3rd year strawberries that have done miserably this year, I’m going to propagate new hanging basket strawberries from there runners and get rid of the parent plants at the end of the season, and my new large variety ones this spring I bought from a garden centre a few months ago so far only have one flower on each but it looks like there is more to come in the next month.

Thanks, I'll go with the consensus and let them do their own thing, thank you!

I'm very impatient. The fruit cage was a valentines gift so feel like I've been waiting a long time for fruit!

I have let my strawberries just do their own thing for years. As a result I now have strawberries growing out of the cracks in the patio. The chickens think this is marvellous!!