Strawberries not fruiting anymore

[seeyouinanotherlifewhenwearebothcats]

Hi all, I’m back with yet more questions 🙈😂 So my strawberries were yielding a lot throughout June but now have lots of (mostly) healthy leaves but not really fruiting anymore. Is it just past their time? I had been feeding with tomato food weekly when fruiting well but haven’t in a couple of weeks because we’ve had endless torrential rain. Would that affect them? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks 😀

Strawberry season is over!

@SlipSlidinAway 😂 thank you! At least it’s not something I’ve done! Total novice at growing here. What do I do with them now? Just leave them?

Leave the plants alone, but look for the runners, long stems with a baby plant on them. Either peg it down into the soil, whilst leaving it attached, and it will root, or do the same but into a little pot. Once it has rooted and grown a bit cut off the runner and you have more plants for free!

I just leave mine completely once they’ve finished fruiting. If it’s really dry I might remember to water them occasionally. They die back a bit over the winter but always come back strong. They are sadly neglected but seem to thrive anyway.

Ok thanks everyone! If I get the runners to root do I need to take small plants in over winter?

Strawberries are hardy, they don't need to go in doors. If you look for,different varieties that fruit at different times of the year, you can extend the season a bit. Nothing like a really ripe berry straight off the plant. I hardly ever buy those pathetic green topped straws in supermarkets.

If you don’t need more plants, just cut off the runners. They reckon that strawberries lose vigour after 3-4 years and need replacing, so it’s worth growing on runners from year 2 or 3.

The exception is alpine strawberries, OP, which fruit into autumn, so if you want strawberries later on,, it’s worth planting a few of them as well.

Tiny but so full of flavour!

My strawberries were really poor this year; great last year. Hoping raspberries will do better.

How old are they? They reckon strawberries need to be replaced every 3-4 years as they start fruiting less. Though mine, which were dug up from DS’s garden, have been going for longer than that with no sign of flagging

It’s only their second year

ARe you growing in pots or in the ground? Mine are doing really well, but they're in big pots and I repot them every year, I'm wondering if that's something they're appreciating. So if they're in the ground are you mulching them each year?

Mine are in raised beds; we have great soil topped up with mushroom compost every year

They get lots of sun in a south facing bed. In the photo they are in the end bed with hoops and netting

In that case they’re just being a pain, aren’t they?

😂