A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Question on strawberry plants & runners

hey been reading up on these alot as i'm putting some in as we speak My only uncertainty is this. . . when the plant produces runners, (which i'm said to prune all runners/flowers the first year, and let them go the 2nd year to make new plants for the 3rd). . after the MOTHER plant is exhausted and done for berries, do you pull this one out? And if you DO INDEED pull it out, do you clip the runner branch to the daughter plant? (maybe you prune the stem after it starts to grow roots & develops on its own?)

Please clarify Theres nothing i want more than to be frustrated with ill gardening to my own fault

With mine, which were raised by Patty up until a few weeks ago, I believe she clipped the flowers at the beginning of the season and then runners while the plants were producing fruit. Right now I am letting the runners go and as they develope their 2nd set of leaves, I am pushing them into the dirt in the same container. I believe mine are 1st year plants and are everbearing so they should still continue to produce fruit though I have not seen much activity in that area yet. We have just recently gotten a lot of sun though so I am hoping for more berries before the season is over.

You can clip the runners whenever they root into the ground, dont clip them before they root, unless you are pruning.

I just noticed that my Quinalt strawberries aren't making fruit but are putting out runners.
The main plants are so small yet, that I don't want them doing runners yet.
I'm keeping the main plants clipped until they're mature enough to do runners and fruit.
Quinalts will fruit on unrooted runners.
To me, that's part of their charm.
That the fruit is so sweet and soft is another big plus.

deb i baught the right variety then. thats all they had anyways so i was limited but in a good way i guess Thnx for the info. . once the runners go out to a good distance (i'm told 6-8" away from the mother plant) can i bury it in teh ground then? or do i have to let it get a certain amount of leaves high before burying it?

Danno, I'm no expert, just a container gardener learning as I go.
I'm glad you got Quinalts, that's kind of a funny coincidence that they were all the nursery had.
I like them because they are sweeter than any strawberry I have ever tasted. Like they've been sugared. I eat them right off the plant and they don't nake me pucker. No trace of sourness AT ALL.
I don't know about your questions, but one of these nice people will, I'll bet !
As far as the runners being planted, you don't have to unless you want to.
As I understand it, a Quinalt runner will fruit, but if you want a good sized plant you could plant the runner in soil, and of course not cut it from the mom until it has rooted.

I placed pots underneath my runners I am going to cut them loose in the morning.

They appear to have rooted. I have people that want the plants.

Now that is a good idea Pat. I am going to have to figure out a way to do that.

HI

I myself have always just plucked the flowers the first year,tucked the daughter plants into the soil around the mother and during years two and three gathered the fruit. Seems to wok well ont he everbearing variety.