"Christopher Norton" wrote in message
...
The message
from "suedaniels" contains these words:


Gosh, we've been growing strawberries pretty successfully for over 10
years
now and have never cut off the first year runners. We've always pinched
off
the first year blooms, though. What is the reason for snipping the
runners,
does it make for a healthier plant?
Thanks,
Sue


Strength goes into fruit or a stronger plant so first year runners
should be culled. 2nd and 3rd year take runners. 3rd year once runners
detached the original plant heads to the composter at the back. Thats
how it`s done over here anyway. We find that the plant loses its vigour
and the berries ar`nt as good after the 3rd year. IMHO I`d cull in the
2nd year as these are the best tasting for my liking, 3rd years seem to
be a bit hit and miss.

I have a nice area for strawbs in the allotment for next year and will
be doing a rotation system to ensure the very best crop for a few years.
Sort of 1 year, 2 year, 3 year blocks.

I like Strawberry`s!!!!

We have four beds of strawberries, and have followed the same pattern until
this year. We always took out the oldest bed each year and put new plants
in. That way we had strawberries every year. This year is the first time
we've done all new plants, because after producing last year they all turned
pale and we thought they had some kind of disease. Our whole family was
disappointed at having a strawberry-free spring. Hmmm. Is it too late in
the season to snip the runners? Our new plants seem to be recovering from
whatever paled their leaves and are greening up again. Maybe it was the
Roundup drifting on the wind.
Thanks
Sue