I planted strawberries for the first time this year. 20 plants in a 30 ft by 18 inch raised planter. Picked all the flowers off to let them establish. They have gone completely out of control though. There is probably 200 plants in the planter now and I cut off about 20-30 runners a week. Will they produce berries like that? Do I need to thin them? Cut them back? What are best practices for strawberry patches?
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You have no problem at all for the next 8 months…
(eventually thinning is necessary).
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Commercial strawberries are raised in dense rows like that, but you have to hunt to get every berry and it may increase likelihood of mold.
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If you want more… make another bed ready by early spring…
In early spring while still dormant… locate several runners that rooted from this years growth… they dig up easily and can be transplanted to your new bed.
Thin out your original bed some and start a new one. I did some of that this spring. Worked well.
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i found with strawberries you really need to be aggressive with thinning after the 1st year or all you’ll get is lots of leaves and no berries.
I produced around 100 gallons of strawberries 5 consecutive years from one planting of 1,000 plants. Little cultivation…once in summer…and fertilization in late August. (I started with clay subsoil…where the weeds and seed got scraped away…a key to keeping the weeds from taking things after 2 or 3 crops.)
If I had thinned the ‘baby plants’ the crops would have been much less.
(And when strawberries go to all leaves and no berries…the soil is too rich/fertile or the fertilizer too much.)
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hmm… i never fertilized mine. just planted in raised beds in bagged soil. think it was burpees organic soil. 1st year was great. lots of berries. 2nd year was half the berries and lots more of leaves.3rd year i thinned them some and mulched but came back with alot of leaves and few fruit. i sprinkled some blood/ bonemeal in after thinning. this was 3 different junebearers in 3 4’ x12’ beds. only ones that have produced constantly with no care were my mara des bois. maybe because they dont runner as much. got them in the same soil in a strawberry tower. theyre 3 yrs old now and next spring they will get a thinning early.
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In rich soil, or something such as MiracleGrow…you wouldn’t need to fertilize. But in poor soil, you need to fertilize in late summer…when the blossoms form for the next spring crop.
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Thanks for the replies. These are June bearers and my plan is to expand next year with some ever bearers. I know after 2-3 years of bearing they need to be thinned out but wasn’t sure if they’d bear when this thick. Sounds like they should if the soil is good enough.
I have 2 of these rows and going to add another 2 rows next year. My kids devour strawberries so I doubt even that will be enough.
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I put 50 pineberry plugs in a bank I was tired of mowing because it is so steep. I previously killed everything that was there with black plastic. My original plan was to cover it in sedum but other than ice plants that gets expensive quick. I got them in late spring so I did not get a crop this year but the pineberries have literally swallowed up everything on the bank. I do hope to get some without thining but at least I don’t have to mow is and risk rolling a mower or falling myself. Most likely going to have to relocate the sedum this fall so the pineberries don’t kill them.
i did the same thing for the same reason but it was roo shady for strawberries so i seeded it with shade tolerant pollinators mix. it sends up flowers from mid may till frost kills them.