Stawbs - when to ditch older plants?
AJK Plants
Posts: 40
in Fruit & veg
Just hoping someone can advise when you should recycle old strawb plants? I'm not organised so don't know how long they have been growing but I assume you can tell by length of the stump?
And will runners from this year fruit next year or take time to produce?
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i think i read 2/3 year old plants produce most fruit and then they get woody.
Yes this years runners will give a crop, albeit reduced.
Yes, ditch 3 year olds (they usually look woody and spindly) and the runners will fruit OK as Welsh Onion says reduced.
Three years and they get the Peggy Mitchell treatment
geddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatamy paaaaaaaaaaaaab!
(I always say thank you first though
. Mind you I say thanks to the cash point when it gives me dosh too........)
The thinking used to be not to allow first year plants to fruit. But with the more modern cultivars this is now seen as a waste of a year as you will as said before ditch the plants after 3 years. With lots of Free new plants from runners why keep poor producing older plants.
Thanks for the advice, I think some of mine were well beyond the 3 year mark. Will do a thorough weeding out when I get the chance!
its a tree year cycle with strawberries so you ditch the three year old plant on the new plantlets and the second year ones provide the fruit .
3 years is the accepted norm. I believe the original idea was to have rows of 1st, 2nd and 3rd year plants, so the bed in a large patch precessed across.
However, you may find that by the 3rd year row weeds are a problem, so it needs to be removed and dug over.
We are currently solving our weed problem and Strawberry beds by a method seen elsewhere.
1. Select runners and place in small 3'' pots with compost around August.
2. Dig over row/s and try to get as much perennial weed root out as possible and add compost.
3. Cover the area with black weed proof material and retain cover with plastic retainers.
4. Cut out planting holes, by X's and turn back the material to give a reasonable space for plant and watering/feeding.
5. When the runners have settled into their pots and have some roots showing at the bottom of the pot, cut off and transplant runners into the holes watering well.
We have completed our second bed on the strength of the yield of the last years trial. It was easier to pick, feed and water. Next year the third row will be started.
Wise minds think alike OlCompostHeap. This is exactly how i do it. The weed control barrier does this job and also removes the need for straw to protect the fruit from the soil.
hi there
i thought strawberrys were fine until 5 years so im learning something new already on here