If you were late in planting, you should still get some runners. They will just shoot out from the sides and you can pinch them down into the soil. They are about the thickness of a metal shirt hanger and light green in color with little leaves on the end. Not that you need a description to notice them. I bury them just before the little leaves so it appears that the little leaves are growing out of the ground. Good Luck!

Mark:

Strawberry plants that are 5-6 inches tall are not yet mature enough to put out runners, but you should see them in a month or so if your plants are healthy. If the plants are on bare ground, the runners will normally root themselves under the rosette of leaves that forms at the end of the runner. New plants that form this season will bear for you next spring, even if they form late. Jewel is a very vigorous variety, and will eventually send out many runners -- too many in fact, and you will have to remove some of them to keep your plants properly spaced at about 8-10 inches apart. If you are growing several varieties, it's a good idea to try to keep them separate if that is possible. It might not seem important now, but at some point you will want to know which is which.

This is assuming you are growing your berries in a plot on the ground. It seems like many people who post here try to grow strawberries in containers, which poses a different set of problems.

By all means, keep your strawberry patch weeded. Weeds are the great enemy of the average American strawberry patch.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Thanks guys, this makes me feel a lot better. I'm fighting volunteer strawberries in my patch and wanted to make sure I wasn't accidently pulling up the runners.

Don,

I don't know if you remember but you answered my question about Doyles having production problems. They did get back with me and plan to ship to me on August 18th. They reiterated they have a 19 month return policy so I don't see any downside in planting then. The temperatures here will probably be in the mid 90s for about a month so do you have any suggestions on how often or long I should water? I have a soaker hose set up already set up for it in a raised bed.

Thanks,

Mark

Mark:

As long as rainfall is normal, I water at planting time and that's it. However, I do mulch heavily, both for conservation of moisture and long-term soil improvement.

This summer we have had adequate, timely rainfall, and in fact a couple of storms that were too much and caused some washouts in my soft garden soil. I occasionally glance at the national weather, and Missou seems to be getting at least as much rain as Northern Virginia, maybe more. I wouldn't think you would have to water at all unless the soil is clearly drying out a couple of inches down.

I'm not much for watering when it is not necessary, and I firmly oppose overwatering. So far this summer I have not watered anything at all, in the orchard, vegetable gardens, or berry beds. Everything on the place is growing like a weed, including the actual weeds.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

It seems that everytime I water my strawberries, I get ripe berries the next day. Don, I'm in NJ and my biggest problem has been the amount of watering. The tomatoes, blueberries and raspberries keep me busy.

I talked too soon because I went out and after I sifted through the straw I found quite a few runners.

Don,

What kind of mulch do you use for your blackberries?

Mark

Mark:

There are a couple of large riding stables within ten minutes range of our place, and I have a pickup with a full-size bed. They use wood chips as stable bedding, and are constantly mucking out the stalls, so the pile is usually as big as a small house. I have been hauling this stuff for more than 25 years, often over 30 loads per season, and have built up black soil over a foot deep in many places on top of the native Virginia clay/shale.

It is mulch until it completely breaks down, then I put on more. It was 94F yesterday, but I hauled a load anyway to cover between the rows of the 2nd sweet corn planting before access was cut off by watermelon vines. I am a very lucky gardener to have access to unlimited amounts of this stuff for free, but I am getting a little old for this kind of work on hot days. Each load is 12-1500 pounds, depending on how wet the pile is.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Was glad to see this strawberry thread. I have some strawberry plants mixed in with a flower bed. They grow great but don't produce???? Really, I had given up on them but was working them yesterday and they are healthy and growing but NOT producing?? Any ideas would be appreciated. They are heavily mulched. I wouldn't consider them competing either with weeds or flowers. The flowers are to the read of the bed, the strawberries to the front. Do strawberries need alot of fertilizer. I have not fertilized heavily at all. Thx!