This year (after 25 years of disinclination) I planted my strawberries through a black plastic mulch.

After the fruiting was over and as the runners began to sprerad I noticed that they were not rooting through the plastic as they had done before when I just grew them straight on the soil.

What is the technique for propagation now then?

Do I let the runners trail across all the way to the edge of the plastic and then peg them down?

Also what about the plants that are left ?

Do I get a second year out of them?

After I cleared all the runners from the middle of them , the original plants that were left didn't look particularly sturdy and even looked a little leggy in that the roots didn't seem to have developed that well even though the leaves had done alright.

I am hoping that these plants will develop better over the remaining course of the summer and autumn.