Strawberry plants are fruit-bearing perennials that take a year or two after planting before they produce fruit in any substantial way. As they mature, most varieties will will put out strawberry runners, which are string-like stolons that allow the plant to propagate itself.
These horizontal stems extend from the base of the parent plant and contain nodes that can grow clones of the original plant, creating new plants.
The small plant node, which forms small strawberry leaves, will also form what are called adventitious roots, meaning they will seek out a suitable spot to root themselves. The formation of runners is seen on all June-bearing strawberry varieties, and on most everbearing or day-neutral strawberries. (Some wild strawberry varieties do not reproduce by runners and must be grown from seed, depending on the variety.)
You can think of strawberry runners as baby strawberry plants. They will either self-propagate in the right conditions or can be separated from the plant and planted as new plants.
Over time, you may see new, young strawberry plants emerge next to your original plants. These are the clones created by strawberry runners. Read on for how to successfully use strawberry runners to grow more strawberries.
What Are Strawberry Runners?
Strawberry runners, also called stolons, are small plant nodes attached to a long stem that grows from the original plant. These nodes produce small roots that allow for propagation and can be planted.
Can You Grow More Strawberries With Runners?
Runners are a strawberry plant's way of self-propagating, so using these runners to propagate plants can ultimately give you more plants, and more berries. This can be an especially fruitful endeavor if you have established perennial strawberry beds with plenty of space for the runners to take root.
Something to remember is that producing strawberry runners uses a lot of energy from the parent plant, and over time this can affect the plant's ability to produce fruit. Most strawberry plants produce for a maximum of five years, but fruit production tends to decline after three years.
After that, runners can cause the strawberry bed to become overcrowded and can deplete the main plant's energy. But transplanting the runners is a way to keep replenishing your strawberry bed with new young plants.
Plants produce runners after they've already produced fruit for the season. The parent strawberry plant and the runners form flower buds within the crown in late summer or early fall. At this point, adequate water, light, and nutrients are critical for the plant, as these buds will become flowers in the spring or early summer. The plants will move into dormancy as the temperatures drop in the fall.
When to Transplant Strawberry Runners
The best time to dig up young strawberry plants that have formed from runners is in the fall: late September to early October is perfect. This gives them plenty of time to get re-established and produce berries the following spring. Plant them as you would new plants you obtain from a nursery, with good organic loamy soil, mulching with straw if desired.
What You'll Need
Equipment / Tools
- Garden spade
- Pruning shears or snips
Materials
- Organic soil
- Straw for mulching
Instructions
Collect Your Strawberry Runners
Starting in the early autumn, look for the small strawberry plants growing alongside your main strawberry plants. Gently dig them up with a small garden spade or whatever tool you would normally use to transplant in your garden. If they are still attached with runners, gently snip them.
Prepare Your Strawberry Runners
To prepare your strawberry runners for planting, shake loose any weeds or leaf litter from the roots. Plant them in their new spot, adding some fresh soil. Strawberries like neutral, rich, organic soil. You can start a whole new strawberry bed if you wish.
Plant Your Strawberry Runners
Once you prepare the new strawberry bed, plant the runners. Make sure that the crown is above the soil line. Tamp soil lightly around the roots, and give them a good drink of water.
Water them every other day for about ten days to help them get a good start. You can add a layer of straw mulch now, or wait and add it in the spring. Mulching in the fall provides some winter protection.
You can also guide runners to ensure good soil contact. For instance, if the runners spill over a container or raised bed, the nodes can be guided to a pot filled with soil with the runner pinned to the soil in the container. It will then root and can eventually be snipped from the parent plant.
Care for Your Strawberries
Once your planted strawberry runners pop up again in spring, care for them as you would new strawberry plants from a nursery. Strawberries can be a bit fussy about water and need a good balance of sunlight, nutrients, and moisture to produce optimal fruit. There are a few tricks to growing healthy strawberries.
Harvest Your Strawberries
Your strawberries should grow as normal, and give you the first harvest of berries in June, depending on what variety they are. Sometimes, it takes the younger runner plants a year or two to start producing abundant fruit.
Be patient, keep adding more new plants, and your strawberry patch will eventually produce plenty of berries every year.
FAQ
What do I do with strawberry runners?
You could cut the runners off and dispose of them, if you don't want your strawberries spreading. You could also leave them be, encouraging the runners to take root and grow more plants. Finally, you could separate the runners and plant them elsewhere.
Is it possible to cut off too many strawberry runners?
No, it's not possible to cut off too many strawberry runners. Even cutting off all the runners is okay. However, make sure you are actually removing runners, as it's possible to get carried away when pruning and accidentally remove sections of the main plant.
How soon after planting do strawberry runners take root?
It will likely take a couple of weeks, and possibly up to a month, for new strawberry runners to thoroughly take root after planting them.
What are the pros and cons of using strawberry runners?
The benefit of keeping strawberry runners attached is an increased harvestable yield of strawberries, without having to purchase more plants. However, the downside is that runners follow their own, natural path, meaning they may not grow where you want them to and you may end up with a messy patch of strawberries.
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