Sunday, February 12, 2012

How do I get my strawberries to vine out instead of just growing tall?

They keep growing tall and get a few berries, but they don't spread and flower as much as they should. I know I need to prune them somehow, but not sure how.

How do I get my strawberries to vine out instead of just growing tall?
Sounds like you have Everbearing strawberries.



If you want the ones that reach out and plunk down "babies" nearby, you want to buy Junebearing.



Also, Everbearing flower more sporadically. Junebearing get all thier flowers and fruit happening at once, so it's like a strawberry-tsunami for 3-4 weeks. Everbearing spread their flowering over the course of the whole growing season. So fewer flowers at any one time, but flowers present for more of the summer.



OR - if this is the first year, and you just planted them - just give it a year. Next year you'll be flooded. I've always found them to be meager pickings the first year planted.



OR - they aren't getting enough sun. If they aren't, they'll live, but they won't produce as many flowers, with many plants eventually not flowering at all. My plants do very well with morning sun through about 1 or 2 o'clock, when they are shaded by a building. I have a friend who has strawberries that only get direct sun for 2-3 hours a day...and their production has been declining steadily for several years.
Reply:I would place a small clod of dirt on what looks like it could

be a runner. If they are not getting enough sun that could be a reason for the tall growth. I never knew of anyone pruning

there strawberries. Every 2 or 3 years they need to be reset

using new slips from your old plants. Try the small clod of

dirt and see how that works for you.

Good luck.


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