When it comes to strawberry care, most newbies probably have a thousand questions. This is completely normal, after all this is completely new territory for you and you have to learn the most important things first. We have already given you some interesting information about how to care for strawberry plants, where you can grow them and which varieties are particularly suitable for the balcony and garden. After a short time you will probably notice the first offshoots. What are they all about and how should they be handled? Can and should you remove strawberry offshoots or not? We'll enlighten you!
General information about pruning: Do you have to cut back strawberries?
Part of caring for them is cutting the strawberries. Thenamely increases vitalitythe plant, as it promotes the growth of new and strong shoots, and also prevents diseases.
How do you cut?
It is important that you do not injure the heart of the plant, i.e. the root rhizome. This is the part from which the strawberry bush sprouts again. The more old foliage there is on the plant, the worse the new growth will be, as the center of the plant will receive less sunlight. A lot of light, on the other hand, promotes the formation of flower buds and of course it doesa richer harvestresult.
The outer leaves and tendrils as well as yellow, dried or diseased leaves are regularly removed to keep the plant healthy. Always cut back single-bearing strawberry varieties after harvest. Before pruning, you should consider whether you want to propagate the strawberry plant, as this will determine whether you remove all strawberry offshoots or not. In the case of propagation, you should first separate the selected offshoot before cutting the plant back.
Strawberries reproduce through so-called kindles, which form on tendrils. These can therefore be used to grow new strawberry plants. After two to three years, when the mother plant has reached its maximum yield, this is definitely a good idea, because then a new location with a young plant is very important in order to continue to guarantee a rich harvest. So should you remove strawberry offshoots or not?
Remove strawberry offshoots or not?
In all cases they should be removed regularly. Firstly, in order not to weaken the mother plant additionally, because the formation of the offshoots requires a lot of strength from it, which it then lacks to produce fruit.
The plant produces the first offshoot shoots as early as May, so you should check your plants for this early on. Because once they are rooted, the task becomes a little more arduous. Cut off these shoots directly at the leaf axils, where the tendril sprouts.
You can also cut off the strawberry shoots if you want to multiply the strawberries or use them for this purpose during regular pruning - but then they will be removed at a certain time.
As already mentioned, cut the strawberry runners before trimming the old leaves and shoots of the main plant. You can then plant the runners, for which you should choose a new bed. How to proceed:
How to cut strawberry offshoots and use the runners for propagation
Want from offshootsGrow your own strawberries, however, do not take just any shoot at random, just the strongest ones. Also check the mother plant beforehand. If you give even the slightest impression of being sick or infested with pests, it is not suitable, as the young plants grown from it could also develop a disease.
As already mentioned, the harvest decreases significantly after the third year, which is why the old strawberry plants should then be replaced with new ones. This is also the best time if you want to try cuttings instead of newly purchased plants.
The best time to separate runners for propagation is late July to mid-August. Until thenremove all other offshoots as usualof the mother plant to ensure it has enough strength to produce fruit, and use pruning shears, not your fingers, to snip off. As soon as your plants start to bear fruit, you will get a perfect overview of which of your strawberry plants are the most productive - of course you will also take cuttings from these later (mark them if necessary).
Keep the children that are closest to the mother plant, as these are also the strongest and healthiest. The runners are transplanted at planting time. If they root in the meantime, simply dig them up and transplant them. Those that are not yet rooted can be temporarily cultivated in pots before you put the young plants in the new bed at planting time. But they can also be grown in potsoverwinter until the next seasonbefore transplanting the strawberries.
Important: In both cases, do not separate the children from the mother plant before the end of July or August!
What else you should consider
You should only carry out propagation by offshoot shoots once yourself. You'd better grab it the following yearnewly purchased young plants. The reason for this is that by propagating at home, the risk of cultivating diseased plants or transmitting pests is also significantly higher, and this risk increases over the years. If the mother plant is sick, this is also the case with its children. However, this risk does not exist with professionally propagated plants.
