# Strawberries



## AnaWhitfield (Apr 10, 2017)

Last spring I planted 100 strawberries (different varieties) in two L-shaped strawberry beds (aprox 4ft wide and about 30ft long). This year they are producing like crazy and I am wondering if I need to remove some of the fruit so I would get fewer but bigger strawberries instead of a bunch of small ones. Any advice?


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

Gosh I wish I had that problem! Mine came through the winter but they just sit there


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## shea (May 23, 2017)

AnaWhitfield, my wife says crowded plants may produce fewer and smaller, but NOT too many blossoms.


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## GretaB (May 27, 2017)

Our strawberries look about the same this year. So excited! I read in a couple of my books to trim back the runners to produce larger berries but lower yield, or train to 7-10 inches for smaller berries and higher yields. I have been too lazy in the past to trim much- but plan on getting out there this week.


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## Pepsiboy (Dec 2, 2014)

AnaWhitfield said:


> Last spring I planted 100 strawberries (different varieties) in two L-shaped strawberry beds (aprox 4ft wide and about 30ft long). This year they are producing like crazy and I am wondering if I need to remove some of the fruit so I would get fewer but bigger strawberries instead of a bunch of small ones. Any advice?


AnaWhitfield,

You don't say if they are June bearing or Ever bearing. That will make a BIG difference on how much you get. We get nothing but June bearing, as they make larger fruit. Last year our 4 foot by 20 foot bed gave us about 6 ice cream buckets of berries. We made a double batch of strawberry jam and gave our neighbor another 2 buckets of berries. e are hoping for just about as much this year. Good luck.

Dave


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## AnaWhitfield (Apr 10, 2017)

Thank you all for your replies and info. 
My strawberries are a mix of June bearing and Ever bearing - I bought 50 of each. 
Anyway, following my original post, I spent 4 days pulling up hundreds and hundreds of strawberry plants and thinning it down to one plant every 10-12 inches. I hated to get rid of perfectly good plants, but i had many friends who wanted them, so hopefully they can use them. 
Before thinning them I was able to harvest enough to make 6 jars of jam and 2 large ziplock freezer bags.
Since the thinning, the remaining plants are doing well, some flowers, some fruit (not much), but I learned my lesson and in the future I will keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't multiply.


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## uglyamerican00 (Jun 4, 2017)

I was told if they are everbearing then you can cut the flowers of of the first cycle to increase all other growth to allow for berries next cycle


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