# Strawberry bed is crazy overgrown...



## sleuth (Aug 31, 2013)

For the first time, we planted 100 strawberries in a 4'x6' raised bed using the SFG guideline of about 4 plants per sq. ft. this spring. All but a couple took root and grew very well.

At first, we kept up with the weeding and kept the bed in pretty good shape, but eventually, it got nearly impossible to know whether we were pulling weeds or runners. Knowing that we wouldn't get any strawberries until the next season, we eventually gave up and let it go, figuring we'd do something about it in the fall or winter.:hair

Well, here we are in the fall and the bed is way overgrown with weeds AND strawberry runners. Anybody have an idea of an easier way to take care of this bed, or do I just have to do it old school and pull each weed individually?

Secondly, should I be trimming back any of the runners or just let them grow to ensure I will have strawberries in this bed for years and years to come? I know strawberry plants generally only produce for 3 or 4 years tops so I figured letting the runners go wild was a good thing. Now I'm not so sure. :help:


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

Water it well and then clean it all out except the original plants. If some runners have rooted you can keep those for vacant spots and for winter loses. If weeds have gone to seed, clip off the seeds and then pull everything....James


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

You have how many? plants in an area less than a sheet of plywood???? Way too many, I don't care what the SFG method says, and you now have possibly 400 MORE plants that have taken root due to the runners your original 100 plants set............

Hmmm. I think I would water the bed thoroughly and then set about hand pulling the weeds--24 sq ft. shouldn't take very long. Then, if you gridded your original berries, they will be the oldest and have the shortest life span left in them. So, I would take a very sharp trowel and start removing either the original plants, or what ones look the smallest and weakest....with the weeds gone you should be able to tell. And at this point, I would clip off any loose runners(those that haven't rooted), since they won't have time to get very strong before wintertime dormancy. You should aim to end up with a bed of twenty five healthy and strong plants to go into next Spring's crop--maximum, for that square footage. This is the time you should give them a last shot of energy by stirring and watering in some 10-20-10 type of fertilizer--a couple of cups should do it, then water it in and walk away until the first freeze. At that time you should cover them with half a bale of clean straw to keep them toasty warm until springtime warmup. 

NOW, with the leftover plants, you can make a new bed of about twenty five more. Use the same amount of fertilizer and cover them with the other half of the bale of straw. They should make berries next spring, too. 
All your berries will still have two months in your area to gain size and be set to go through the winter.

You will have to do this each fall for the next couple of years--no more than 25 plants, max, per that square footage--then plan to get 25 NEW plants each season and ROTATE into a fresh, new bed as you start a new one.

geo


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I cover my strawberry bed in a heat retaining, lightweight plastic (not black plastic). Then I space the plant out in a grid as I want them. 
The virtue of this is that the original plants fill up the openings and all the runners sit on top of the plastic and can easily be pulled in the fall clean up.
The plastic then deteriorates in about 3 or 4 years, just the timing to pull up the old strawberry plants and redo the bed with runners frrom the same year. 
This is of course for june bearers. The ever bearing get more frequent renewal so I don't use the plastic for them.


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## sleuth (Aug 31, 2013)

This is the bed's first year. I read on another site I should be clipping the runners for the first 2 years and then in the 3rd year pin some down until they root and then cut them off from the mother plant, just as they are no longer producing.

Now I feel dumb.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

You are right, first year at least, 2nd if you don't want any new starts. 3rd year gives you new starts for your new bed. Hey, you got them planted!!!! Clean up the bed and do as geo. says for a good crop next year. Do you know someone that needs some starts?

....James


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

sleuth said:


> This is the bed's first year. I read on another site I should be clipping the runners for the first 2 years and then in the 3rd year pin some down until they root and then cut them off from the mother plant, just as they are no longer producing.
> 
> Now I feel dumb.


It's not my purpose in life to make someone feel dumb; rather, I hope the info I give can help make any and all of us smarter and better homestead gardeners. For some really great information on growing strawberries, here's a site that is really good, and you can study it at your leisure this winter. http://strawberryplants.org/ You will see that the spacing for a strawberry is more like one per square foot than four--even then they will become matted, or overgrown in due time, requiring you to do some thinning or transplanting, or making a new bed. Think of the top and the root system as an hourglass shape--there's as much spread out underground as there is above the ground. That's where the big juicy berries come from.... 

If you lose it, you can find it again in the "Fireside" sticky above. Posting No. 6

Hope this will help

geo


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## sleuth (Aug 31, 2013)

jwal10 said:


> You are right, first year at least, 2nd if you don't want any new starts. 3rd year gives you new starts for your new bed. Hey, you got them planted!!!! Clean up the bed and do as geo. says for a good crop next year. Do you know someone that needs some starts?
> 
> ....James


I'll just transplant to another bed. Will take me a few hours but I can never have too many strawberries and if I do, I'm sure they'll sell quickly at our produce stand I'm going to build this winter.


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## sleuth (Aug 31, 2013)

geo in mi said:


> It's not my purpose in life to make someone feel dumb; rather, I hope the info I give can help make any and all of us smarter and better homestead gardeners. For some really great information on growing strawberries, here's a site that is really good, and you can study it at your leisure this winter. http://strawberryplants.org/ You will see that the spacing for a strawberry is more like one per square foot than four--even then they will become matted, or overgrown in due time, requiring you to do some thinning or transplanting, or making a new bed. Think of the top and the root system as an hourglass shape--there's as much spread out underground as there is above the ground. That's where the big juicy berries come from....
> 
> If you lose it, you can find it again in the "Fireside" sticky above. Posting No. 6
> 
> ...


Thanks. You didn't make me feel dumb. I just felt dumb for "planting and forgetting" per se. I should have done a little more research.

Thanks for the tip. I just bookmarked that site you gave me.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

One thing about strawberries, no matter how you plant them- eventually, you'll have way too many plants for your space. Even if you do watch them. I can't stand to pull baby plants out of the ground and toss them. So, I just let them grow and in late fall, fill down the middle of the bed. I'm not sure strawberries are good for SFG culture. Who could keep up with that kind of fight? No me. I planted 100 plants in 100 sq ft and still had way too many at the end of the year. 

I'm not sure why you were told to wait to the 2-3 year. I figure the plant is smarter than I am about producing fruit. If one fails to produce fruit, there are plenty more to take it's place.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

I have a slightly different recommendation. Remove how many strawberry plants you want, mow it down short, cover the whole bed with cardboard, cover with about a foot of soil/compost, then plant your strawberries. If you want a permanent setup, there is a way to do that, but in ground it is easier.

You start with a single row, cut off runners the first year, then only allow runners to grow on one side of the first row (now you have two rows). Cut off the runners that develop on the 2nd row. Now, you are on your 2nd year, have two rows producing, cut off all runners of row1, but allow row2 to produce runners on only one side. Now, you are in your 3rd year, you have 3 rows producing, cut off all runners, and can either mow down row1 or let it go until the 4th year. Either way, you mow down the oldest row, allow the other two rows to grow runners in the center row, and never have more than 3 rows. This allows a continuous rotation of strawberry plants. You can do this in a raised bed, too.


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