Cutting strawberry plants: how to propagate and rejuvenate strawberries

Rich in variety and available almost everywhere, the strawberry is the ultimate useful plant. However, not every hobby gardener is aware that these plants can easily be kept for several years with the right pruning and can also be easily grown. Here we explain how this is done.

Cut strawberries

The strawberry belongs to the perennial family. This means that although it is perennial, it retreats completely into the root ball over the winter. All above-ground plant components die in frost and sprout again in the coming spring. The first question for the layperson is whether and why one should prune strawberry plants at all. These reasons speak in favor of cutting:

1. Controlling growth 

Like most plants, the strawberry has an urge to spread. The strawberry plants, however, are particularly willing to shoot and form numerous runners. By cutting back these side shoots, the uncontrolled spread of the strawberry plants can be prevented.

2. Lazy

The strawberry is quite prone to rot if it is excessively moist. Even if infected shoots die in winter anyway, rot from the leaves can easily spread into the root ball and permanently damage the plant irreparably.

3. Lignification

The leaves of the strawberry plants tend to become lignified over time. For a lush harvest, however, these areas are no longer helpful, so that they are undesirable for the hobby gardener and can easily be removed.

Cutback variants

All in all, pruning the strawberry is quite easy rejuvenate. The leaf mass is removed and sprouts again, while the root ball survives in the soil and is available as a basis for the new, powerful plant. Two types of pruning have now established themselves among amateur gardeners:

1. Cut back the outer leaf wreaths, the inner area remains

advantages

• Leaves left in place protect root balls from excessive frost

disadvantage

• Leaves left in place can develop rot and transfer them to the roots
• Lignification of the perennial shoots

2. complete pruning of all aboveground plant components

advantages

• In the coming year, the plant consists exclusively of new shoots
• high rejuvenation effect
• no lumbering
• The risk of rot and fungal diseases is almost eliminated

disadvantage

• less protection from frost

The right time to cut

The strawberry can be cut back immediately after the end of the fruiting phase. As soon as you can no longer find any edible fruit on the plants, cutting can begin partially or completely. Only the shaping, i.e. the removal of the side shoots, should be done permanently during the year. Otherwise, new little plants can be found in undesirable places, which at the beginning of the mother plant withdraw additional power, which then does not end up in the fruit as desired. Side shoots should therefore always be removed if they are found during the regular inspection of the plants.

Propagate strawberries

Increasing strawberries always makes sense not only to increase your own strawberry harvest, but also to pass on popular varieties and to replace dead plants despite the care.

Propagation by seeds

First of all, there is the possibility of propagating strawberries by growing them from seeds. However, not all varieties available on the market produce fruits with germinable seeds so that you should pay particular attention to the offspring when making your selection should. The way from the seedling to the full-grown plant with fruits - as with all plants - is also quite time-consuming. Therefore, propagation by cuttings offers a sensible, far faster and easier type of propagation, for which strawberries are almost predestined.

From runners to offshoots

Strawberries have a very high Instinctual pleasure which shows up in the high number of side shoots that can be found again and again. This property makes the propagation of strawberry plants particularly easy for the hobby gardener. Because as soon as a side shoot, a so-called runners, is developed accordingly, it is ultimately an independent one Plant with its own root system, which is still connected to the main plant, but no longer has this connection for its own development needed. Creating new plants using cuttings is therefore particularly easy:

• Localize and release side shoots, remove surrounding leaves if necessary
• Put runners in the plant pot before they grow into the ground and let them grow there
• After successful growth, disconnect from the mother plant and insert the new plant elsewhere
• Maintain and care for new plants in the same way as you are used to with existing strawberries

tip: You can also separate your runners directly from the mother plant and grow them in a pot. However, greater care is required because the mother plant no longer supplies it.

As soon as a side shoot is used as an offshoot for the new plant, you should pay attention to the following things:

• loose soil facilitates root growth
• good drainage of the soil helps to avoid mold growth
• the high water storage capacity of the soil ensures the supply of strawberries
• Because the side shoots are already fully developed, moderate application of fertilizer makes sense from the time of planting
• Well-sunlit location leads to lush growth without excessive shoot formation

The shoots that arise when pruning can therefore be used very well to multiply the existing strawberry plants or to grow replacement plants for plants that are getting on in years. The purchase of new plants is no longer necessary.