Replanting Strawberries

lawrie28

Evening All!

I currently have al my strawberries in small trough planters (32cm long, 10cm deep), with 2 plants in each trough.

I can plant these out into beds, (75x75cm 15cm deep) but was wondering 2 things.

Firstly, will I get much more fruit from them in the larger beds?
Secondly, will moving them damage the plants at all and reduce the amount of fruit they produce?

I am happy to leave them where they are, but would like to maximise them.

Thanks

TonyMMM

I have planters not much bigger than that with 6 plants in each - currently covered in flowers & fruit, so I would leave them where they are (not the time to be moving them anyway).

valk_scot

How old are the plants? Basically in the first year you should deflower strawberry plants to stop them fruiting and allow them to build up their strength. Then you'll get a great crop the following year and in the third year more berries but smaller. This same third year you should be starting off new plants for the following year, as after three years the plants are past their best.

However, other folk buy pot grown plants from the garden centre for cropping this year and I suspect that's what you've done, given that you've planted them in such tiny containers. A fully cropping strawberry plant needs a space of 30cm x 30cm and a good depth of soil. You could get four in a bed 75cm x 75cm, but the depth is pretty shallow. When you say your beds are 15cm deep, is this their height above the ground? Or are they set on concrete or something, in which case they're not beds, just big shallow pots.

Whatever, you're best moving them with as little root disturbance as possible. Two plants in a miniature trough will give you practically nothing, unless you're feeding and watering daily.