Therefore, you'll need to supply at least one inch of water each week to keep the plants growing well. Do this in a single application , watering deeply to encourage deeper rooting. Apply this amount each week in two to three waterings if your soil is sandy. Managing the Runners Runners are the principal means for renovating strawberry beds. Root new runner plants early in the season to produce the best daughter plants.
Most cultivars produce an excess of daughter plants.
Prune out the excess, leaving only four if you have trained to the spaced row system. New daughter plants produce the best fruit the following spring if each plant has at least l0 leaves by fall. Set new runner plants in the hill system to alternate with the mother plants. Where there is no persistent snow cover through the winter, mulch your plants to reduce winterkilling of buds and frost heaving of plants. Leaving winter mulch on later in the spring can also prevent too early bloom and subsequent frost killing of the blossoms.