It’s true that the summer heat does make it difficult for many plants to flower and produce fruit. However, given the right conditions (i.e. water, shade, air flow, etc.), the peak of summer can be a period of heavy plant growth for many berry plants. Strawberries are a leader in this group.

More plants = More berries

August is not the end of strawberry season. It is a crucial time to prepare for a bountiful next season. After the plants finish bearing fruit is the perfect time for growers to shift from a production mindset to a propagation mindset. Though I’m no longer able to harvest strawberries, with a bit of focused intention, I can receive something bigger than berries – FREE STRAWBERRY PLANTS!

Established plants are working overtime to self-propagate – producing strawberry runners properly known as “stolons”. These are baby strawberry plants (from the mother plant) which will quickly develop roots and become their own established plants.

This month, I have two main jobs in our perennial, June-bearing strawberry patch.

1. Keep the plants healthy. This involves watering when necessary, removing any diseased foliage, providing proper shade, and maintaining adequate air flow.
2. Ground runners. In order for strawberry runners to develop roots, they just need to make contact with soil. I’m in the field routinely making sure that that happens. This may mean moving mulch to expose raw earth, weighing runners down directly to soil with pebbles, sitting runners inside containers of soil until roots are established, maneuvering runners around obstacles in order to reach the soil, and more.

My goal for next year is to 4x our perennial strawberry patch. I’ll achieve this goal by diligently propagating our existing June-bearing plants and sourcing bare root, ever-bearing strawberry plants. With at least 2 months of warm weather still ahead, I’ve got plenty of time before our first frost to get all the new plants well-established for my STRAWBERRY PATCH BLOWOUT.