Everbearing Strawberry Propagation in a Vertical Planter

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Strawberries are a fun plant to grow, not only do you get to enjoy their delicious fruit but they provide you with new plants…for free! Strawberry propagation is pretty straight forward considering the mother plant will do most of the work for you. In this blog post I will share how to propagate everbearing strawberry plants in a vertical planter.

I am currently using two types of vertical planters. One was gifted to me and has worked out really well but I have not been able to locate where to purchase another one. The other vertical planter I am using are two GreenStalk planters. This is my second year with them and this year I have dedicated both of them solely to the strawberries. There are a lot of benefits to having your strawberry plants in vertical planters. The main reason is that the berries tend to hang over the edge keeping them safe from pests and they stay cleaner which makes for easier snacking. If you are interested in the Greenstalk planters they can be purchased through Amazon here (paid link).

Let’s start off with some strawberry terminology:

Everbearing: I am most familiar with and will be writing about the propagation of everbearing strawberry plants. Everbearing refers to the fact that there will be two to three separate harvests of strawberries throughout the year.

June Bearing: refers to plants providing one large harvest, most likely in June. I have read that propagating June bearing strawberries is different from everbearing. I highly recommend reading this book, The Strawberry Story by Julie Bawden-Davis and Sharon Whatley (paid link) if you are working with June bearing plants.

Mother Plant: refers to the main plant; most likely the one you grew from a crown in the spring.

Runners: will turn into the plants that you will want to propagate.

Daughter Plant: The first plant on the runner will be the daughter. 

Granddaughter Plant: The runner may continue to grow another plant from the daughter and that would be the granddaughter and so on. I have had up to three plants on one runner. 

Let’s Propagate!

Beginning in late summer, July and into August, the mother plant will begin producing runners.

You will want to work with only the daughter plants and remove any runners that begin to grow from the daughter plant.

You will also want to limit the amount of daughter plants that will remain with the mother plant. You do not want to put too much strain on the main plant. Keeping all plants strong and healthy is the goal.

After three to four weeks your new plants will be established enough to grow on their own. Remove the paper clip and gently tug on your new plant. If you have resistance, then your plant has taken root and is ready to be separated from the mother plant. Just simply trim the runner and now you have a new strawberry plant!

So Why Propagate?

So why bother with propagating your everbearing strawberries? The mother plant will begin to dwindle production in about three years, so if you would like to maintain good strawberry production the mother plants will need to be replaced with either daughter plants or new plants. Everbearing runners can begin producing new fruit within three to four months. If you keep up this method of replenishing your plants with daughter plants, there will be little need to go out and purchase new plants.

I hope this blog post has helped you learn how to propagate your everbearing strawberries if you are growing in vertical planters and inspired you to give propagation a try!

Happy gardening!

Sources Used in Writing This Article:

I read two very interesting and helpful books all about growing, propagating and caring for your strawberry plants. I highly recommend adding both books to your gardening library collection.

The Strawberry Story by Julie Bawden-Davis and Sharon Whatley (paid link)

Grow the Best Strawberries by Louise Riotte (paid link)

Joy Simper has a full time job as a home schooling stay at home mom. She is the one that holds the house and yard together and keeps the kids in line. She enjoys gardening, including seed starting and propagating plants.