Never buy strawberry plants again thanks to expert's simple free fruit trick
Few fruits embody the quintessential British summer quite like strawberries – so if you want to grow more of them without buying new plants or seeds in the shop, follow this easy tip.
Not only do they taste delicious, strawberries are a great item to grow in your garden because they last for a long time. Gardening expert Garden With Ish explains on his TikTok channel that the strawberry plant is 'super hardy'. Therefore, it can be kept in a bucket over winter and it will come back 'just as happy and healthy', producing about two to three years more of good strawberries.
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However, if you particularly like a batch of strawberries and are wondering where to get more of them, there is an easy trick you can pull off to keep your berry yields coming. Garden With Ish explains that clue is 'right under your nose'. This is because strawberries already naturally have a way of reproducing themselves.
'Strawberry plants throw out these stems known as runners,' he says. 'If you're not sure where to find the runner, you can see it's extra long and quite literally running away from the plant.'
'The runner is a strawberry's way of creating a brand new strawberry plant and a clone of itself. Eventually this tall bit here will start to curl round and it will develop nice big leaves.'
The 'tall bit' he refers to is the part of the runner from which the new plant will emerge. These are typically produced in late summer or early autumn after fruiting season.
He adds that you will also see a 'little stump' on the end of the runner which contains roots. If you stick this directly in some soil and leave it for a few weeks, he says it will make a 'brand new' strawberry plant. He recommends leaving the runner connected for as long as possible to the mother plant, as this way it will absorb more nutrients.
Once the runner starts to establish itself, you'll see the mother stem wither away. At this point, he says: 'You can simply nip it off. Just like that you've got a brand new strawberry plant.'
However, in the first year of growing your new plant, he recommends cutting off the runners. This is because it will redirect energy and nutrients back to the main plant, so you can get the most out of your fruit.
Commenters thanked Gardening With Ish for the helpful tip. 'I had two plants and by doing this I now have 22,' one wrote.
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