Fall Strawberry Care & Plant Propagation: A Quick Water-Soluble Fertilizer Feed and Propagation Soil Bags

Strawberries are one of my favorite crops to grow in the garden. I grow them in the ground, in containers, and in vertical towers. If you have rabbits or limited space, I highly recommend growing them in GreenStalk vertical planters. You can get a discount using my link and code THERUSTEDGARDEN on GreenStalk planters.

Growing Strawberries Vertically (Use Code THERUSTEDGARDEN)

As the season begins to end, you have the opportunity to propagate all the runners that come from the established plants. This is a great way to save money, as a single plant can easily cost $3 or more. A patch of strawberry plants can produce well over 100 runners that produce baby plants. 

A strawberry plant can produce several long runners and each runner can have 3 or more new strawberry plants on them. The mother plants support the needs and growth of the young plants, through the runners, and as the plants mature, they eventually contact the ground and roots form. This is how new strawberry plants are established and move across the ground.

Strawberry Runners Looking for Soil

Strawberry plants are still active late summer and early fall before a heavy frost eventually arrives and starts their dormancy period. A quick drink of any water-soluble fertilizer is perfect to help them support runner growth and leaf growth for even another round of late season strawberries, if you are growing everbearing varieties. The feeding now, will also help them come next spring when they  wake from dormancy and grow leaves to get started for the new season. They will appreciate the available nitrogen very early in the spring.

Water-Soluble Fertilizer to Each Plant

Runners, in towers, can be a problem as they just hang there and search for soil to contact. One way to help them is to tuck them into pockets where there is space, but you still end up with so many dangling baby plants. A basic plastic bag that zips closed is perfect. It easily form fits into the tower pockets.

Soil Bags for Strawberry Runner Propagation

Just fill the bag with any quality soil that will hold moisture. A starting mix, your compost, some earth with extra peat moss or a combination of all them. Any moist soil will work. Make sure you cut a small hole on the bottom for drainage. Once the bag is in place, cut small slits in the bag (up to 4) and press in the baby plants. The sealed bag helps keep moisture in the soil. The plants will quickly root and establish a good root system in about 4-5 weeks. Once the roots are well established, remove them from the bag and transplant them where you wish. The plants will continue to develop roots and when the frosts arrive, they will go dormant for the season.

A Basic Strawberry Propagation Soil Bag

Late summer or early fall is a great time for the quick boost of fertilizer. End of the season care, once dormancy sets in may include mulching the strawberry plants to protect them from heavy winter ground freezes. Here in Maryland I do not mulch any of my strawberry beds or containers or move my GreenStalk towers. I leave them out 24/7. I have had some of them for 7 years. Please follow my blog and I will help teach you how to grow food.

"A Garden Wants to Give"Cheers
Gary (The Rusted Garden)

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel The Rusted Garden Homestead

Over 650,000 Subscribers and Over 2000 Garden Videos Designed to Quickly Present Information!

Visit The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop
for your Seeds, Starting Supplies, Fabric Pots, Neem Oil,
Peppermint and Other Oils, Calcium Nitrate and More.
The Rusted Garden Seed and Garden Shop