Propagating Strawberries
Who doesn’t love strawberries? My impromptu survey of the horticulture staff at Minnetrista indicates that strawberries may be the most popular fruit. Luckily for everyone, fall is the time to spread the wealth! Here is how you can turn one strawberry plant into dozens to share with your friends.
This strawberry patch in the permaculture garden at Minnetrista started with three plants.
Background
Strawberries can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Sexual reproduction in plants involves the exchange of genetic information via pollination, seeds, and fruit. Asexual reproduction is when the plant reproduces vegetatively, essentially creating a clone of itself. Today we’re going to keep it G-rated and concentrate on asexual reproduction.
A node grows adventitious roots when it makes contact with soil.
How To
When fruiting season ends, strawberries send out lateral runners called ‘stolons.’ Stolo is Latin for “shoot” or “branch.” Periodically, the stolons form leafy structures called nodes. When the node touches down on the soil, its stems produce adventitious roots. As the daughter plant becomes established, the stolons shrivel and break away, leaving a self-sufficient clone of the parent. That’s it. You can leave the clone where it is, pot it up and move it, or, if you are a forward thinking type, place the nodes in your preferred location before they develop adventitious roots. In ideal conditions, it is not uncommon for one plant to produce over thirty stolons, each with the potential to become a new strawberry plant.
Mother plants with stolons and nodes
Free Stuff
The strawberries in the permaculture garden at Minnetrista are abundantly reproducing, which is what inspired the topic of this article. After starting with only three plants last year, we now have literally more than a hundred. The Permaculture Initiative will be giving away the strawberry starts and offering tours of the garden at this year’s Living Lightly Fair. Come out and see us on September 19th!
Strawberry starts will be given away at the Living Lightly Fair.
