Cut strawberries now, then there will be more fruit next year
Created: 08/11/2022, 08:00
By: Ines Alms
After the harvest, strawberries should be pruned back so that they bear many fruits next year.
Young plants are an exception.
After the harvest is before the harvest: the last strawberry has been picked, so you can leave the perennial to its own devices?
Better not.
If you want to expect a good harvest next year, you should still tend and care for your strawberry plant in the summer.
The most important measure here is to remove old foliage.
Cut strawberries now, then there will be more fruit
As the
Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture (LWG)
explains, pruning the strawberry makes sense in several respects: It gives the heart of the strawberry more light and enables the plant to form reserves - because the flowering plants for the next year are already in the created in early summer.
In addition, pruning keeps the plants healthy and prevents typical strawberry diseases such as powdery mildew or gray mold (botrytis).
After the strawberry harvest, remove the leaves down to the heart of the plant.
©Panthermedia/Imago
The pruning procedure is not difficult: With a clean, sharp pair of scissors, you remove the outer leaves and offshoot tendrils.
You must not damage the heart of the plant with the remaining greenery.
An exception are strawberries that were only planted this year, they are allowed to keep their leaves.
Instead, it's a good idea to pile up some soil when they're growing big.
Further care measures after the harvest
According to the LWG
, the following care measures are also required for the popular fruit
in preparation for the next season:
Regularly remove old, dried up leaves and yellow leaves - even in winter.
Sufficient watering on dry days is very important, even if the plants are no longer bearing fruit.
A layer of mulch made from lawn clippings is also an easy option.
Remove newly formed flowers as they rob the plant of too much vigour
Fertilize the strawberries again around the beginning of September, preferably with an organic fertilizer such as horn meal (work in about a handful per square meter), compost or a berry fertilizer.
You can find even more exciting gardening topics in our free newsletter, which you can subscribe to here.
From then on, the priority is to keep the beds weed-free.
From December to February you should protect the strawberry plants from frost on the ground and provide them with winter protection.
Coffee grounds as fertilizer: 11 plants that benefit
View photo gallery
