Pruning strawberry plants regularly is important to create conditions that can stimulate the absorption of sunlight and minimize energy wastage. By following basic pruning practices and learning how to prune properly, your strawberry plant will thrive and produce lots of delicious fruit for you to enjoy in a variety of servings.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Choosing the Right Time to Prune Strawberries
Step 1. Keep the leaves green and healthy all year round
Never prune green, healthy leaves that are still functioning. This is the part of the plant that produces fruit and removing it will reduce your strawberry yield.
In any season, pruning should be done only on brown or dead leaves
Step 2. Prune strawberry plants after mid to late February
Any pruning before that time can significantly reduce the yield of the strawberry harvest. The only thing you should do before that period of time is remove dead leaves and only from plants that are growing more slowly, that are not growing well, or are experiencing severe winters.
Never throw away healthy, still functioning leaves as leaves are responsible for producing food, for proper plant growth, and for survival
Step 3. Cut the strawberry plants that bear fruit in June after their last harvest
About 1 week after the last harvest, cut the leaves of the strawberries that bear fruit in June about 2.5 cm above the plant crown. Once you're done cutting, don't cut again until the following year-any early cutting will damage new shoots.
- Use a garden fork to clean the cuttings after pruning to prevent the strawberries from getting sick.
- Do not cut off late-season strawberry plants whose fruit is harvested in late July.
Step 4. Cut the June strawberry plants planted in matted rows using a plow after harvesting is complete
If strawberries that bear fruit in June are planted in a system of mated rows 0.5 meters apart, use the plow to narrow them down to rows of approximately 20 cm wide as soon as the strawberries are harvested. Prioritize removing the older plants and leaving the younger ones.
- Leave a distance between each lane as far as 1 meter.
- End-of-season strawberries harvested in late July usually don't need to be cut.
Part 2 of 2: Pruning Strawberry Plants
Step 1. Remove foliage from plants that bear fruit in summer
Plants that bear fruit in summer usually flower in late spring and bear fruit in summer. Cut the leaves about 10 cm above the plant crown-that is, the part of the plant that is above soil level.
By removing the leaves, you will give more room for the new leaves to start growing
Step 2. Cut off the old leaves to remove the heavy burden on the plant
Mature leaves have stopped contributing to carbohydrate production, but are still absorbing water and nutrients. Remove these leaves to help strawberry plants thrive without wasting energy on leaves that don't contribute anything.
- Old leaves can be recognized by their yellowing color and losing their aesthetic luster with age.
- Dead leaves will inhibit air circulation in the canopy and make the plant more susceptible to disease.
- The long stalk is the part of the plant that is old and can be cut at the base with cutting shears.
Step 3. Remove the blades to prevent nutrients from flowing to the cloned plant
Most strawberry varieties have toothpicks (also called stolons), which are horizontal roots between the main strawberry plant that extend above the ground. Cut the roots from the parent plant. Otherwise, the geragih will have its own root network which will eventually grow the cloned plant.
- Cutting the blades will prevent plants from wasting the saccharides they produce from photosynthesis-known as photoassimilate-in cloned plants.
- If the growing conditions are optimal (lots of sun and water), the moths can survive without too much impact on the growth of the parent plant.
- The saplings that grow from the rattlesnake can be cut from their parents to be propagated into new plants once they have roots. However, don't do this too often.
Step 4. Remove flower stalks from plants that will bear fruit in the summer
Use your thumb and forefinger to carefully pick the flower stalks off the plant that should bear fruit in June. Check daily and remove them as they appear throughout the first growing season.
- Find out about strawberry varieties here:
- Be careful not to damage the stems of the strawberry plant when you cut the flower stalks.
- Discard flowers only from plants that thrive (that produce fruit throughout the growing season) and from plants that are neutral (that produce flowers regardless of sun exposure). Also, you should only cut flowers until mid-June.
Step 5. Cut flowers when the cluster is still small or if you need vegetative growth
Flower clusters must have a crown diameter of at least 1 cm wide with at least 5 leaves or more to produce good fruit. Check small clusters and discard them.
Remember, the size of the flower will correlate with the size of the strawberry fruit. Don't let plants waste photoassimilate on small flowers. Therefore, small flowers should be discarded
Step 6. Remove strawberries to prevent competition between plants
Some people suggest limiting fruit in small amounts. This is believed to reduce competition between plants and make the fruit size bigger. However, this technique is still debated and some greenhouses do not do it at all.
Observe the number of fruits and their average size to determine if this technique works for your plant
Step 7. Cut the crown to keep the plant density stable in high vegetative plants
Strawberry plants can grow multiple crowns or long shoots from one or several axillary buds. By removing them you can encourage flower growth more effectively.
Do not prune young shoots because it can inhibit plant growth
Tips
- Each time before and after pruning, sanitize the equipment with isopropyl alcohol.
- Whenever you work on plants in the garden, wear sturdy gardening gloves to protect your hands and strengthen your grip.
