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When I moved into my house last year I found a bed of (unmaintained) strawberries which despite that were fruiting quite well. This spring I cleaned up and dug out all of them and removed weeds. Then I replanted them randomly into the same bed and because they were so many into 3 other beds close by.

All of them worked and they produced quite a lot of fruits in the first round. Now the second round has started and the plants on the original bed are fruiting very nicely. On the other 3 beds only very few plants are flowering again, but they build a lot of huge leaves and daughter plants.

1) Is the creation of daughters and fruits exclusive? (I have one plant which flowers and has daughters (which themselves are flowering) out of 40 plants).

2) I put some compost tea on them once a month for three months just to see what happens. What (else) can I do to encourage flowering? This year or next year?

Update: I forgot the add in my original question that when I replanted them I haven't put anything into the soil: no compost, no fertilizer, no manure. I wanted to see what happens, gather conclusions what to do with the soil next time. Hence my question. Thanks for the ideas so far.

Patrick B.
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3 Answers3

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Are you certain they are all the same type of strawberry? My strawberry bed has a mix of June bearing and Everbearing plants - the June bearers flower once in the spring, the everbearers flower at about the same time in the spring, and are flowering again right now. If you have a mix, it could be that the plants which are not flowering are your June bearers.

michelle
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  • As I moved into the house when the Strawberries have been there already I don't know whether they are the same kind or not. But as I replanted them randomly on the 4 beds I doubt that I exactly planted the same kind on one bed and one three others a different one. – Patrick B. Aug 15 '12 at 11:38
  • I changed my mind, I think you are right regarding the type... if I look at the leaves of those which are flowering and which aren't I see difference in size and count and color. – Patrick B. Sep 17 '12 at 06:01
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Maybe the soil on the other three beds is just more fertile? Lots of nitrogen can encourage plants to grow green instead of flowering and fruiting. In such case adding more fertilizer won't help, it could rather make things worse.

Jacek Konieczny
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  • That's possible. But this doesn't help me further. How can encourage flowering? Does too much nitrogen also encourage daughter plants? What makes a plant decide to produce daughter instead of flowers if it's not nitrogen (in case that is mutually exclusive). – Patrick B. Aug 14 '12 at 19:55
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Potash encourages flowering and fruiting but don't overdo it. Cut off shoots that will produce daughter plants, otherwise you end up with a "lawn" of low yielding strawberries.

Chris
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