How to Plant Your Strawberry Shoots

This year, our strawberries didn't get planted for quite a while. After we moved from our previous place, the poor plants just sat in buckets for months and months, until well after strawberry season. They miraculously survived though...

In fact, they survived enough to put out shoots for next year, and we might still get a strawberry or two off our bushes! This blog is how to plant your shoots so you can propagate new bushes from your existing ones.

If you have strawberry bushes growing already, you might have noticed little vines sneaking their way out of the bush. These are called shoots, and can be planted to grow new strawberry bushes.

It's really, really easy!

You will need some dirt

And some wire (and wire cutters). 

Make a hook with the wire. I just wrap it around my finger. You'll want your hook to be long enough to go around a vine and have both ends of the wire in the ground. If you want, you can make a "U" shape with long tines on each side of equal length. The "U" shape, I suspect, would be better for if you're in a windy area. I might do that next year.

Use your wire cutters and cut your wire so it looks like a cane (or a "U", if you chose to do it that way).

Then move your shoot so the end (where the leaves are) is sitting on top of the dirt where it will grow. I suggest using the leafy part closest to the plant, if possible. This one had a continuing shoot that went a couple feet out farther, but I snipped it off.

Take your wire and anchor the shoot down into the dirt.

Repeat for other shoots that you'd like to plant. It's best not to plant more than two shoots from each bush you're planting because it will take too much energy from the bush itself.

I have three strawberry bushes in my planter, so why not? I planted three shoots! One from each.

 Please ignore that dandelion plant there... the strimmer had yet to be used that week...
After securing your shoot ends to the soil, give them a good watering, and you're done!

The shoots will automatically drop roots into the dirt. Once your shoots have dropped their roots, and the plant is stable (give it a good two to three weeks, to be on the safe side), you can snip the umbilical shoot from the mother plant and your little ones will grow on their own!

See? I told you it was easy. Happy planting!