A successful strawberry harvest begins not with planting, but with patience. Properly acclimating your new runners — the long stems that grow from a mother plant, also called stolons — is the crucial first step to ensuring healthy plants, vibrant flowers and a bounty of sweet fruit.

Once you have purchased strawberry runners from a reputable nursery, place the containers in a shaded area that receives plenty of indirect sunlight for at least seven days. Alternatively, plant the runners in the ground with shade installed. This will provide them with ample time to recover from the shifting ‘shock’ stage.

When the runners appear to be erect, with healthy leaves and new ones emerging from their stems, it is time to shift the containers into sunlight or remove the shade for runners planted in the ground. Early morning sunlight till noon is now the order of the day for them.

From a home gardener’s perspective, one of the best aspects of growing strawberry runners is that there is no need to transplant the seedlings later. In fact, because strawberries have relatively small roots and compact plants compared to other fruit-bearing trees and plants, the spot........

© Dawn (Magazines)