Strawberry Plant Propagation By Seeds and Runners

You can you cut strawberry runners and plant them in separate pots, if they have already grown some roots. Otherwise, first plant the runners in small pots and transplant them when they grow some roots and get established.The strawberry plants can be propagated by three methods. These strawberry propagation methods are: from seeds, from runners and by division of rhizomes.

Each method has advantages and disadvantages about propagating strawberries, as discussed in the following paragraphs. of all the three strawbery propagation methods, the easiest is to propagate strawberry plants by runners.

Growing Strawberries in a Pot

Each method has advantages and disadvantages about propagating strawberries, as discussed in the following paragraphs. of all the three strawberry propagation methods, the easiest is to propagate strawberry plants by runners.

Growing Strawberry From Strawberry Seeds

People often ask how to grow strawberries from seed or even from a store bought strawberry. You may have noticed that a strawberry has about 200 seeds embedded in its outer surface.  Many of these seeds are viable that can be germinated into new plants. So the seeds from a single strawberry can produce a large number of new strawberry plants.

The major drawback of strawberry propagation by seed from a store purchased strawberry is that the seeds are unreliable due to the crossbreeding used to obtain the improved strawberry varieties. The seed grown strawberry plants may not produce similar fruits to that produced from the parent plants.

You can grow a strawberry plant from a strawberry provided you take out the seeds and prepare them for sowing. You can dry a strawberry for a few days and separate the seeds from the outer skin. Or you can blend some strawberries for 5 seconds and and strain out the seeds.



You can start strawberries from seeds in early spring. Sow the seeds into free-draining  seed raising medium in the starter trays. The seeds will be germinated in a few weeks depending on the temperature.

Strawberry Propagation by Runners

For a new gardener, strawberry plant propagation from a runner is the easiest way to grow new strawberry plants very quickly. It is the most successful and cheapest way of getting new strawberry plants. The new plants are clone plants that are genetically identical to the original plant, hence the fruits will be identical to the parent plant.

Established strawberry plants will send out multiple runners over the soil surface. Each runner has a tiny plant at its end and these can be rooted and grown on to produce new plants.

Planting strawberry runners

The strawberry runners, stolons are stems grown from the base of the strawberry plants, which forms roots at nodes at variable distances. These roots will grow into new plants wherever these roots touch the soil.

When to Cut Strawberry Runners
It is better to allow the runners to develop some roots before they are cut from the mother plant. If you pinch out runners as they appear, the plant will concentrate its energy on making large fruits.

Strawberry runners are very convenient to plant because they can be bent and planted at any desired location or even cut and planted at any place. Simply bury the tiny roots in small pots containing soil and hold it in place by pebbles, dirt, some clips, etc. Once the roots are established, it can be separated from the mother strawberry plant by snipping the runner.

Strawberry Propagation by Plant Division

Many types of strawberry plants will grow lateral crowns at the base of the strawberry plant.  These lateral crowns which can be divided and replanted to propagate strawberry plants.  In some cases, the rhizomes of strawberry plants can be divided into small pieces which can grow a new plant. The rhizome division, however, is not the good way of strawberry propagation.The mother plant can die in the process.
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