Field Guide · Propagation · 6 min read

How to Propagate Strawberries from Runners

June-bearing strawberries send out runners all summer, and each runner can become a new plant. Pin the runners down and let them root.

Written on the farm by Nathan Story · Story Thyme Farms, Missouri · Updated

Story Thyme Farms · Bench cardMid to late summer

How to spread strawberries from runners

Fragaria × ananassa. Rooting runners into pots

DifficultyEasy
Roots in3–4 weeks
CostFree plants
DeadlineRooted by early Sept
1Choosing which to keepKeep the first plantlet, cut off the rest
2Pinning it downPin the plantlet into a buried pot
3Waiting for rootsThree to four weeks attached to the parent
4Cutting it freeCut the runner, then transplant
Materials needed · Landscape staples · 3-inch nursery pots · Potting mix · Snips
Written on the farm · Missouristorythymefarms.com/guides/how-to-propagate-strawberries-from-runners

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The long version

Watercolor plate of a strawberry mother plant with a rooted runner daughter
Fragaria × ananassa · field plate

A strawberry runner is the plant propagating itself. All you do is decide where the new plant roots, and keep it attached to the parent until it can feed itself. Start right after the June harvest and you will have plants ready to move by fall.

  1. Step 1 · Choosing which to keep

    Keep the first plantlet, cut off the rest

    Watercolour plate of a strawberry mother plant with a long runner carrying one strong first daughter plantlet, weaker plantlets further along the runner being snipped off with scissors

    Each runner grows one plantlet, then keeps running and grows weaker ones farther out. The first plantlet on the runner is the strongest. Keep that one and snip the runner just past it, so the parent plant stops putting energy into the rest.

  2. Step 2 · Pinning it down

    Pin the plantlet into a buried pot

    Watercolour plate of a strawberry runner pinned with a bent wire staple into a small pot of soil sunk level with the ground, the daughter plantlet sitting on the mix

    Sink a small pot of potting mix into the bed underneath the plantlet, then pin the runner down into it with a landscape staple or a bent piece of wire. Rooting into a pot rather than into the bed means you can move it later without tearing the new roots.

  3. Step 3 · Waiting for roots

    Three to four weeks attached to the parent

    Watercolour plate of a strawberry daughter plantlet rooted in a sunken pot, still joined to its mother by the runner, a hand tugging the crown gently to test the roots

    Keep the pot watered like a seedling. The plantlet roots in three to four weeks. Tug on it gently, and when it resists, it has roots of its own.

  4. Step 4 · Cutting it free

    Cut the runner, then transplant

    Watercolour plate of a rooted strawberry daughter plant with the runner cut an inch from the crown, roots and crown shown at correct planting depth

    Cut the runner about an inch from the plantlet and leave it a few days to prove it can live on its own. Then plant it at the same depth it grew, with the crown right at the soil line. A buried crown rots and an exposed one dries out. Plants rooted after early September will not fruit well the following year, so watch the calendar.

Materials needed
Landscape staples3-inch nursery potsPotting mixSnips

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Questions we actually get

Should I let runners root or cut them all off?
Both are right at different times. If you want fruit, cut runners so the plant spends on berries. If you want plants, let a few runners go. We split the patch: fruiting rows stay clean, one nursery row makes daughters.
How many daughters can one mother make?
A vigorous June-bearer can throw a dozen or more runners in a season. Pegging four or five per mother keeps them all strong.
Do runner plants fruit the first year?
Daughters rooted by early September fruit the following June. Pinch any fall blossoms so the young plant puts everything into roots before winter.
From the plant library

Strawberry — the full profile

Zones, cold-hardy cultivars, spacing, feeding, and where to buy one already rooted.

Open the strawberry guide →