Targeted pruning of strawberries creates ideal conditions for magnificent fruits and a generous harvest. You can find out here when this measure makes sense for certain varieties and how to do it correctly.
What is strawberry starving and why is it important?
Pruning strawberries means the targeted removal of flowers and fruits on the plant in order to achieve larger fruits and higher harvest yields. Depending on the variety, flowers should be removed in spring to early June, which creates strong runners and the harvest is richer from July to October.
How to influence fruit size
Experienced hobby gardeners are increasingly choosing to grow remontant, twice-bearing strawberry varieties. One of the factors that contributed to this was the ability to exert an effective influence on the volume of fruit and the size of the harvest through consistent thinning. Here's how to do it:
- break out the first inflorescences that appear after planting
- harvest the two largest fruits from each inflorescence and eliminate all other flowers
The result is significantly faster re-blooming, which once again produces impressive strawberries. In addition, you effectively prevent illnesses.
How hanging strawberries benefit from thinning
On the balcony, hanging strawberries in the hanging basket and in the flower box are very popular. Through targeted thinning, you can elicit extra strong runners from the plants, which can even produce opulent fruit. You can achieve this goal with the following, uncomplicated steps:
- All flowers break out consistently from spring to the end of May
- then give the inflorescences free rein
The reward for this careful care measure is stable tendrils, covered with countless strawberries from July to October.
Target the flowering of climbing strawberries
In the professional care of climbing strawberries, it is not just the fastening of the tendrils that is relevant. So that the plants on the trellis develop as powerful runners as possible, the focus here is also on pinching out. Consistently remove all flowers by early June. In this way, the plant invests more energy in growing the tendrils, resulting in an abundance of fruit from mid-July to October.
Tips & Tricks
It's not just cutting out strawberries that has a beneficial effect. Consistently cleaning out withered flowers and leaves also contributes significantly to the vitality of the plants. This is especially true before the first shoots in spring. In this way you can also prevent infection with mildew. Also find out about pruning tomatoes.
