Mutant strawberries
Posted by Vicki from Montana zone 3 on 2009-06-13 03:25:00

Last year I planted several strawberry plants on the south side of my house next to a concrete slab. I could never get the grass to grow here and figured it was from the heat bouncing off the concrete so I thought strawberries would love it there.
This year those same plants came back with a vengence. They are 10-12 inches tall and the leaves are 3" x 4". They have tons of berries on each plant. Is there some reason why they have grown so tall? I have never seen strawberry plants in Montana this large before. I have been watering them several times per week and they have cedar mulch around them to help keep the ground from drying out. I have not used any fertilizer on them. When I planted them last year I used some compost that I bought, but did not apply any this year.
Any tips for these plants would be appreciated. Can they have to many berries on them? Should I thin them out? They have tons of runners, should I cut some of them off?
Any and all advice will be appreciated.
thanks