How to Divide & Propagate Strawberries

Select a location for the new plants that gets full sun for the majority of the day. Prepare a planting bed of the desired length but no wider than 3 feet, by tilling or digging it up to get rid of weeds. Mix any organic material into the soil that you want to use several weeks before planting time.

Inspect the strawberry plants and select the best candidates to divide and propagate. Choose healthy plants in good condition that have many runners.

Remove the rooted runners from the mother plants you selected. To do that, gently extend the runner you want out from the parent plant and then pinch off the rest of the runners. Repeat the process with each parent plant.

Pinch off all but two or three of the largest leaves on each runner you will propagate before planting it.

Prepare a planting hole using a hand trowel. Push the trowel about 6 inches deep into the prepared dirt and then pull the trowel forward to create each hole.

Space the holes for each of the runner plants about 1.5 to 2.5 feet apart. Strawberries need space because each plant can produce 30 to 50 runner plants during its first year.

Place each runner plant in its hole so that the crown is even with the ground surface once you place dirt around the plant. The crown is the place where the leaves join the runner.

Spread the roots out in the hole before covering with soil.

Use the trowel to pull the dirt you removed from the hole back to cover the plant's roots. Pack the dirt firmly enough so that it holds the plant in place if you pull gently on a leaf. However, do not pack the dirt in so tightly that it crushes the plant.

Give each of the plants a pint of water after planting. Check each week to make sure the soil around the new plants is moist to a depth of 12 inches. If there is not enough rain, then keep the soil moist by irrigating until the plants are established.