Everbearing Strawberries Not Producing Fruit?

Q: I have a question about everbearing strawberries. I have tried everything, but they do not produce strawberries all year long. Once they start too throw there chutes they quit producing. I get 1 batch from them and that is it. I have put pine needles around them and water them just about every day. Some of them are in sand with dirt mixed in, but I do have some in just dirt and they do the same. Do I let the chutes go or cut them off. What else can I do?

Hardiness Zone: 5a

Thank You,
Joyce wis from Janesville, WI

A: Joyce,

Everbearing strawberries usually produce two to three crops each season-one in the spring and another one or two smaller crops toward fall. Since you have already pinpointed that your plants stop producing when they start throwing out runners, I would definitely reel them in by cutting at least some of them off.

Also make sure that you renovate your beds in the fall (set the lawn mower to 1 1/2 to 2 inches and mow down the leaves and stems) and add some compost over the entire bed. Try applying a fertilizer specially designed for fruit crops. It could be that your plants just don't have enough steam to produce a second crop.

Did you train them the first season-forgoing berries for the first few months in favor of developing strong roots)? If not, maybe they didn't get a strong enough start to produce multiple crops. Depending on the age of your plants, not renovating the beds will result in a loss of productivity also. The University of Wisconsin Extension Office has a great publication entitled "Growing Strawberries in Wisconsin."

Ellen