Yes: Alpine strawberries do not reproduce by runners. They can only be reproduced by seeds or tissue culture. Alpine strawberries get rather large....could fit in a 5 gallon pot pretty easily.

I have been growing many different varieties of strawberries and doing research so i can say that true alpine strawberries do not produce runners. From seed they are fun to watch grow!

Sorry to contradict you, but "They can only be reproduced by seeds or tissue culture"? Um, easy to divide them, you can take a large, mature clump and generally make many divisions out of it.

They do not have runners, but once established they easily self-seed. Mrs. G

If you poke around at this website, you will find a chart that ID's which alpines run and which don't. The musks always run, but with alpines it varies with variety.

Good luck! I have these scattered here and there around my property compliments of a previous owner. Not nearly as productive as cultivated strawberries, but a nice presence.

Here is a link that might be useful: strawberry store

I have some Alpine Strawberries and they have never sent out a runner as long as I've had them. They are a nice decorative plant but the berries aren't very much like common strawberries. They are very small and have a different sort of flavor, and there aren't very many of them. I like them as an oddity but wouldn't replace my other strawberries with them.

My Alexandria alpine strawberries are just over a year old, and they definitely seem to be clump growers with no runners so far. I successively divided several of the largest plants this year. The process was a snap, and all three of the new plants have thrived. Given their impressive growth, I'll definitely be able to divide the original plants again soon.

Yes. This variety said that they are "perennial clumps" that can be divided or by seed. They said that the seed had to be pollinated or something (Im sure it wasnt "pollinated" but they used a certain word that I cant remember). I dont mind dividing the clumps, Im used to it with my orchids:-)

I have noticed the strawberries do look small but have a nice red color. So far the seeds I planted 2 weeks ago have come up. I have 4 showing now. It was just a stupid little $3 pot with grow medium and 10 seeds from big lots so I said what the heck. I want to transplant them into a bigger pot that is about 3'x 2' and about 1.5' deep.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

The alpines do indeed form clumps and do not runner. They are a lovely little berry but if you expect to substitute them for the typical June or everbearing berry for home consumption, you'll be disappointed.

I grew them many years ago and used them for ground cover purposes, a use they filled very well. The berries were just an added benefit. They are very pungent and delicious and some years had enough harvest to keep us in garnish and a run of jam. But if you want serious berry production, it may not be your choice of varieties. The chipmunks adored the alpines, btw and I had to fight them for the fruit. They were also pretty care-free and we maintained the bed by occasional weeding.

So what is a good June bearing variety with large tasty fruit?

It's probably going to depend on your locality. The local extension department might be able to help you decide, or if you know of any local pick your owns, pick the owner's brains. They stay up on the most popular varieties and are constantly trialing new ones. Myself, I go for taste above size and don't necessarily want the biggest berries, just so long as they are prolific and taste is my biggest criteria.

Yes I would go for taste as well. We have alot of strawberry fields around here. I remember as a kid sneaking into the fields and filling my shirts with them. The owners would shoot rock salt at us. Most of the fields are gone but some remain. Enough to be able to smell strawberries when Im riding my bike thank god:-)

I got the best deep red nice sized SWEET strawberries from a field on beach and Bolsa in Westminster CA. The thing is its right next to a cemetery! The cemetery rents out the fields for strawberries. This was last year so Im hoping to get them again this year. I will ask them what variety they are.. Thank you! If you want to see the fields and cemetery its called "Westminster Memorial" Its huge. Brad from the band "Sublime" is buried there(well not buried just a headstone he was cremated and spread on the ocean at his surf spot).

I think for home growers in So. Cal. it might still be hard to beat the time-worn "Sequoia" variety for a June-bearer. For an ever-bearer I would suggest "Seascape".

I'm surprised at some of the comments about the alpines. I may just be weird, but I love them. I have about 20 plants (half red, half white) in a small dedicated bed. I started them from seed some years ago when I moved here. Besides a little cleaning up yearly they are delightfully carefree. The birds are not interested in them at all (and believe me, they are plenty interested in other items in my yard....). The flavor is incredibly intense and aromatic. Everyone loves them who has tasted them. The berries *are* small--especially by the gigantic mutant standards of the commercial strawberries--although the initial Spring flush can produce some surprises now and them. The berries are also very perishable: a true home-grown crop to be savored when fresh-picked.

Nobody is putting them down. I said everything you did. Intensely pungent, delicacy, delicious, carefree.....so carefree you can use them for a ground cover, but forget it if you expect a heavy yield compared to runnered varieties. Out of the ten or fifteen years I had them only once did enough come on at any one time I could make one batch of jelly from them. But, boy oh boy it was good.

Hehehe Thanks for the comments everyone. I have counted 9 little sprouts so far today.

How should I remove them when they get bigger? I plan on putting them into a 3'x2' container. Its a terra cotta rectangle pot. Im thinking of mixing 1 part original soil 1 part manure 1 part potting soil and 1 part perlite....how does that sound? I dont know anything about transplanting new strawberries or about the mix either...Im limited to what I have on hand

Hello again. I gave up on the seeds as they died yesterday due to winds (One is still alive) so I bought a couple plants today. Question is is the above a good mix to plant them in? Do strawberries like acidic soil? Thanks

Anybody?

Ill take that as a yes then:-)