Hello All,

I am brand new to growing strawberries and have done some reasing and listened to some seasoned vets. Let me tell you what I have done and am doing and then if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them.

I have placed my plants in a raised bed 4'x8' and 12 inches deep. I did not plant them on a mound and I have unprocessed cypress mulch around them. I am pinching off buds this year as I was told I would likely get little fruit anyway and this would promote healthy growth to prep for next year. I went with an everbearing variety.

Silly me, I did not test the "special garden soil" I ordered from a landscaping company before I planted. After a month of little growth and poor color tested the soil and found it devoid of nitrogen and phosphates. So I have had to add some nutrients to the soil and they are thriving now and starting to get suckers....I guess that's what they call them. I plan to let the plants form a cluster and was told to allow about 5 daughter plants off each mother plant. Does that seem about right? I hope to get the daughter sprouts attached to soil soon and was curious about the best method to do that. I have heard I can pull the mulch away from the soil where I went them to root and apply a small stone on the stem close to the foliage end and that will let it root? Is this the best way or are there alternatives?

Sorry for all the questions. I appreciate any thoughts you might have and what has worked for you.