No summer is complete without its fair share of ripe, juicy strawberries, and one Instagram gardener shared a tip that will give you "an infinite amount of strawberry plants."
The scoop
Meagan Lloyd (@meggrowsplants) grows and preserves her own food, and shares a variety of advice on her Instagram page.
In a recent video, Meagan mentions that now is the perfect time to make sure that your strawberry plants will be healthy for next spring and to take advantage of strawberries' self-sustaining nature.
She explains that strawberry plants spread runners — tiny strawberry plants that are just starting to grow.
They look like small vines off of the plant and are easy to cut off, and you'll want to trim as many of them as you can in the fall.
In turn, this will ensure that your remaining strawberry plant can focus all of its energy on producing fruit next season — leaving you with larger and better-quality berries.
Plus, you can plant these runners in your garden or in pots, and they'll eventually be able to grow their own strawberries — increasing your crop over the years.
"You only ever need to buy one strawberry plant!" Meaghan said.
How it's helping
An infinite number of strawberry plants sounds like the dream, and not just because strawberries are delicious — they can also be expensive. This is due to a variety of factors, but some include the extremely high demand and changes in weather across the globe.
However, growing your own strawberries is a great way to make sure you always have some on hand throughout the season, and it might even be a fun way to get your kids outside and involved. Gardening is a great way to spend time with loved ones, and chances are, your kids will be far more excited to help you plant sweet strawberries rather than vegetables.
Plus, you'll be able to ensure that there are no harmful pesticides on your fruit or washing into the local ecosystem. If you need to get rid of pests, check out this eco-friendly hack, or this one specifically for mosquitoes.
What everyone's saying
One user commented on the post to show viewers just how beneficial these small runners can be. "Currently planting 500 [strawberries] on the farm," they said. "We got 7,200 extra plants in just runners!"
Another wrote, "Just did this today thanks to your video! I got nine new plants."
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