The problem is that the copper must be kept clean and bright. Does it work? They say so, but contact must be made and that you need clean copper. Try DE, it works well and of course you can use the old standby - out at night with a flashlight and a can of salt.

1eyedJack and the Dawg

Anney,

Answering your question regarding runners is impossible because the number of runners will depend on what variety you are planting. Some are vigorous producers and some are not. My experience is that Earliglows and Sparkles produce runners like crazy. I put in some Mesabis this spring and they put out almost no runners. Have you thought through how you plan to lay out your bed? I don't think that 4x8 is quite enough space if you plan to let all your runners set, and the runner plants do bear more heavily than the parent plant. The amount of runners you get also depend on how you treat your plants. If you clip the blossoms during the first year, you'll produce earlier and more runners than if you let fruit set on your new plants. However, in a climate like Georgia's, this may not matter much.

Regarding the copper, I don't know about how well it works, but I made an interesting observation this summer. I also built raised beds for strawberries. Slugs are the number one garden pest in my main garden. My green beans are defoliated each and every summer. When I built my raised berry beds I added 10 to 15 percent construction sand to the soil mix, mainly for drainage and to help ensure that the soil remained friable. Although my yard was loaded with slugs by August, I had NO slug damage to either the fruit or the strawberry plants. I had a fair number of pots sitting right next to the raised beds to set runners in and move them around after they rooted. When I clipped the runners and moved the pots to start transplanting, the bottoms of the pots were literally covered with slugs. Nevertheless, they didn't touch the berry plants in the sandy soil. So if you're considering installing the copper to keep slugs off your berries, you might just consider installing a sandier mix to your raised beds. I was so impressed by this I'm thinking about tilling a big pile of sand into my main garden because nothing I've tried seems to control the slug infestation.

Petro

Unless you're worried about looks of your raised beds (unless you're pretty handy with papercraft)...you could line the top and part of the sides of your raised beds with sandpaper or similar.

Petro has the right idea. They don't want to have to be tortured to get to their meal no matter how much better it is than some neighbor's boring potted plant.

Thanks, guys. Since there seems to be no way to estimate how many runners an individual plant might put out, I think I'll distribute the 25 plants into two 8x4' raised beds.

Ole Dawg, I've read that copper corrosion doesn't make the strips less conductive of electric shocks to slugs, though I'm not sure I believe that.

I also read that copper strips need to be at least 6" wide if laid flat around the perimeter of a bed since slugs can arch their bodies and avoid contact with narrower copper strips.

I've seen claims that slugs can also dig under barriers less than 3" deep, so I'm thinking of purchasing some copper mesh that is 10" wide and vertically burying it 4" deep, leaving the remaining six inches flat on the soil and hope that layout keeps the little buggers away from my strawberries and lettuce. It should be doable since copper mesh is very flexible.

The solution I've found is non-toxic Slugg-o and Escar-go. Easy to use, though not cheap on 1/4 acre of them, but this year I had not a single one chewing my strawberry plants. I've used it around all my shade plants too so now I can have smooth leaved hosta instead of holey ones.

Nancy the nancedar

I use Escar-Go, which is nothing more than iron phosphate. It's safe for the enviroment as well as other living creatures...just not slugs. Until I used this, slugs would devour my early plantings in particular. I don't have problems anymore and I don't have to use that much Escar-Go. I do have to cover my berries with bird netting or the birds will get them.

As for strawberries, I'd agree that earli-glo puts out a lot of runners. I grow them in a raised bed that's 4x9' and I get plenty of strawberries from those for the 2 of us and one g'daughter who visits....I forget how many plants I started with but I spaced them closer than recommended. I was able to freeze a dozen 1/2 qt bags this summer. This was the 3rd yr in production and I started moving some of the runners to a new bed this fall.

My soil is very loamy.

Here is a link that might be useful: Read about it at Garden's Alive

I said that my strawberry bed is 4x9'. I meant to say that my NEW bed will be 4x9. My old bed was 4x13 but I needed that other 4' for something else. I feel that 36 sf will be sufficient for our needs. Earli-glo is a very tasty and productive strawberry, even if they do tend to be on the small side.

aka peggy

I've ordered Cavendish strawberry plants. They're in the June-bearing category and are considered to be midseason. They also have some resisitance to verticillium, Red Stele, & Leaf Diseases, so I'm hoping I've chosen a tasty, disease-resistant variety to continue over the years.

Hi Anney, I'm so glad you posted that link. I've been looking for a good price on "honeyone" and Nourse sells 25 plants at an excellent price. I can't use 25 plants but I have a friend I'll split them with. As much as I like earli-glo, I'd like a longer season for harvesting. Honeyone is a midseason variety.

Cavendish sounds good. I look forward to hearing what you think of them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Honeyone

aka peggy

Did you see this comparison list at that site? I got so confused by the choices that I finally chose all the ones I thought I'd like and then chose the earliest one!

These folks have a good reputation, and yes, I'll certainly post something about them when they start producing, particularly since this is my first try at growing strawberries.

I've found that many varieties of spring set out strawberries..[even May 30th here] put out scadoodles of runners...way too many.

My experience with Cavendish was that the large berries did not ripen on the bottom side before spoilage set in...your experience may be different.

My experience with Honeoyne was that it produced the largest, most productive, and prettiest berries of any variety. Still there was some taste lacking in the early ones.

wayne

Then I probably made a good decision to increase my strawberry bed space! My experience with Cavendish was that the large berries did not ripen on the bottom side before spoilage set in...your experience may be different.

Do you suppose this is true of all strawberries that grow large, or just this variety?

Anney, no I didn't see that camparison chart. Thanks!:) Now I'm thinking I may want a late season variety to spread the harvest....I may regret giving up that 16 sf of strawberry row. Decisions, decisions, lol!

anney,

I do think that some of the newer lunker size berries do have a problem of ripening completely. Maybe plastic underneath would help?

Honeyoe doesn't have a rotting problem....they are #1 resistant of all varities more or less....still they need more flavor.

wayne

I've read that strawberry ripening is slowed in cool weather, so maybe black plastic would help entire berries to ripen if it's a problem.

Slugs and snails won't crawl over Diatomaceous earth. The sharp particles cut their soft bodies. I just sprinkle it around the plants and never have any damage. It isn't expensive if you buy it in bulk. I paid less than $10.00 for 50 pounds. Just don't mix it with nitroglycerin! ;-)

Carole

cambse

Yes, apparently diatomaceous earth is effective for killing slugs. I personally have reservations about using it because I know it also kills beneficial insects as well, such as pollinators of strawberries. So if I can find a solution that works without killing beneficials or changing the chemical composition of my garden, that's what I'm aiming for. So far, wide copper strips seem to be the best answer, though copper doesn't kill the slugs.