As above the reason for changing plants out & where they are grown is because of strawberry saw fly .. it eats the roots of the plant & is quick to infest the plants roots & the soil they grow in . .
Strawb's are a crop that produces best fruit in the second year when sown from seed . In the first year cut the greenery back to a few inches high when the first flush of flowers has appeared .
In East Anglia the farmers used virgin ground ( no strawbs grown in or close to it in seven years to starve out any sawfly grubs .
You'd come across an acre or so strip growing up plug grown strawberry plants . they were not allowed to go into full flower before the farmer ran a grass topper over them to take the plants back down to 2 to 3 inches high
Come late September time of that year the plants were usually lifted , split into three new plants and replanted out . Next early March they were lifted and stored in potato crates inside a fridge body where the temp got dropped to 0 oC for a few days this puts the plant in a dormant state .
They were then taken out for 24 hrs to wake them as if they were well in to their second year & planted out in different ground & got a hair cut early on , the next set of flowers gave prolific fruit a few months later .
I only have four tubs of strawberries each with three plants in them .
When they stop giving fruit in a few weeks time I'll take them outthe glasshouse empty the tubs , wash & sterilise the tubs , wash the plants in clean water , break off all new growth with a little bit of hair root on it if possible , dip it in rooting compound and plant them in the tubs that have been refilled with a clean new compost charge .
Early next year when they have started to flower I'll give them a secateurs type hair cut to let the roots develop better & feed them with tomato feed .
As it starts to get warmer I'll put them on a fine misting watering system for 3 min every 24 hrs & as it heats up to summer ( hopeful?) they'll get put on to 3 min every 12 hours & be fed once every 7 days with a pint of tomato feed poured in the tub top and again fed from a trigger pack to give a foliar feed every week at the same time as well .
This year will be the fourth year of me taking cuttings & growing them up in the glasshouse .
The original plants were grown from seed harvested from a single Cambridge Favourite supermarket strawberry.
The old plants get dried & burnt ….. not composted , the spent " VERVE ( B&Q) " compost goes on the veg & flower beds .