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| Hi there,
I am an avid gardener but never grew strawberries as I have limited sun. Then voila! I realized our deck gets at least 8 hours of sun. So I'd like to know how people recommend growing strawberries in containers. What kind of containers do people use? I always wondered whether those "strawberry pots" are really ideal or if they just look cute? Any particular soil mix? My daughter is crazy for strawberries and I thought this would be a great 5th birthday gift for her!
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Follow-Up Postings:
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| IMHO, the strawberry jars are just 'cute' as far as growing anything requiring regular water is concerned. The hens-and-chicks succulents do very well in them, however. I grow my strawberries in raised beds and regular clay pots. They do just fine and are kept clean. My potting mix for nearly everything is: one part peat moss, one part sand, one part chicken grit and an eighth teaspoon of moisture crystals (measure before hydrating), mixed well and moistened before and after planting. |
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| They are pretty though! :) I put 11 in a blue glazed strawberry pot last year and they grew and fruited, but getting an even watering is difficult - one plant died. This year I also have 13 plantlets grown from runners from the original 11. These I'm growing in 4" teracotta pots. Admittedly the strawberry pot ones will be in thier 2nd year so it's not a fair comparison, but it's an interesting experiment. :) I used ordinary multi-purpose compost and fed them with MG eracacious food last year. This year I'm trying to be more organic so I'm providing diluted cider vinegar acid baths and potash and bone meal. The moisture crystals are probably a good idea, I'm wishing I'd put them in the 4" pots now :( Alcina |
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- Posted by nuthatch_MO z5MO (My Page) on Tue, Apr 5, 05 at 6:46
| I saw in a book on container gardening how to fill a strawberry pot so it gets water. They took a bottle of water and froze it, then poked it full of holes. let it unfreeze poured the water out and planted it into the middle of the strawberry jar. I think the trick is getting it to stay upright until you get the pot planted. They filled it with soil just up to each set of holes at at time and wrapped the strawberry plant roots with newspaper to get them in the holes without all the mess. So when it needs water just fill up the bottle. Hope I explained this so you can understand its a little long winded. |
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| For pure ease of planting and maintaining I like the Stack-A-Pots. I've had problems getting old fashioned Strawberry Pots planted up because I tend to bury the crown, but the Stack-A-Pots are planted one layer at a time (nothing to push through a hole) so it's easier to control. Best Wishes |
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| Are these stack-a-pots only available through mail order? I would love to get some for my herbs, which spread and take up space in the flower beds. I couldn't find a price, which is scary(grin). I live in the Memphis area. Thanks. |
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| My best looking arrangement is in an old colonder. The roots fill the entire space of the basket (I took one apart this morning.) I begin to think baskets are the way to go especially for shallow rooted plants; it seems the shallow roots are so the plant can get oxygen (the basket allows air to get in.) I do water a lot. |
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| Leighmac >> Yes, I got mine from QVC.com Best Wishes |
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- Posted by allrawpaul seattle, WA (My Page) on Wed, Apr 6, 05 at 9:08
| The larger the pots, the better. White is best, cause strawberries dont like hot roots. Mulch liberally, maybe with straw, or woodchips, or dried grass and leaves shredded and mixed, keep the leaves clean. Promix is excellent and add some extra perlite and sand to encourage drainage. Dont overdo the nitrogen, or berries can be soft. I added aged composted horse manure and compost from the pile also. Plant enough so the squirrels and birds and sneaky neighbors can pig out without making a noticable dent in the harvest. Surround each plant with human hair or diatomatious earth to discourage slugs. This is my first year of seriously growing strawberries, so that was mostly hearsay, but it makes sence to me and its how I'm doing it. Paul. |
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| I either read this in a book or on this forum that to effectively water a strawberry jar, take a length of PVC pipe, drill several holes along the entire length, stop up the bottom of it, and insert into the jar. FIll with soil around the pipe and plant your desired transplants. When you water, you fill up the pipe and it'll seep out into the entire pot. I have never done this but it seems like one of those ingenious ideas I wish I had thought of but never would have! |
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| Thank you for the link Amino-X! |
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- Posted by redblossom40 z8-9 sierra (My Page) on Wed, Apr 6, 05 at 21:30
Here's what my DH did to this old wood stove. It's great because it's a good height for kids and It's different  We also did one for my sister with a whole wine barrel. We cut holes in the sides all the way around at different levels and placed strawberries in the holes and on top. Now her four year old loves it, easy to reach and easy to see the bright red strawberries. Good luck Tamara |
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| I tried the Stack-a-pots last year for strawberries. They were lots easier to plant than a strawberry jar, but they were hard to keep watered on my sunny deck. The top layer especially dried out very fast. We went on vacation for a week in June and I had no one to water them, so they died. :( I'm going to try again this spring - I have a new job and no vacation time, so I'll be able to water every day! |
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- Posted by KAREN_in_Memphis z7 TN (My Page) on Sat, Apr 16, 05 at 23:21
| Alcina, when you said you had Strawberries in 4" pots, were you using the pots temporarily or is that what you will grow them in. I have a set of three blue pots in which I would like to plant the same and am considering planting Strawberries. My pots are 7", 9" and 11". I was concerned that the pots would be too small. Allrawpaul, you mentioned the bigger the better as far as the container. Can anyone give me an opinion about growing Strawberries in pots the size of mine. Thanks So Much, |
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| Park Seeds is selling a kit with 2 "growin' bags" and 25 bare root Ozark Beauty plants - fill the bags and hang them. I bought a kit and have them hanging from hooks on my gazebo. That seems like an excellent, easy way to grow them - time will tell! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Grow Bags @ Park's
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| Weell...truth time...I intended to buy 5" pots...but the store only had 6" or 4". Mutter...mumble. I was feeling a little overcome by my debt at the time of purchase and I decided that 13 6" pots would be too expensive, so I bought the 4" pots. I'm not sure that they *are* big enough to grow all season in..but time will tell. They look fine so far :) If they start to look ailing as it warms up, I'll pot them up. Your 7" pots will be ok I'd have thought. Remember though that I'm in England and you're in Memphis..the temperature of our strawberry roots may be rather different! Alcina |
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- Posted by rosesforme Melb Aust (My Page) on Thu, Apr 21, 05 at 5:15
| I grew some very nice strawberries last season . I used the standard roses I had in containers and placed the strawberries on top of the pot. They were very successful.They provided groundcover for the rose and they grew over the side of the container which was very pretty. I wish I could post a pic but I cant ATM I will be doing the same next spring. Endless supply!! Good Luck. |
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- Posted by Camelotshadow 9bCA (My Page) on Thu, May 19, 05 at 9:55
| Anyone know how deep of a container Been reading they have a shallow root system and I suppose too deep might not be good I have a 11" pot round bell shaped 10 inches deep Thanks |
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- Posted by jenny_in_SE_PA USDA7 Sunset 32 (My Page) on Thu, May 19, 05 at 11:16
| Hey Shadow! How's things going? :-D I have mine in a trough that is 9" deep, although the soil doesn't go all the way to the top so I'd say it's probably about 6" of soil. Basically they can grow in a windowbox if you want. For the container you have, if the strawberry doesn't produce runners, you could probably put 3 in that size. If it produces runners, then you may need to consider cutting those off as they grow and perhaps potting them separately. |
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- Posted by Camelotshadow 9bCA (My Page) on Thu, May 19, 05 at 23:55
| wow, Hi Jenny Wow I may just do 2 in a pot as it gets so hot and they need moisture I have Pretty in Pink Strwaverry everbearing
Thanks Jenny LOL |
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- Posted by jenny_in_SE_PA USDA7 Sunset 32 (My Page) on Fri, May 20, 05 at 19:16
| Wow!! I like those pink flowering strawberries!!!!!!!!!! And lol about the Sequoia. Goin' for the gusto, eh? :-P Good luck on the Marianna's Peace. Hopefully you got the good ones 'cause what I grew last year were.... ehh... Not bad but not stellar. They think it's not yet stable and the ridged ones (which mine apparently were) seem to be blah. I like my Cherokee Purples. |
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- Posted by Camelotshadow 9bCA (My Page) on Fri, May 20, 05 at 23:47
| I have 4 Mariannas (eace from Goto Nursery Not sure where he got his seeds from I posted a pic on the tomato forum Well, I hope it tastes great and at least like a tomato Ate 2 strawberries today from the pink Still haven't potted up the strawberries yet Only thing is I had to pair french tarragon with rosemary The guy at HDtold me I could put 3 strawberries in a 11 inch pot I grew Cherokee Purple one year Yeah I have a strawberry farm here... |
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- Posted by jenny_in_SE_PA USDA7 Sunset 32 (My Page) on Sat, May 21, 05 at 13:29
| You're going to be busy this year! I'm going to have to mailorder some of those strawberries next year I think. All of those sound good! One of my sisters has one of those plastic pyramid planters with 25 plants in it on her deck. That should be interesting. LOL She's afraid to plant them out as all the critters like bunnies, chipmunks, racoons, groundhogs, etc., would have a field day. As it is, she's starting to fence all sorts of things because of the deer. Oh well. Funny you mention the rosemary and tarragon as my BIL recently bought and planted some rosemary outside next to the house in a protected spot (some lavender stayed evergreen there) and my sister told me yesterday that she bought some tarragon. She already has her tricolor sage, basil, oregano, and lemon thyme. They really use it for cooking. Pretty decent! Well... we'll see what this season will bring! |
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- Posted by Camelotshadow 9bCA (My Page) on Mon, May 23, 05 at 1:14
| tarragon i more sensitive to cold or so I think but it looks nice with the rosemary and they took today and yestredays 100 OOo I anm busy I planted the 8 sequioa strawberries in the ground I potted 2 pots of Eversweet straw today I got a Cherokee purple plant today woooo I'm tir4ed just from watering It's called Pretty In Pink and only saw it offered on one site and said its a trial amount |
Here is a link that might be useful: Peoria Gardens strawberry Pretty in pink
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- Posted by jenny_in_SE_PA USDA7 Sunset 32 (My Page) on Mon, May 23, 05 at 6:26
| Thanks for the link! Hope they can get more of those Pretty in Pink out next year to regular retailers. Scanning around, there's another pink-flowering strawberry called "Pink Panda" that looks interesting too... Hmmm.... :-D |
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- Posted by Camelotshadow 9bCA (My Page) on Mon, May 23, 05 at 15:10
| Yea but PP has fruit that really from what I've heard is not much this one is good med size fruit and tastes wonderful... even better than ones I've pulled off the big everbearing in the nursery...yuck they weren't worth growing
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- Posted by jenny_in_SE_PA USDA7 Sunset 32 (My Page) on Tue, May 24, 05 at 6:34
| Thanks for the recommendation. Hopefully they will get on with releasing them at more spots (eg., Edible Landscaping, etc). Also I like that container! Very stylish. :-D Looks like a good harvest coming too! |
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- Posted by redblossom40 z8-9 sierra (My Page) on Tue, May 24, 05 at 22:11
Here's another container we used  as the vines grow down the side, I stuff them into the holes and they sprout and start going vines down the sides. This barrel is great if you have small kids, because they love just reaching up and grabing them. Tamara |
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- Posted by jenny_in_SE_PA USDA7 Sunset 32 (My Page) on Tue, May 24, 05 at 22:56
| Tamara - That is interesting. Is that whole barrel filled with soil? Are you using that dried sphagnum moss in the holes along with soil to hold the plants in? I can imagine other things planted in there! |
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- Posted by Camelotshadow 9bCA (My Page) on Tue, May 24, 05 at 23:55
| Thanks I'm glad I got them pretty pink blossoms caught my eye as well as the glossy leaves and the berries and I got the last 2 plants LOL look what it did then I was on a strawberry hunt tasty edibles that are manaeable siz LOL Thise are good potted the eversweet
Does it look like the 3 4 inch berries will do Ok in the pot? That box is from Armstrong dries berries...LOL |
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- Posted by jenny_in_SE_PA USDA7 Sunset 32 (My Page) on Wed, May 25, 05 at 6:15
| Wow. Those are nice urn containers! And for $1? I can never find stuff like that here - even at the $1 stores. :-p Do those berries form runners? I know alot of them don't and you should be okay with the number of plants in there. And even if they did, you could cut the babies off and plant them somewhere else to expand your orchard! :-D LOL about the dried berries. We need to send some of our chilly air over there and I'll take some of the heat. My tomatoes and peppers and squash are shivering :-p |
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- Posted by franktank232 z5 WI (My Page) on Wed, May 25, 05 at 20:57
| Seems i've done a similiar setup to others here...
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I planted these in this container about 2 weeks ago. Seem to be going well, even though the container is pretty small for 4 plants. These will come back again next year, right? There everbearing type.
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- Posted by Camelotshadow 9bCA (My Page) on Wed, May 25, 05 at 22:55
| they were nice I got 10 thought that was enough now I wish I got more Well they are reg $1.50 so I may see if they have more great size for herbs prob 2 gallon Don't know if they form runners mmmm got a small berry here n there Wow nice sb plants in the planter...look very healhty |
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- Posted by franktank232 z5 WI (My Page) on Wed, May 25, 05 at 23:35
| That whiskey barrel is awesome. I would really be interested in trying a setup such as that. Fertilizer...do strawberries need a lot? |
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| I put mine in gallon milk jugs with the bottom cut out. I loosened the caps and cut a few other drain holes along the tapered part near the caps. Filled them with dirt, planted the strawberries. Then used plastic twine from the hay bales to tie the upside-down jugs in rows on the slats of a couple of pallets that I braced up so they not quite verticle. I wanted to put them where the cats could guard them from the birds, and I didn't want the cats digging around in them. I wasn't concerned about how it looked, and I didn't want to spend much $$$$ on doing it. That was the best idea I could come up with in the amount of time I had. Would not recommend it for anybody who expects their strawberry patch to serve a decorative function! |
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- Posted by nancwilkes 5 (My Page) on Fri, Jun 3, 05 at 8:28
| Dear Watergal, when using the original stack a pots in direct sun, to prevent the top two layers from drying out so quickly, I found that using a teaspoon of soil moist crystals mixed into the soil will help prevent the soil from drying out. If you need to go away for a period of time, water well and move under a tree so the shade will also help protect them. But the really good news is that they have released a new Self Watering Stack A Pots I found recently through Jackson & Perkins which prevents the soil drying out so quickly. |
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| I had strawberries this June and they were awesome....so sweet...I planted them in a Strawberry pot and it worked...I even like the flowers when they first bloomed. My question is how do I keep them over the winter....Should I cover the pot with burlap and protect them or should I treat it as an annual???? I live on L.I., NY. Zone 7 |
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- Posted by Mike 6a(mike.bruner@gmail.com) onSun, Mar 6, 11 at 17:13
| My question is similar to crickets...do you replant every year when doing strawberries in containers? If you do, then you wouldn't bother taking off the blooms/runners like you would if you were planting a perennial bed right? |
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