How to best use a strawberry pot?

Shoxt3r

Hi all,

First of all a very Happy New Year to you all! I hope you also had a great Christmas.

For Christmas we were very kindly gifted a Strawberry Pot very similar to the one pictured below from eBay. However, as we have only grown strawberries in araised bed which seemed to be somewhat successful I was wondering how we could best use such a pot to ensure that the strawberries do not grow out and drape over and onto the floor - or is that the idea?

Also, we would likely be reusing the plants that have so far only had one year in the raised bed - would we be safe to transfer any that survive the winter or would we be best to purchase new plants or something else to grow in the new pot?

Look forward to your replies.

Cheers,

Shoxt3r.

Bee witched

Hi @Shoxt3r,

That's a nice pot.
I'd be tempted to leave your existing strawberry plants where they are .... you might find they have roots that would be too big to cram into the holes.

I've got 2 strawberry pots like this ... and the problem I found was getting enough water to the roots of the plants at the bottom. Also, you can end up with berries on the floor which are easy pickings for slugs / mice.
I've now got alpine strawberries in mine .... easy enough to raise from seeds. They are more compact plants and have done well so far.
You need to remember to move it round occasionally so the plants at the back get a turn facing the sun to ripen the fruit. So don't make it too heavy when you plant it up.

You could also use it for alpine type sedums with sempervivums ... neither need a lot of water so would be fine. 

Bee x

Bee witched

oops .... also meant to say "Happy New Year"  
Bee 

wild edges

Bee witched said:

I've now got alpine strawberries in mine .... easy enough to raise from seeds. They are more compact plants and have done well so far.

That's what I've done with mine. I've got a variety that produces quite large fruit for an alpine and if you can get the pot under cover in the winter it will keep producing fruit all year at times.

I'd use rooted runners for the side pockets and a mature plant for the top if you're going for normal strawbs though. You can insert a porous pipe down the middle to get water down to the base if needs be.

Slum

Bee witched said:

I've got 2 strawberry pots like this ... and the problem I found was getting enough water to the roots of the plants at the bottom. 

A solution I've used for this problem is to make a cylinder out of chicken wire to go down the centre of the pot. Fill the cylinder with crocks, stones, etc and put a bit of compost on the top for the plant at the top. When you water the cylinder allows water to get to the roots at the bottom.

madpenguin

You don't have to use it for strawberries at all!
These pots are excellent for succulent plantings and you don't need to worry so much about the watering.

Shoxt3r

Bee witched said:

Hi @Shoxt3r,

That's a nice pot.
I'd be tempted to leave your existing strawberry plants where they are .... you might find they have roots that would be too big to cram into the holes.

I've got 2 strawberry pots like this ... and the problem I found was getting enough water to the roots of the plants at the bottom. Also, you can end up with berries on the floor which are easy pickings for slugs / mice.
I've now got alpine strawberries in mine .... easy enough to raise from seeds. They are more compact plants and have done well so far.
You need to remember to move it round occasionally so the plants at the back get a turn facing the sun to ripen the fruit. So don't make it too heavy when you plant it up.

You could also use it for alpine type sedums with sempervivums ... neither need a lot of water so would be fine. 

Bee x

Ah that's a very good point! I suspect as the plants have been down for several months now that they will be well-rooted so a fresh start in the pot may be the key. I may either ditch what we have currently or just see how they go as we have a spare raised bed to grow some other things.

wild edges said:

Bee witched said:

I've now got alpine strawberries in mine .... easy enough to raise from seeds. They are more compact plants and have done well so far.

That's what I've done with mine. I've got a variety that produces quite large fruit for an alpine and if you can get the pot under cover in the winter it will keep producing fruit all year at times.

I'd use rooted runners for the side pockets and a mature plant for the top if you're going for normal strawbs though. You can insert a porous pipe down the middle to get water down to the base if needs be.

That's an excellent idea, though I will maybe combine your idea with Slum's so that we get the benefit of both.

Slum said:

Bee witched said:

I've got 2 strawberry pots like this ... and the problem I found was getting enough water to the roots of the plants at the bottom. 

A solution I've used for this problem is to make a cylinder out of chicken wire to go down the centre of the pot. Fill the cylinder with crocks, stones, etc and put a bit of compost on the top for the plant at the top. When you water the cylinder allows water to get to the roots at the bottom.

Thank you Slum, great idea!

madpenguin said:

You don't have to use it for strawberries at all!
These pots are excellent for succulent plantings and you don't need to worry so much about the watering.

That's true - I'd heard of them being used for strawberry plants but since we have a raised bed for them already maybe it's worth us trying those or something else. I quite like the idea of having a low maintenance plant though with everything else we have going on in the garden haha.