Topic: Strawberries...tale of woe!!!

[jo9919]

I posted a while ago asking for advice for planting strawberries in a strawberry planter.

I got a 'bargain' strawberry planter at a local nursery last year, terracotta, £3.00. I grew herbs in it last year but decided on growing some strawberries this year so thought I would use my planter for what it was designed for.

Hubby dug it out of the shed last weekend and, yes, you've guessed it. While it was stood in the garden awaiting the strawberries the high winds came and blew it over. It didn't break into bits, but has got some major cracks in it.

Meanwhile, I had bought my strawberry plants, so............the planter is now destined for crocks and the strawberry plants are now in troughs.

Do you think the strawberries will be ok in troughs, and are they ok to be on the patio now or should I keep them in the greenhouse for a while?

Jo.

[Marymary]

Shame about your pot cos they look really pretty but I have never had any real success with them & have resorted to growing herbs in mine. I have got some strawberries in potsi n the greenhouse [a tip on GQT for getting early strawbs] & I have grown them in pots on the patio & they do fine.

Good luck.

[dtw]

I've had my strawberries out in pots all over winter, they seem fine.
There were a couple in the greenhouse, they have a lot more leaves on.  :D
I've cleaned it out now, so I must put the others back in there until the other stuff
indoors is ready to go in.

I have no idea what variety they are, is it easy to tell from the leaf shape?
They all look the same to me. ???

[Tee Gee]

From experience I would say you are more likely to get more success from troughs than those planters.

For one thing they can be watered easier either by rain or manually, in a planter the plants act as an umbrella and shed the water away from the roots where it is needed most.

[Georgie]

I have used strawberry planters successfully for alpine strawberries in the past but I've never tried 'normal-sized' strawberries in them.  I was recently sent some runners and reading this thread I'm inclined to use the trough method.  I'd welcome your thoughts on spacing and the ideal depth of the trough.

G x

[Tee Gee]

I would say that each plant will want around one square ft (12"x12") and a minimum of six inches deep.

So a belfast sink for example would probably hold about four plants.

[timeoff]

Hi jo... They will be ok in troughs and on the patio should be ok. I have a strawberry planter but its not that wonderful. So maybe fate helped you out a bit.

[Georgie]

Thanks Tee Gee.  In that case I'll grow them in individual pots as the only 'troughs' I have are window boxes.

G x

[aob9]

I grew strawberries commercially for years and they are the most delicious of all fruit in my opinion. Strawberries have a reputation for being shallow rooted which leads some people to believe that they don't have a substantial root system. This is possibly why a lot of them end up in pots providing less average crops in both flavour and yield.

If you must use containers allow at least 12"x12" as Tee Gee suggested. Don't use clay containers, they don't retain water and strawberries MUST have a regular supply particularly when the fruit is swelling. If the growing medium dries up during fruit swelling it will be detrimental to the quality of the fruit. It must also be free draining as strawberries hate sitting in water.For these reasons ensure your growing medium is a mix of quality loam, compost of your choice and some sharp sand if required. In my opinion the best variety for ease of growth and flavour is the 'old' Cambridge Favourite  variety.

Finally, its best not to keep container grown plants for perrenial cropping as they quickly run out of steam. They are also more likely to get the dreaded vine weevil if raised in containers.

[jo9919]

Thanks everyone.

I was a bit worried about watering if I had planted them in the strawberry planter, so perhaps they will be happier in troughs  ;D

Jo.