How to Make a Strawberry Container Garden

Fresh grown strawberries that you pick yourself always taste ten times better than the ones you buy at the store. For some reason the store bought strawberry seems to be bland compared to your own fresh picked strawberry that are sweet and succulent. Many people seem to think that they could never grow strawberries, that it is to hard or they do not have enough space but picture being able to walk out your back door (or patio door) and being able to pick fresh strawberries to make some strawberry shortcake? Come on, who does not like strawberry shortcake?

Strawberries are not hard to grow at all and you can grow them inside as well as outside. For city dwellers where outside space is at a premium a container garden that can be grown indoors or on a balcony seems to be the right choice for limited space. There are vast arrays of pots that can be used for strawberry plants and all you need to remember when choosing one is it needs to have good drainage. The best strawberry plants for container gardening are Everbearers like Ozark Beauty and Geneva. Now that you have your pot and your plants it is time for soil.

Strawberries are a forgiving plant when it comes to soil, but they really like a sandy soil mix the best. You can either pick up some at your local garden shop, or make your own mix. To make your own mix of soil for your strawberries you need to mix three parts potting soil with the last part being a coarse sand and now is a great time to add some of your favorite fertilizer into the mix. A note of caution, trust me I have done this myself, do not use playground sand, it is too fine and will not work very well for the strawberry.

You are now one step closer to having your very own strawberry plant, but the fun part is yet to come. You will need some small rocks or pea gravel to ensure good drainage, but first you need to put about an inch of soil into the bottom of your planter then and in your rocks or gravel. Now you can fill the pot to within two inches of the rim of the planter.

Now is the time to dig the holes for your plants, you should dig down about three inches, if you have not previously added fertilizer now is the time to do so and give the holes a little shot of water too. You will only need to leave about an inch between each plant as they do not mind being crowded. Insert your plant into the soil making sure to not get the leaves under the soil while making sure the roots are sufficiently covered.

Once the roots are totally covered you can add a bit more soil to the top of the planter and then water. That is it, you are done, you have your container strawberry plant now all you have to do is make sure to water it regularly and ensure it gets sun daily. Before you know it you will be sitting outside admiring the sunset while eating your fresh grown strawberries!

G.M. Darrow “The Strawberry: History, Breeding and Physiology” USDA


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