Strawberry Pots Are Great For Gardeners With No Ground Room

Having a garden is a wonderful asset. Not only will you have fresh flowers and fruits to choose from, you will have beautiful living plants to brighten up the scenery. If you live in an apartment or do not have adequate yard space, you may think that you can’t have a garden. However, lack of space is no reason to pass on having fresh ripe red strawberries at your disposal.

Strawberry pots can be just what you need to cure that lack of space issue. Some people are very leery of strawberry pots. They are attractive urn-shaped pots that have a number of little pockets on the sides of them. You will typically find them in terracotta. There is a chance that you will find some that are glazed pottery but these are less frequent.

Strawberries come in a number of different sizes and can be anywhere from small pocket varieties to almost two feet tall. The price range can vary a great deal. But there are often sales that you can take advantage of at the end of the season. Only go with the larger pots if you are sure you will be able to remember to water them frequently. Smaller pots will require less watering. The number of berries you plan on growing will also affect the size of the pots you buy.

Once you have the pots picked out you will need to decide on the right berry. There are three different types of strawberry plants to choose from. There is the June-bearing strawberry but this particular type does better in the ground. The ever-bearing and day neutral strawberries are the best types to grow in pots. You will get a good harvest in the late spring and early fall. The neutral varieties are the ones that will give you the best yields over time.

Strawberry pots are very easy to get started. Before planting anything you should get the pot very wet. Terracotta pots are known for sucking up the moisture from the soil. You need to be sure that you get the soil extremely moist before you plant anything. Do this by putting the pot in the tub of water for an hour or so. This will moisten the pot enough so that it does not soak up water from the soil. You will need to stop leakage by putting a piece of window screening or broken flower pot up against the drainage hole.

Next you will put soil in the pot and fill it until you get to the lowest level of the pockets. Put your strawberry plants in the pot and lay soil around them. The crown of the plant will need to remain above the soil level. Strawberry plants need drainage pipes in to ensure that the plants get adequate water. Drill holes in a PVC pipe and insert it into the center of the pot. Make sure you do not place in right over the drainage hole. This will help get moisture evenly spread around the pot.

After that you can keep filling each level of the pockets and planting more strawberry plants. Once the soil is two inches from the rim of the pot you can stop planting. You can try to add a few extra plants and spread soil around them. Once all of the plants are planted, you can start watering. Add the water down the tube and along the top of the pot. Don’t forget to add water to the pockets as well.

Strawberries need to have a lot of sun light. Place the pots in an area where they will be able to get at least six hours of sun every day. You will also want to choose a soil that has high organic matter. Locating a good soil should be fairly simple. Any organic potting soil will do.

To maintain your strawberry plants you need to keep them watered and fed during the growing season.