Maybe I am looking in all the wrong places, but two bits of info I can't find.
1) How many unidentified ever bearing strawberry plants can I put in per square foot, or will a gallon and a half of potting mix be enough for 1 plant? Am planning on putting 6 plants into a little over 9 gallons of mix with surface dimensions of approximately 13" x 19". Any ideas or suggestions?
2) How deep will these plants put down roots?
Just went to get a couple more of the 12 gallon totes I planned on using for SIPs. Was politely informed that they are now discontinued. I can get a 17 gallon version, but I don't like the idea of having to move those around once they are full. Did some rough math and came up with 90 pounds for the full 12 gallon totes and 135 pounds for the full 17 gallon totes. I'll have to carry them a fair distance at the beginning and end of every growing season. The plan is to have eight or maybe twelve of them. 12 x 135 = 1,620 lbs to carry maybe 50 yards...If my back sees this, it wil be screaming for MORE&BIGGER IBU just reading it.
Am trying to decide whether or not spending half of my day off navigating the numbered parking lots south of boston would be worth getting the rest of the 12 gallon version of the totes. Am pretty much fixed on these because they are thick-walled and sturdy and don't bend and flex nearly as easily as the rubber maid type.
Thanks much.
Strawberries don't need a lot of depth. I have raised them in hanging baskets 6-8 inches deep. They can be planted 4-6 inches apart. They do like a rich loam. In summer I have to cover them under straw mulch if they are in the ground in the sun. They multiply and in the fall the runners are all over the place. It is important that they don't stay too wet because for me at least they always die a fungal death. Snails and slugs also love them, not to mention birds. That is why I never keep all my strawberries in the same basket and why I keep planting out the runners into new containers.
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ID jit
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imafan,
Thanks much. (Oh boy.... I get to avoid playing bumper cars on the numbered parking lots south of boston today!)
A 2 x 3 grid of plants in 19" x 13" x 9 1/2" I have in the 12 gallon containers should work out just fine. At least it is a lot more space than they lived in last year - 6 plants in 3 1/2' or 4' window boxes. Guessing worst case scenario is that I go with a 2 x 2 grid of plants next year.
You keep mentioning keeping them dry and fungal death. Is pretty dry here in the summer and have haven't seen fungi on anything. As I experiment with mixes, and being sure the drain well. Still having a hard time getting my brain around "Self Watering Container" and "drain well" - is a contradiction I can't work out yet, but I am sure it will click in at some point.
Going to be opting not to cover with a plastic vapor barrier. Would rather have to refill more often than find a bunch of dead plants feeding a fungus. Also planing on doing the coffee grounds mulch thing to ward off pests. Hopefully it will do something about the gypsy moth caterpillars too.
Might not be "getting" every thing, but I am listening and trying to piece it all together.
Thanks much. (Oh boy.... I get to avoid playing bumper cars on the numbered parking lots south of boston today!)
A 2 x 3 grid of plants in 19" x 13" x 9 1/2" I have in the 12 gallon containers should work out just fine. At least it is a lot more space than they lived in last year - 6 plants in 3 1/2' or 4' window boxes. Guessing worst case scenario is that I go with a 2 x 2 grid of plants next year.
You keep mentioning keeping them dry and fungal death. Is pretty dry here in the summer and have haven't seen fungi on anything. As I experiment with mixes, and being sure the drain well. Still having a hard time getting my brain around "Self Watering Container" and "drain well" - is a contradiction I can't work out yet, but I am sure it will click in at some point.
Going to be opting not to cover with a plastic vapor barrier. Would rather have to refill more often than find a bunch of dead plants feeding a fungus. Also planing on doing the coffee grounds mulch thing to ward off pests. Hopefully it will do something about the gypsy moth caterpillars too.
Might not be "getting" every thing, but I am listening and trying to piece it all together.
I live in Hawaii where it is warm and humid most of the year except in summer when it is hotter and drier (usually). In a humid climate fungal disease is rampant and most things that live here have to have fungal resistance to live long. Strawberries are not native so they have to be treated like roses (which they are related to.) In a drier climate or one that does not normally have 80% or better humidity most of the time will do better. Local Wahiawa strawberries are more resistant to disease but they are hard to find since most of the local nurseries have closed down. The mainland varieties of most plants don't have that.
They like even moisture and don't like to go completely dry but they do not like to be constantly sopping wet. Mulching helps control weeds and in summer it keeps the leaves from burning. It will hold in soil moisture to keep things more evenly moist. Unless you live where the soil is especially dry and sandy, strawberries don't need a whole lot of water. They do not like to be flooded and if you mulch them well they only need light watering. The soil should be moist enough to be as damp as a wrung out sponge and when you get a fist full of soil it should be able to stick together when you squeeze it in your palm but not be dripping wet and still break apart easily ( it is called being friable). Self watering containers always will have a layer of sopping wet anaerobic soil at the bottom of the pot if the reservoir never goes dry. Strawberries multiply by runners and people either choose to let them run or take off the runners when it is fruiting season. If strawberries are runners they make less fruit. The runners will root whereever they can get good contact with the soil or at least have moisture on the air roots so they will fill in between plants in the bed. In hanging baskets, the runners hang down from the baskets and can be picked off when they are large enough and planted in another place. Strawberries that don't produce a lot of runners or if you are cutting runners off can be planted 6 inches apart. If you are going to let the runners run, you can space the plants up to 18 inches apart and the runners will fill in. I only grow day neutral strawberries so they don't produce a lot of runners.
Seascape is a day neutral strawberry that hardly produces runners at all and that is what is mainly available at the nurseries now. Albion does produce some runners and I prefer this variety because the berries are bigger and sweeter, but it is harder to find. Strawberry plants cannot be shipped to Hawaii so I don't have a lot of choices. I have a few strawberry pots and they like to grow in them because the pots are terra cotta and the berries hang from the side pockets so I can get more plants in a smaller space and the pots breathe so they can dry out better. Strawberry pots can dry out very quickly and they are hard to get the soil out of at the end of the year. Strawberries would have to be replanted every year since the soil in these types of towers and containers will sour if you try to keep it longer. They also grow well in towers and on A frames. Growing strawberries vertically saves ground space and provides better air circulation to keep the fungal diseases down. I built my own vertical planter. I drilled a 1 inch hole in three pots, 4 inch 8 inch and 12 inch plastic pots. I put a 1 inch closet rod in the ground about a foot deep to anchor the pots. This keeps them from falling over in the wind. I put the biggest pot over the rod and filled it to 2 inches from the the top of the pot with potting soil. I put the next pot over the rod on top of the soil and filled it and finally the last pot filled with soil on top. The rod stuck out about another foot. I ended up with about 3 inches of planting space in the bottom pots and room for one plant on top. I planted it with a mix of herbs: strawberry, thyme, cilantro (seasonal), sage, marjoram, oregano and I had a basil at the very top. The driest plants have to be on top because it is hard to keep the top pot from drying out. The soil gets moister the further down you go. I prefer to grow strawberries in hanging baskets since I can move them to the shade in summer and away from hungry snails and birds when I need to. I do not like coir baskets, they dry out too fast and the birds steal the coir for their nests. Most hanging baskets now are self watering and I don't like those so I drill extra holes in them so they are no longer self watering or I get a 10 inch azalea pot and drill holes for the hangers and hang it up. I also prefer to use metal and not the plastic hangers they come with. Strawberries are like roses, heavy feeders and the soil needs to be changed every 6-12 months (to control soil fungal pathogens)
Strawberries in your zone will go dormant for winter and I have heavy clay soil which strawberries really don't like, so your growing conditions will be different.
https://extension.illinois.edu/strawberries/growing.cfm
https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-strawberries/
https://www.apieceofrainbow.com/diy-strawberry-tower/
https://www.backyard-gardening-fun.com/s ... tower.html
They like even moisture and don't like to go completely dry but they do not like to be constantly sopping wet. Mulching helps control weeds and in summer it keeps the leaves from burning. It will hold in soil moisture to keep things more evenly moist. Unless you live where the soil is especially dry and sandy, strawberries don't need a whole lot of water. They do not like to be flooded and if you mulch them well they only need light watering. The soil should be moist enough to be as damp as a wrung out sponge and when you get a fist full of soil it should be able to stick together when you squeeze it in your palm but not be dripping wet and still break apart easily ( it is called being friable). Self watering containers always will have a layer of sopping wet anaerobic soil at the bottom of the pot if the reservoir never goes dry. Strawberries multiply by runners and people either choose to let them run or take off the runners when it is fruiting season. If strawberries are runners they make less fruit. The runners will root whereever they can get good contact with the soil or at least have moisture on the air roots so they will fill in between plants in the bed. In hanging baskets, the runners hang down from the baskets and can be picked off when they are large enough and planted in another place. Strawberries that don't produce a lot of runners or if you are cutting runners off can be planted 6 inches apart. If you are going to let the runners run, you can space the plants up to 18 inches apart and the runners will fill in. I only grow day neutral strawberries so they don't produce a lot of runners.
Seascape is a day neutral strawberry that hardly produces runners at all and that is what is mainly available at the nurseries now. Albion does produce some runners and I prefer this variety because the berries are bigger and sweeter, but it is harder to find. Strawberry plants cannot be shipped to Hawaii so I don't have a lot of choices. I have a few strawberry pots and they like to grow in them because the pots are terra cotta and the berries hang from the side pockets so I can get more plants in a smaller space and the pots breathe so they can dry out better. Strawberry pots can dry out very quickly and they are hard to get the soil out of at the end of the year. Strawberries would have to be replanted every year since the soil in these types of towers and containers will sour if you try to keep it longer. They also grow well in towers and on A frames. Growing strawberries vertically saves ground space and provides better air circulation to keep the fungal diseases down. I built my own vertical planter. I drilled a 1 inch hole in three pots, 4 inch 8 inch and 12 inch plastic pots. I put a 1 inch closet rod in the ground about a foot deep to anchor the pots. This keeps them from falling over in the wind. I put the biggest pot over the rod and filled it to 2 inches from the the top of the pot with potting soil. I put the next pot over the rod on top of the soil and filled it and finally the last pot filled with soil on top. The rod stuck out about another foot. I ended up with about 3 inches of planting space in the bottom pots and room for one plant on top. I planted it with a mix of herbs: strawberry, thyme, cilantro (seasonal), sage, marjoram, oregano and I had a basil at the very top. The driest plants have to be on top because it is hard to keep the top pot from drying out. The soil gets moister the further down you go. I prefer to grow strawberries in hanging baskets since I can move them to the shade in summer and away from hungry snails and birds when I need to. I do not like coir baskets, they dry out too fast and the birds steal the coir for their nests. Most hanging baskets now are self watering and I don't like those so I drill extra holes in them so they are no longer self watering or I get a 10 inch azalea pot and drill holes for the hangers and hang it up. I also prefer to use metal and not the plastic hangers they come with. Strawberries are like roses, heavy feeders and the soil needs to be changed every 6-12 months (to control soil fungal pathogens)
Strawberries in your zone will go dormant for winter and I have heavy clay soil which strawberries really don't like, so your growing conditions will be different.
https://extension.illinois.edu/strawberries/growing.cfm
https://bonnieplants.com/growing/growing-strawberries/
https://www.apieceofrainbow.com/diy-strawberry-tower/
https://www.backyard-gardening-fun.com/s ... tower.html
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ID jit
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 339
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:00 am
- Location: SE New England: zone twilight or 5b... hard for me to tell some days.
Thanks for the info and links.
Don't actually know much about gardening, but am very good at copying the pattern that was drilled into my head when I was a kid: work all the organics into the soil you can from fall to spring tilling, keep the plants watered, keep the weeds and bugs down and you get produce.
Do know I am stuck with containers and that I am stuck with this unknown ever bearing strain because they relate back to a ceramic strawberry planter the was victim of a sudden gust of gravity. When I ended up with this project 1 1/2 years ago, I was starting with 5 scrawny plants that appeared at the edge of a flower garden as apparent volunteers, possibly all seedlings form a single berry. I now have +150 plants from rooting runners, which the plants produce in abundance.
Seriously considering slipping in some known variety of ever bearer, and just never mentioning it and regenerating plants from them. This would be so much easier if I wasn't doing it for someone else.
The more you talk about sopping wet, mix souring and fungus, the more I think about using the SIPs I am building as sort of normal planters. Top water and let the run off collect in the reservoir and top water again when the soil starts to dry. Will probably try both methods and see what happens.
Good things are that I still have time to research and learn, know how to observe and adapt and that I have no fear of failing disastrously, which is a good thing because I cannot think inside the box most of the time anyway.
Thanks again for the education and links.
Don't actually know much about gardening, but am very good at copying the pattern that was drilled into my head when I was a kid: work all the organics into the soil you can from fall to spring tilling, keep the plants watered, keep the weeds and bugs down and you get produce.
Do know I am stuck with containers and that I am stuck with this unknown ever bearing strain because they relate back to a ceramic strawberry planter the was victim of a sudden gust of gravity. When I ended up with this project 1 1/2 years ago, I was starting with 5 scrawny plants that appeared at the edge of a flower garden as apparent volunteers, possibly all seedlings form a single berry. I now have +150 plants from rooting runners, which the plants produce in abundance.
Seriously considering slipping in some known variety of ever bearer, and just never mentioning it and regenerating plants from them. This would be so much easier if I wasn't doing it for someone else.
The more you talk about sopping wet, mix souring and fungus, the more I think about using the SIPs I am building as sort of normal planters. Top water and let the run off collect in the reservoir and top water again when the soil starts to dry. Will probably try both methods and see what happens.
Good things are that I still have time to research and learn, know how to observe and adapt and that I have no fear of failing disastrously, which is a good thing because I cannot think inside the box most of the time anyway.
Thanks again for the education and links.
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ID jit
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 339
- Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:00 am
- Location: SE New England: zone twilight or 5b... hard for me to tell some days.
You have me convinced on the day neutral varieties, so the swap-in will be happening. Just need to pick a variety and then find some place that is selling them this time of year. I've got two 12 gallon SIP's done and am working on the other six. Have some lights too and the ones I rooted under the "day light" LED bulbs are healthy and growing sans the ones I sort of tried to force forward a bit too fast. Have a fairly good guess on the mix now too. Just need to find the plants and I can get a head start on next spring.
Thanks for all of your help with this.
Thanks for all of your help with this.
...and jumping in just to thank imafan and that I'm going to look for Albion for next year. 
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applestar
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Thanks for the heads up. But most likely at this point, they won't ship until time for us to plant strawberries. For me that would be around early to mid March. While many major companies will be geared up already, some of the smaller outfits won't be ready with their 2017 inventory updates until after Christmas. That's around when I usually start finalizing my lists. So it will give me time to look around and research/read reviews for the vendors and shipment quality. 
I've noticed in the past that there is usually a special window of time I think in January when vendors that sell to market gardeners take orders/ship strawberries for early starting greenhouse grown container strawberries to be "ready" (fruiting?) by Mothers Day.
I've noticed in the past that there is usually a special window of time I think in January when vendors that sell to market gardeners take orders/ship strawberries for early starting greenhouse grown container strawberries to be "ready" (fruiting?) by Mothers Day.
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applestar
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
...another thing... when buying plants, I like to try to get from closest geographical location for shortest shipment transit, and closest climate profile to my garden if plant is actually from the farm (sometimes they are outsourced) --keeping in mind that each USDA Zone represents 1-2 weeks difference in planting time and also critical -- winter hardiness.
So with perennials and trees/shrubs, I look to sources to the north to ensure winter hardiness, and sources to the south for summer heat tolerance, depending on the plant.
...tricky part is when it's time to plant in my garden, it might be past time for the plant material to be still dormant in the south... OR... the it might still be frozen up north to dig up or safely ship.
I might consider this place --
Albion Strawberry Plant
https://www.noursefarms.com/product/albion/
So with perennials and trees/shrubs, I look to sources to the north to ensure winter hardiness, and sources to the south for summer heat tolerance, depending on the plant.
...tricky part is when it's time to plant in my garden, it might be past time for the plant material to be still dormant in the south... OR... the it might still be frozen up north to dig up or safely ship.
I might consider this place --
Albion Strawberry Plant
https://www.noursefarms.com/product/albion/