Don't want to be the noob who reredundantly reasks the resame requestion reredundantly reagin.
Can someone post some links to growing strawberries in containers and to what type of potting mix to concoct for them?
I tried searching, but, to put it bluntly, I am out smarted by my phone almost daily.
Have a 70 something year old mom who wants strawberries, and she will have them - just have to figure out how. Am limited to containers because the fruit will need to be 3 feet off the ground so she can pick them easily. Have that part figured out, containers on a sort of table / stand.
Will be needing 40-50 gallons of potting mix (4 12 gallon containers). Have done a lot of web searching and found all kinds of recipes for potting mix and ended up much more informed and much less sure about what to actually use. So, I am looking for a light mix that will not bow out the sides of the contains, as what happened to the semi-failed window box attempt this year, and a mix that will supply the plants to produce fruit throughout the season as ever-bearing plants should. Would also like a mix that could be used (with supplements) for 3 to 5 years so I don't have to unpot and repot the plants each year.
Have the place for them taken care of, have the containers figured out (I think), have a VW-sized mound of mature compost to work with and some fair plant growing ability. Am looking for info of what concoction of peat, coir, vermiculite, perlite, builders sand, compost, and augmentations do I plant them in.
Thanks much.
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ButterflyLady29
- Greener Thumb
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- Location: central Ohio
I just use a lightweight bagged potting mix and some organic fertilizer. Strawberries are in the rose family so rose fertilizer works well. Follow the directions on the package. It's best to have the containers setting on the ground so you can mulch all around them but I've had them survive in a window-box on a stand. it's just really hard to keep them watered under those conditions. The window box containers are too small for proper watering.
Mix some coffee grounds with the potting soil. It helps keep the pests off the plants.
Mix some coffee grounds with the potting soil. It helps keep the pests off the plants.
I use MG potting soil and a handful of vermicompost when I have some. I grow mine in hanging baskets and I hang it on my plumeria tree. Mainly to keep it out of reach of the snails. They are heavy feeders so I use a combination of slow release (osmocote) and citrus food. I have to repot the strawberries often as it is prone to fungal disease.
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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 replies.
Had them in window boxes, packed too tightly, in a 50 / 50 mix of commercial potting soil with fertilizer and mulchy compost. Watered them daily. They receive a shot of liquid miricle grow as soon as the started to green up. They produced a decent flush of berries the first time around. Some of the plants were older and some yearlings or less. After the first flush I did a top application of Vigoro bloom booster (15-30-15), kept the runners trimmed a soon as I could figure out they were not blossoms. Yest of the year I had these huge, amazing looking plants and maybe 4 more berries.
Thanks for the tips about rose fertilizer and coffee grounds.
Think I am armed with just enough information to be good and dangerous at this point.
Working on Sub-irrigated Planter, 12" deep, 13" wide, 19" long for 6 plants. 3 inches of irrigation and air, 8" soil, +1 inch mulch.
Thanks again,
Had them in window boxes, packed too tightly, in a 50 / 50 mix of commercial potting soil with fertilizer and mulchy compost. Watered them daily. They receive a shot of liquid miricle grow as soon as the started to green up. They produced a decent flush of berries the first time around. Some of the plants were older and some yearlings or less. After the first flush I did a top application of Vigoro bloom booster (15-30-15), kept the runners trimmed a soon as I could figure out they were not blossoms. Yest of the year I had these huge, amazing looking plants and maybe 4 more berries.
Thanks for the tips about rose fertilizer and coffee grounds.
Think I am armed with just enough information to be good and dangerous at this point.
Working on Sub-irrigated Planter, 12" deep, 13" wide, 19" long for 6 plants. 3 inches of irrigation and air, 8" soil, +1 inch mulch.
Thanks again,
Sounds good. Strawberries don't really like to dry out, The hanging basket I have is self watering and they seem to do o.k. in them. They usually die a fungal death and it is hard to find or get fungicides for the soil. I prefer a less heavy mix with more drainage material. They do like compost but it is also heavy and holds on to water longer than I like, that is why I use vermicast, it just works a little better for me. In a humid climate it is hard to get away from fungal problems. Cinnamon on the roots helps when repotting. It is a natural fungicide, so is hydrogen peroxide.
https://groundtoground.org/2011/12/27/n ... ur-garden/
https://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/ ... arden.html
https://groundtoground.org/2011/12/27/n ... ur-garden/
https://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/ ... arden.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 all the help and suggestions so far. Haven't seen and fungi problems here in SE New England; have seen a fair amount of drought the past few years though. Coffee grounds around the tomatoes will help with my bumper crop of slugs? Thanks much! Will it work on gypsy moths?
Am mostly done with being a flu statistic and am back to working on the Sub-irrigated planters. Oddly, patience and attention to detail are yet again the two most important tools in the box. (Nothing some plastic welding couldn't fix.)
Any suggestions on what size "basket" to put in the bottom of a 13" wide, 19" long, 12" deep SIP?
My ignorance is telling me too small wont water enough and too large will root-rot and/or drowned everything.
Will I be better off with 2 smaller ones placed well or just one larger one centered?
Plan is to cut the hole for the basket(s) just smaller the the basket(s) so the basket(s) can double as supports.
Thanks much.
Am mostly done with being a flu statistic and am back to working on the Sub-irrigated planters. Oddly, patience and attention to detail are yet again the two most important tools in the box. (Nothing some plastic welding couldn't fix.)
Any suggestions on what size "basket" to put in the bottom of a 13" wide, 19" long, 12" deep SIP?
My ignorance is telling me too small wont water enough and too large will root-rot and/or drowned everything.
Will I be better off with 2 smaller ones placed well or just one larger one centered?
Plan is to cut the hole for the basket(s) just smaller the the basket(s) so the basket(s) can double as supports.
Thanks much.
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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.
That over wet / soggy state is what I am kind of worried about. This is a lot more art and a lot less science than I am comfortable with for the most part.
I have pretty much drought conditions here the past few years, watering bans and the like. the original plan was 4" of 3/4 stone in the bottom of the container, landscape cloth and a cotton wick to transfer the water form under the stone up to the soil.... then I found out what a SIP was and figured that would be better.
What I have sort of worked out is to install 2 really small baskets (12 oz solo cup bottoms), equidistantly centered, and augment with top watering as needed. Can always make the next pair or SIPs with bigger baskets. Goal is to have 2 planters each of "0" - 3 year old plants, totaling 8 planters: 6 producing fruit and 2 growing next years plants.
Am still hung up on the mix thing though. The more I self educate the more I realize how much I do not know.
Mix needs to hold moisture and nutrients well and convey them to the plants... mix must drain well... mix must not get soggy or you get root rot.... mix must not get dry.... mix does not have an adjustment screw..... there are eleventy billion potting mix recipes out there.... if I increase the vermiculite, do I decrease or eliminate the course sand and/or perlite... peat vs coir.... does mulchy compost work as a substitute for peat / coir....
I have pretty much drought conditions here the past few years, watering bans and the like. the original plan was 4" of 3/4 stone in the bottom of the container, landscape cloth and a cotton wick to transfer the water form under the stone up to the soil.... then I found out what a SIP was and figured that would be better.
What I have sort of worked out is to install 2 really small baskets (12 oz solo cup bottoms), equidistantly centered, and augment with top watering as needed. Can always make the next pair or SIPs with bigger baskets. Goal is to have 2 planters each of "0" - 3 year old plants, totaling 8 planters: 6 producing fruit and 2 growing next years plants.
Am still hung up on the mix thing though. The more I self educate the more I realize how much I do not know.
Mix needs to hold moisture and nutrients well and convey them to the plants... mix must drain well... mix must not get soggy or you get root rot.... mix must not get dry.... mix does not have an adjustment screw..... there are eleventy billion potting mix recipes out there.... if I increase the vermiculite, do I decrease or eliminate the course sand and/or perlite... peat vs coir.... does mulchy compost work as a substitute for peat / coir....
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applestar
- Mod
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Tell you what -- I have the BEST results with container plants when I add earthworms. Ideally, redworms.wigglers if "soilless" mix but both wigglers AND nightcrawlers if using mineral/clay soil mixed with soilless potting mix, and add some chunks of clay because the crawlers seem to like burrowing into them. Then refrain from using chemicals that would irritate/kill them, and feed the soil with organic matter and occasional clay.
If the container completely dries out, they will try to leave (or die), but while there is a least bit of moisture left, they will help to regulate the moisture and actually give up some moisture to the soil, saving the plant from total dehydration. In a SIP, they will leave if the mix gets too wet and threaten to drown them.
If the container completely dries out, they will try to leave (or die), but while there is a least bit of moisture left, they will help to regulate the moisture and actually give up some moisture to the soil, saving the plant from total dehydration. In a SIP, they will leave if the mix gets too wet and threaten to drown them.
I think you have to experiment with potting mixes. What works will depend a lot on your climate, plant, the type of pot and how fond the human is of watering.
I use a relatively dry mix 50/50 perlite and peat moss. It means I have to water more in the dry season, but since I don't repot my plants for the wet season, it keeps them from drowning in the wet season. I also water nearly everyday so the plants and pots need to be able to handle that. I can keep heavy feeders in sips like peppers, tomatoes, and herbs but I do not put plants that are prone to root fungal issues in them because those types of plants cannot be constantly moist. They can be watered daily but they need to air out at some time. Strawberries always seem to die a fungal death for me, so I have to repot them every 6 months and clean off the roots just to keep up with that. Even with an air gap, the bottom of my sip is always wet and it stinks when I take it apart so I know it has a lot of anaerobic fungal growth in it.
I have not kept anything long term in a sip. I did have a habanero in a 5 gallon modified self watering pot for over a year, but it declined in the second year and died. I have grown tomatoes in SIPs and they do well but they will drink up most of the gallon reservoir in a day, they still only stay in the SIP for about 9 months.
What you are describing sounds more like a wicking bed than an earthbox . Earthboxes have a water reservoir below a perforated separator. Legs of soil and roots are allowed to extend into the reservoir to wick up the moisture from the reservoir. The reservoir is filled from a filled tube but should not need to be watered from the top after it gets it's initial watering. In a wicking bed you have a drainage layer that covers a tube that acts as your reservoir. Instead of a separator gravel or gravel and activated charcoal would be layered under the soil. In either system you would still need overflow drains to keep the reservoir level from encroaching and drowning the roots in the plants above. It is a very water efficient way to grow things and especially useful in summer. For wicking beds one of the sites recommended 1/2 mushroom compost and 1/2 organic soil mix and a straw mulch. For my purposes this does not work for me. I use peat moss and perlite and a handful of vermicompost but my climate is hot and humid and I need for the mix to stay drier. I also modified the fertilizer. The eartbox recommended 2 cups of fertilizer or 3 cups organic fertilizer placed as a band when the box is set up, but I found too much fertilzer left over that way, so I only put 1/2 cup of citrus food as a started and I supplement monthly with one tablespoon of sulfate of amonia. 1/2 cup of lime can be added to the mix when the box is set up. Another reason for considering repotting your planters every 6-12 months will be that the media sours over time and becomes more toxic. It is harder to determine how much fertilizer and what kind you need when you have to adjust for the pH and whatever fertilizer is left in the media. I usually put the potting soil in the yard since it does not work out well to reuse it. The only plants that have successfully stayed in the same pots for years has been the citrus trees but they are planted in pure cinder and need regular but infrequent feeding 2-4 times a year. Cinders do not retain nutrients and it has lots of air spaces for the roots. If I planted the citrus in potting mix, the media would still sour and I would have had to repot every year.
I use a relatively dry mix 50/50 perlite and peat moss. It means I have to water more in the dry season, but since I don't repot my plants for the wet season, it keeps them from drowning in the wet season. I also water nearly everyday so the plants and pots need to be able to handle that. I can keep heavy feeders in sips like peppers, tomatoes, and herbs but I do not put plants that are prone to root fungal issues in them because those types of plants cannot be constantly moist. They can be watered daily but they need to air out at some time. Strawberries always seem to die a fungal death for me, so I have to repot them every 6 months and clean off the roots just to keep up with that. Even with an air gap, the bottom of my sip is always wet and it stinks when I take it apart so I know it has a lot of anaerobic fungal growth in it.
I have not kept anything long term in a sip. I did have a habanero in a 5 gallon modified self watering pot for over a year, but it declined in the second year and died. I have grown tomatoes in SIPs and they do well but they will drink up most of the gallon reservoir in a day, they still only stay in the SIP for about 9 months.
What you are describing sounds more like a wicking bed than an earthbox . Earthboxes have a water reservoir below a perforated separator. Legs of soil and roots are allowed to extend into the reservoir to wick up the moisture from the reservoir. The reservoir is filled from a filled tube but should not need to be watered from the top after it gets it's initial watering. In a wicking bed you have a drainage layer that covers a tube that acts as your reservoir. Instead of a separator gravel or gravel and activated charcoal would be layered under the soil. In either system you would still need overflow drains to keep the reservoir level from encroaching and drowning the roots in the plants above. It is a very water efficient way to grow things and especially useful in summer. For wicking beds one of the sites recommended 1/2 mushroom compost and 1/2 organic soil mix and a straw mulch. For my purposes this does not work for me. I use peat moss and perlite and a handful of vermicompost but my climate is hot and humid and I need for the mix to stay drier. I also modified the fertilizer. The eartbox recommended 2 cups of fertilizer or 3 cups organic fertilizer placed as a band when the box is set up, but I found too much fertilzer left over that way, so I only put 1/2 cup of citrus food as a started and I supplement monthly with one tablespoon of sulfate of amonia. 1/2 cup of lime can be added to the mix when the box is set up. Another reason for considering repotting your planters every 6-12 months will be that the media sours over time and becomes more toxic. It is harder to determine how much fertilizer and what kind you need when you have to adjust for the pH and whatever fertilizer is left in the media. I usually put the potting soil in the yard since it does not work out well to reuse it. The only plants that have successfully stayed in the same pots for years has been the citrus trees but they are planted in pure cinder and need regular but infrequent feeding 2-4 times a year. Cinders do not retain nutrients and it has lots of air spaces for the roots. If I planted the citrus in potting mix, the media would still sour and I would have had to repot every year.
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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.
Oh Boy, More things to research... SIP vs wicking bed vs Earth box....
I should have at least one or two of the containers I am construction done by tonight. Will post some images to get an assessment of them. Right now, I think I have armed myself with just enough research and self-education to be good and dangerous, given a little information can be a dangerous thing.
Am listening to you about the fugal issues and over wet state of the soil/mix and trying to guestimate what the difference is between how arid southern New England summers are becoming vs my assumptions about Hawaii. Have never encountered root fungi, but if I supply food, water and habitat I am sure I will encounter it.
This is the first I have heard of media souring, but it does make sense... supply food, water and habitat and something will move into the eco-niche. Am balancing that against the fact the even the compost pile I am adding coffee grounds, egg shells and veg scraps and ripped up small brown paper bags and the like to never comes up sour; but then again, this gets turned weekly too.
The other pile of compost I have, I am not adding anything to (some water maybe) and turning it weekly as well. Am just letting the second pile cook and be alive. It does push out a fair amount of sprouts sometime and has a lot of worms living in it. I know the sprouting is from not getting the whole thing hot enough long enough - bad browns to greens ratio. It hasn't caused a problem yet, so I have it in the “not broken – don't fix it” category.
As I sit here and think about it, I can see both piles souring over time, so my SIPs or what ever they are could / will do the same probably. Guessing swapping pout soil/mix every fall is the fall back option it if does sour.
The human is not going to be available for daily watering. Plan up to now was a reservoir which would keep the plants happy to 2 or 3 days. Automated watering is not going to be an option.
Southern New England is fairly arid during the summer, especial at my micro region, brown lawns, water bans and the like.
These are the 2 predominate reasons why I am looking to control the water transfer rate out of the reservoir. (Yes, the entire world is a giant minima-maxima problem to me, and the art of living is to balance out maximizing the positives and minimizing the negatives.) So, what I am looking at is to supply enough water to keep the plants happy and vibrant and not water log anything to the point that I have fungi and souring issues.
The other thing I am looking at is this entire project is going to require about 80 gallons or so of mix/soil, and that is not something I want to be generating once year, every year. 3.6 cubic feet each of vermiculite, mature compost and peat/coir yearly isn't something I want in the game plan.
I should have at least one or two of the containers I am construction done by tonight. Will post some images to get an assessment of them. Right now, I think I have armed myself with just enough research and self-education to be good and dangerous, given a little information can be a dangerous thing.
Am listening to you about the fugal issues and over wet state of the soil/mix and trying to guestimate what the difference is between how arid southern New England summers are becoming vs my assumptions about Hawaii. Have never encountered root fungi, but if I supply food, water and habitat I am sure I will encounter it.
This is the first I have heard of media souring, but it does make sense... supply food, water and habitat and something will move into the eco-niche. Am balancing that against the fact the even the compost pile I am adding coffee grounds, egg shells and veg scraps and ripped up small brown paper bags and the like to never comes up sour; but then again, this gets turned weekly too.
The other pile of compost I have, I am not adding anything to (some water maybe) and turning it weekly as well. Am just letting the second pile cook and be alive. It does push out a fair amount of sprouts sometime and has a lot of worms living in it. I know the sprouting is from not getting the whole thing hot enough long enough - bad browns to greens ratio. It hasn't caused a problem yet, so I have it in the “not broken – don't fix it” category.
As I sit here and think about it, I can see both piles souring over time, so my SIPs or what ever they are could / will do the same probably. Guessing swapping pout soil/mix every fall is the fall back option it if does sour.
The human is not going to be available for daily watering. Plan up to now was a reservoir which would keep the plants happy to 2 or 3 days. Automated watering is not going to be an option.
Southern New England is fairly arid during the summer, especial at my micro region, brown lawns, water bans and the like.
These are the 2 predominate reasons why I am looking to control the water transfer rate out of the reservoir. (Yes, the entire world is a giant minima-maxima problem to me, and the art of living is to balance out maximizing the positives and minimizing the negatives.) So, what I am looking at is to supply enough water to keep the plants happy and vibrant and not water log anything to the point that I have fungi and souring issues.
The other thing I am looking at is this entire project is going to require about 80 gallons or so of mix/soil, and that is not something I want to be generating once year, every year. 3.6 cubic feet each of vermiculite, mature compost and peat/coir yearly isn't something I want in the game plan.