vix2104
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Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 10:16 am
Location: Lossiemouth Scotland

Hi need some advice

Hello, I've decided I'm going to grow some strawberrys! in big plant pots for his year as they are only tiny little things then hopefully next year il put them into the ground to make a big strawberry field lol. Now my dilema is this ive got a bag of soil/compost a bag of horse manure and a bag of straw! What do I do? Do I put manure in first then soil/compost then line the plant with straw or do I mix the soil/compost an the manure together? How deep should I plant the tiny little strawberry? And what about worms cos this bag of soil/compost has bloody loads of them in are they gonna eat my strawberrrys should I go an buy more compost. I know I've got to keep he strawberrys away from direct sunlight and to water them regularily but not too regularily but thats about all I do know can someone please HELP.......

scoobdoob808
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Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2010 7:51 am
Location: Pocatello Idaho

I would mix the soil, compost and manure and plant the strawberries and then mulch with the straw. I would not worry at all about the worms they will just keep your soil healthy.

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rainbowgardener
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If it is composted (well-aged) manure, than as already suggested mix the soil/ compost with a little manure (I'm thinking no more than about 70:30 soil to manure). If you are planting into pots, I'd mix in a little potting soil (or a little peat moss and vermiculite which are ingredients in potting soil) to lighten your mixture up. Be sure and put a little gravel or something in the bottom of your pots for drainage.

The straw is for mulch when you are planting in the ground; I'm about to do that for my strawberries. It's a little bit unwieldy to use for mulching your pots.

Scoobdoo was right, the earthworms are good. They will help break down the compost and manure into nutrients the plants can use. They will not eat your strawberries. Earthworms eat the decaying plant and animal material, including bacteria, in the soil.

Re how deep, are you talking about roots or plants? Either way it should have a little crown, which is the node where the stems start coming out. Be sure the crown is above ground. This article

https://urbanext.illinois.edu/strawberries/growing.html

midway down the page has a little picture of how it should look.

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Kisal
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Location: Oregon

I've always heard that strawberries like a lot of sun. :?:

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mrsgreenthumbs
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Location: Santa Maria, California

Wow.. here (strawberry capital SM vally) we swear by our sandy soil for great strawberry plants. I thought sand was a must add to any strawberry potting mix.



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