How to Plant Strawberries in Baskets

By Laura Hoffer

You do not have to have a large garden to grow strawberries. Plant baskets with a few strawberry plants and hang them from your balcony or patio. Choose everbearing or day-neutral varieties that will produce fruit all summer long.

Fill the basket with potting soil. Choose a light soil mix that will encourage good water drainage.

Dig a hole in the center of the basket with a potting trowel, making it deep enough to accommodate the root ball of the strawberry plant.

Place the plant in the hole and cover the roots up. Keep the crown of the plant above the soil.

Plant the other four plants around the center one, spacing them evenly between the center and edge of the basket.

Water the strawberry plants well and place the basket in a sunny spot where there is at least six hours of sunlight and protection from the wind.

Feed your strawberry plants during flowering to harvest time every 10 days with a high-potassium fertilizer such as a tomato-fertilizing feed.

Remove any runners coming off the main plants to encourage fruit production. These can be planted in other pots.

For problems with birds eating your strawberries, cover pots with netting.

Plants in hanging baskets can dry out quickly in hot weather. Check at least twice a day to see if your strawberry plants need watering.

To keep your strawberries from rotting on the plant, do not get the fruit wet when watering.

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