How to grow strawberries in pots? Master these tips and you'll have more strawberries than you can eat
Strawberries are highly nutritious, contain a variety of nutrients, and have health benefits. Many people like to go to farms to pick strawberries, but they worry about pesticides. Why not grow a few pots at home instead? Healthy, tasty, and safe! However, potted strawberries are not that easy to grow. Master the following methods and tips for growing potted strawberries, and you'll have more strawberries than you can eat.
1. When are strawberries usually planted?
Strawberries are generally planted in spring, autumn, or even in all four seasons, because they are perennial plants. Strawberries are a cool-climate plant that loves warmth, and the season most suitable for strawberry growth is generally around September, when the temperature is very comfortable. Strawberries have relatively high economic value, ripen early, are small in size, adapt widely, and are relatively easy to propagate, so they are loved by many farmers, but you should try to choose strawberry varieties suited to your local area.
2. Methods for growing strawberries in pots
Choosing pots and soil: For potted growing, it is best to choose a ceramic pot with a rim diameter of 20-30 cm. For the potting soil, choose soil with a relatively high humus content.
Cultivation techniques: Potted growing can be done in all four seasons. However, when lifting seedlings from the field to pot them, it is best to do so in autumn. Choose strong, healthy seedlings; when lifting them, keep plenty of soil around the roots, remove old and damaged leaves, and trim the roots to about 10 cm. Let the roots spread out and plant them into the potting soil. The planting depth should follow the principle of not exposing the roots and not burying the crown. Firm the soil, fix the seedlings in place, and keep the soil surface 3-4 cm below the rim of the pot. After planting, water thoroughly, place in a cool, shaded spot for 3-5 days, then move to a spot with plenty of light.
Fertilizer and water management: Ever-bearing strawberries bloom and fruit multiple times a year, consuming a lot of nutrients, so nutrient supplementation should be strengthened. You can use animal hooves, fish bones, poultry innards, soybean cakes, etc., add water and let them decompose and ferment, then brew them into liquid fertilizer, or apply a compound fertilizer as a top dressing. Generally, apply fertilizer once a week. For outdoor pots, water once each morning and evening. When watering, let the water warm up in the sun first; never water directly with well water or tap water.
Plant management: Potted strawberries should have enhanced plant care. First, thin buds, remove leaves, and remove runners at the right time. That is, appropriately thin out the ineffective high-level flowers during the bud dispersal stage. Remove old leaves, damaged leaves, diseased leaves, and excess runners to reduce nutrient consumption and improve fruit quality. Second, shape the fruit with supports. That is, use wire or bamboo skewers to make fruit supports of different shapes, place them in the pot and prop up the fruit clusters, promoting ventilation and light penetration for the clusters, even coloring of the fruit, preventing soil from contaminating the fruit, and reducing pest and disease damage. At the same time, you can also use runners for artistic shaping to increase ornamental value. Third, adopt corresponding integrated control measures to prevent and control pests and diseases.
Repotting: Strawberries grow a new section of stem upward each year, new roots emerge from the base of the new stem, and the old roots below gradually die. Because the strawberry stem and roots both move upward each year, in order to ensure a suitable environment for rooting at the base of the new stem, you must mound soil at the base of the new stem, adding a layer of soil in the pot, with the thickness of the mounded soil such that the crown is exposed. If conditions allow, repot once around the Beginning of Autumn after fruiting in spring, adding new nutrient soil to the new pot, tipping the plant out with its soil and placing it into the new pot, planting it a little deeper. If the plant has already fruited for two years, when repotting you can shake the soil off around the plant, expose the roots, carefully break off the segment of rhizome below the new roots that looks like a mixed clump, then plant it into a new pot slightly larger than the original, which serves to renew and rejuvenate the plant.
Temperature and humidity: Generally, potted strawberries require a temperature of 20-25°C, and in winter the room temperature should be kept above 15°C. The pot should be placed in a ventilated, sunny spot, and the potting soil should be kept moist at all times.
Overwintering and propagation. For potted strawberries placed outdoors, in winter you can move them indoors to a sunny spot, or place them on a south-facing enclosed balcony. In severe cold winters, you can also use plastic film for insulation. You can also dig a trench in the ground and set the pots in it in a row, seal tightly around the pots with soil, and add a light covering on top.
3. Precautions for potted strawberries
Strawberries are suitable for growing in soil with plenty of sunlight and good drainage. The soil depth should be about 8-10 inches.
For large strawberry plants, the row spacing should be 12 inches, and the plant spacing about 18 inches. Remove the runners from the plants in time to help the strawberries fruit. Strawberry yields are cyclical, so it is best to cultivate some new plants in the first few years of growing.
If you don't like managing strawberries, you can plant one strawberry every 18-24 inches, so the strawberries can spread freely. Of course, it will look a bit messy, and the strawberries won't be large. If you want to avoid this, you can appropriately remove some runners.
In winter, before the soil freezes, you can spread 3-4 inches of dry straw over the plants. By the following spring, once new leaves have grown, remove the straw.