How To Grow Strawberries In A Hanging Basket

Hanging baskets are typically used to grow impressive flower displays but can also but used to grow fruit, vegetables and herbs.

As well as being a novel alternative to flowers growing fruit and veg in a basket is a very clever use of space especially when in a town dwelling. Strawberries are the perfect basis for starting your own kitchen garden outside a garden flat or townhouse. You can develop onto growing herbs like sage or basil as well of course.

Strawberries make an ideal fruit to be grown in a hanging basket by providing both a delicious fruit as well as some colour for visual effect.

The first thing to note is that strawberries should be planted in spring.

As preparation you will also need all of the materials to hand - a frame, some compost, a liner, a selection of strawberry and other plants, some slow release fertiliser and 12" of polythene.

Choose from the various different strawberry plants at your local nursery and aim to use 5-6 plants for a 14" basket. You can in 1-2 other plants for decoration if you choose for the effect whilst the strawberry plants are growing. This ensures the basket can be decorative as well as functional.

Place a piece of polythene in the basket to act as a reservoir to aid water retention. Strawberries need to be well watered throughout and are even more susceptible to drying out in a hanging basket.

Use a multi purpose compost and fill the basket to about a third of the way up the side. It is best to add slow release fertilisers which have the fertiliser sealed in a resin shell which releases over a long period. This ensures the plants get nutrients consistently during when they are growing and means you'll get the best chance of growing the largest and most appealing fruit.

The basket will now be full of compost and fertiliser so dig some small holes in the compost to position the strawberry plants on the top or the sides. Each strawberry plant that you use will need time and light so leave a minimum of 5cm between each plant. This is to ensure you do not crowd out the strawberry plants and restrict their growth.

Water the basket thoroughly to ensure the compost is completely wet. As with any plants the strawberries will need to be regularly watered over the summer period until they fruit into beautiful large red strawberries.

In summary, if you follow these steps the strawberry plants will provide edible fruit and provide a pleasant and alternative display to using regular flowers.