Growing strawberries in boxes, buckets on the street

Spring is a joyful and difficult time for gardeners. There will be a lot of work involved in growing seedlings and sowing seeds in the ground. And strawberry lovers often face the question of how and where to place the delicious, aromatic berry. Gardeners do not always have large plots. I want a variety of plants to grow in my dacha. It is difficult to baffle gardeners; they emerge victorious from any situation.

So, with planting fragrant garden strawberries. If there is not enough space on the ground, then you can start growing strawberries in boxes outside. Beginners are often interested in what containers can be used to plant plants, what kind of soil should be used, and what are the special care features.

Advantages and disadvantages

Gardeners quite often plant strawberries in various boxes, buckets, and large flowerpots.

What are the advantages of such a landing:

Small boxes and buckets are mobile “beds” that can be moved to a new location at any time.
In autumn, such structures can be placed in a greenhouse or on a window or balcony.
The berries do not come into contact with the ground, so they get sick less.
Pests living on the ground (mice, slugs, snails, mole crickets) cannot reach the roots and leaves.
Picking berries is a pleasant experience, since you don’t have to “bow” before each berry.

Attention!
Such containers with garden strawberries are an excellent option for landscape design. Some disadvantages of growing strawberries in boxes and buckets cannot be kept silent. Firstly, it is difficult to regulate watering. Secondly, if the boxes are wooden, then their service life is limited. Thirdly, increased requirements for soil fertility.

Possible problems during cultivation

Using the technology of growing crops in a barrel, gardeners will have to face the issue of insulating the beds. This is easy to do by building a frame of pipes and mesh at a distance of 10-20 cm from the container. Fill the cavity with dry leaves or grass. And cover the top of the structure with waterproof material.

Over time, soil compaction and acidification occur. This can be noted by the decreasing yield on the lower tiers. This problem can be prevented by planting crops in the lower rows that are resistant to high soil moisture and density. Aromatic herbs and spices (basil, calendula, etc.) are always useful in the kitchen.

Overgrown strawberries in a plastic barrel

Container for planting strawberries

To grow strawberries outside, you can take any boxes. They can be made of wood or plastic. You can use ready-made boxes in which products are delivered to the store. Wooden and plastic containers already have holes for planting seedlings. Some gardeners use old buckets, because you still have to make holes in them.

How do you like this option of using items that are going out of fashion? I just want to say in verse: before, little things were stored in it, but now strawberries grow. An old chest of drawers (pictured below) became a unique garden bed.

Preparing the soil

Strawberries develop quickly; after the first flowering and formation of fruits, a second wave will soon follow. It requires fertile soil to grow. To grow strawberries in boxes and buckets, you need to prepare the soil following the rules:

A layer of drainage must be placed at the bottom of the containers (up to 25% of the volume of the bucket or box) so that there is no stagnation of water. Otherwise, the root system will begin to rot, which will lead to the death of the strawberries. In addition, the drainage pad allows oxygen to pass through, which is necessary for the harmonious development of plants. Most often crushed stone or gravel is used.
Strawberries love fertile, loose soil. It is necessary to add sand with large fractions. It is mixed with soil. Thanks to the presence of sand, gas exchange will increase, which contributes to the rapid growth and development of strawberries. You cannot take soil in the place where strawberries used to grow.
It is necessary to add peat and wood ash to the soil. If there are not enough nutrients in the soil, plants in boxes and buckets may stop growing. Naturally, the berries will be small and tasteless.
Since remontant strawberry varieties are most often grown in boxes and buckets in order to harvest several times a season, it is necessary to apply nitrogen and ammonia fertilizers before planting. Before planting strawberries, some gardeners add carrots and beets chopped in a blender to the bottom of the holes as a source of sugar. In their opinion, plants take root better.
Since garden strawberries often suffer from blackleg, the soil must be disinfected by pouring boiling water with dissolved potassium permanganate crystals over it.
The prepared soil is placed in planting containers and watered with clean water.

Garden strawberries

Garden strawberry is a herbaceous, perennial, evergreen plant belonging to the Rosaceae family, a genus of strawberries, numbering up to 45 species. While wild strawberries and wild strawberries exist in the wild, there are no wild strawberries and never have been. It appeared as a result of an accidental crossing of Chilean and Virginia strawberries at the beginning of the 18th century. It has displaced cultivated strawberries from gardens, which is why they are often mistakenly called strawberries.

The age of strawberry bushes can exceed 20 years, maintaining an excellent ability to bear fruit well. However, under normal conditions, plantations are usually kept for 3-4 years. According to its morphological characteristics, strawberries destroy themselves by thickening with growing stems (whiskers) and the formation of new stems from lateral buds. They are also called horns.

Strawberries have this peculiarity: if you weed them, it does it more harm than good, since most of its roots are located at a depth of 10-30 cm. In order not to damage them, the soil between the rows should be loosened shallowly. Mulching (chopped straw, sawdust, reeds, corn stalks, pine or spruce needles, roofing felt, plastic film, rubber sheets, etc.) is of little benefit.

Rules for planting strawberries in boxes

When planting strawberries in boxes, use the one-line method. The hole is filled with water and the seedlings are placed in the resulting mud. The roots need to be straightened. Sprinkle dry soil on top and gently press the plant. If this is not done, then there will be no close contact with the ground, this will negatively affect rooting. It’s easy to check whether a plant sits well in the ground: lightly pull the leaves. If the bush has not moved, it means it was planted according to the rules.

Before planting, the roots of the seedlings are trimmed, leaving 5 to 7 cm. This technique provokes the rapid development of lateral roots. The plantings need to be watered and mulched again.

Attention! Strawberries need to be planted correctly, without deepening the growing points.

Container for strawberries

The most demanding strawberries become more productive with agricultural technology in a cylinder container. The container is a collapsible transparent or tinted polyethylene (plastic) film with a lock 0.5-1 cm thick. In the meantime, the container cylinders are not yet ready, it is advisable to use plastic bottles with a capacity of 2 liters (for the first two years you can use 1 .5-liter), separating the bottom and top of the bottle, cutting out a cylinder 100-110 mm high with scissors. Cultivation in cylinders provides tangible advantages: the berries ripen 10-15 days earlier, are not damaged by pests, are not contaminated by soil, and all the berries ripen in the peduncle.

We don’t do weeding: we do light loosening with a rake (after 7-10 days and after watering or precipitation). Up to forty strawberry bushes can be placed on 1 m2, and this will yield over 1 kg of fruit. The bulk of the growing stems (candrils) appear after the berries ripen; they will stick out above the bush for a long time. If these stems are not cut, it is unlikely that they will take root.

Annual hilling using conventional technology does not create appropriate conditions for the rooting of horn stems due to the fact that the roots are washed out or the heart (bud) becomes silted by rain during watering. And pouring soil into a cylinder container at the rate of 0.5 cups per bush is effective. Over the years, from adding soil, soil accumulates in the container almost to the top level (this is within 7-8 years), so this should also be done between the rows.

Features of plant care

Growing strawberries in various containers is used by many summer residents. They note that there are no special differences when caring for strawberries. Plantings need to be weeded, the soil loosened, watered and fed.

Although there are nuances that you need to pay attention to:

Difficulties may arise when watering plants. Soil in wooden or plastic boxes dries out faster than in conventional beds.
Since strawberry plants have limited space, the plants quickly select nutrients. Strawberries need to be fed more often, especially for remontant varieties after the first wave of fruiting.

Strawberry boxes

Most often, gardeners grow strawberries in boxes. This is the most convenient container; in addition, you can use ready-made options or make boxes yourself. You can plant seedlings on one or both sides, as in the picture.

What are the benefits of boxes:

You can grow strawberries in such containers on a rigidly fixed base or in a hanging form.
Using plastic or wooden boxes of different sizes, you can build pyramids from them. Such designs attract the attention of gardeners who want to see beauty in their garden.

How do you like this option of using strawberry boxes? Three boxes are stacked on top of each other, with plants peeking out from the cracks between the boards. Each layer is mulched with straw.

If you want to plant garden strawberries in plastic boxes, use not only store containers, but also fruit and vegetable containers. Although the soil dries out faster in them, it warms up better. Plants feel comfortable.

Interesting video about a garden fence with strawberries:

How to assemble a garden bed

Horizontal and vertical structures differ technologically.
Each of them can be very simple or equipped with additional devices that make care easier. But the main principle is the same: holes are cut in the pipe, where bushes are planted in the laid soil. The equipment is also different, but the set of tools you will need is the same:

screwdriver with drill (⌀ 8-10 mm), crown (⌀ 10 cm);
jigsaw or hacksaw;
roulette;
pencil or marker.

If you have a jigsaw, you can do without a crown.

Horizontal option

How to properly make the simplest bed is shown in the video:

The master from the video used carved wood plugs instead of plastic plugs. There is another option than to replace purchased material - cover the ends with thick plastic film, secured with tape or clamps. But only black, so that the earth does not start to bloom from the sun.

For a more complex horizontal structure, you will need two pipes: with a diameter of 10-15 cm - external, 5 cm - internal. Step-by-step assembly instructions will help even an inexperienced gardener cope with the task:

The length of the pipes is adjusted so that the outer one is 10-15 cm shorter.
In the planting area (larger diameter) holes are made for the bushes, as shown in the video above. In a narrow (watering) hole, holes are drilled from different sides along the entire length, leaving only 15 cm intact at each end.
In plugs, plastic or wooden, a hole is made in the center equal to the diameter of the internal channel. Polyethylene is not used as a plug in this case.
The bottom of the pipe (laid with the landing grooves up, as for future operation) is evenly covered with 2-3 cm of expanded clay.
The irrigation channel is tied with agrofibre, secured with rope. This protection will prevent the earth from clogging the holes.
Install a narrow pipe, leading out from both ends through plugs. Water for irrigation is supplied through one end, and a hose with a valve is inserted into the other to remove excess moisture.
Pour soil and plant strawberries.

It is more profitable to install structures for planting horizontally in areas with a relatively flat landscape. The beds are hung on free sunny walls and fences. Or they make stands.

In multi-tiered systems, the beds are placed one above the other or on a corner support, as in the photo

The main condition is access to the sun to the bushes in each tier.

Vertical option

The principle is the same as that of the second horizontal version, but the watering channel is led out only from one end - the top. When preparing a wide-diameter planting pipe, light levels during the day are taken into account. If the sun comes from different directions, then the holes are made around the circumference in a checkerboard pattern.

The assembly guide boils down to the following steps:

The lower end is closed tightly.
A narrow pipe is installed in the center, and expanded clay is poured into a wide container up to the level of the first drilled hole. It simultaneously fixes the position of the irrigation channel and the stability of the entire structure.
If the dimensions are correctly observed, the drainage layer is 15 cm from the plug to the beginning of the perforation, and on top the same 15 cm protrude above the planting container.
Fill the soil, gradually shedding it so that there are no voids left.
Plants are planted.

To moisten the soil, water is supplied to the protruding end of the irrigation pipe.

The vertical arrangement of PVC beds is more advantageous in areas with a sharp difference in height. Decorative walls are made from the strawberry “picket fence”, covering the fence, outbuildings, marking areas of the site, and decorating a children’s corner with a sandbox and swing.

Buckets for strawberries

An equally interesting option that saves land at the dacha are buckets. You can use old buckets made of any material.

Planting in such containers will depend on how the strawberries are grown. Gardeners use different options:

free-standing buckets;
collected in a pyramid. The most attractive look are buckets assembled in an amazing cascade, as in this photo.
suspended on rings or chains.

The option used may cause difficulties during watering. In addition, in such buckets the soil dries out much faster than in boxes. Due to the heavy weight of the container, rings or chains may fall off, so care must be taken to securely fasten it. Although the method used saves the area of the site as much as possible.

How to use buckets: