12 Tips for Growing Strawberries in Hanging Baskets

Growing strawberries in hanging basket saves space, as these baskets don’t take up much room. Strawberries in a hanging basket can be grown indoors or outdoors, and they are not prone to the insect infestations that the plants grown in the ground are. As long as they get enough sunlight, enough water, enough fertilizer, and enough care, they will grow and produce for at least three years.

The following information will help you grow healthy, hardy strawberries in a hanging baskets, indoors or outdoors.

1. Use ever-bearing strawberry plants, as they produce two or more crops per season. June-bearing strawberry plants produces fruit once a year.
2. Plant three to six plants in a basket in the spring, and water every day.
3. If you use a wire basket, you will need to line it with coco fiber, sphagnum peat moss or a basket liner.
4. A good quality fertilizer and/or compost should be used with the soil. Strawberry plants in hanging baskets need regular fertilizer as there is limited amount of nutrients in the soil from a basket. At least once a month is good until the plant starts flowering. When the strawberry plant starts to flower, it should be given fertilizer every ten days.
5. Controlled release fertilizer works best. Liquid fertilizer is the easiest to use. Do not use moisture retaining mixtures with chemical polymers or hydrogels. These are meant to be used only on ornamental plants, not edible plants. A small layer of stones may be placed on top of the soil to help retain moisture, and to keep the leaves and fruit dry.
6. If the hanging basket is placed outdoors, you may want to consider placing netting over the plant, like a cage, to keep the birds from getting at and damaging the strawberries.
7. Water hanging strawberry plants frequently but do not get the fruit wet. Do not let the soil to dry out. Strawberry plants need good drainage.
8. Strawberry plants need at least six to eight hours of sunlight per day. Full sunlight is best.
9. Fruit should be harvested as soon the strawberries turn red. It is best to harvest strawberries in dry weather.
10. Make sure that the green stalk remains with the fruit when picked. For the first year, it is recommended that the runners be removed from strawberry plants that grow in a hanging basket.
11. Pluck all the blossoms from ever-bearing strawberry plants during the first year of planting through to the end of June. By doing this, the plant will blossom and produce fruit in the fall.
12. Thirty strawberry plants should produce enough strawberries for a family of four.

If you follow all the rules and guidelines for growing strawberry plants in a hanging basket, you will get a few years of delicious strawberries to enjoy. After approximately three years of producing strawberry crops, the plants will need to be replaced with new ones.