A couple of years ago we’d tried growing some strawberry plants in hanging baskets and were disappointed with the production. Prior to that we’d tried the good old strawberry pot, but didn’t have much success with that either. We decided that strawberries didn’t meet their space vs. production and we reluctantly turned our attention to trying blueberries and raspberries. One of the things I loved best last year was wandering out onto the deck and plucking whatever berries were ready to have with yogurt or cereal and both types were much more productive, even as they were getting established.
Several weeks ago, while looking for information on the Back to Eden method of gardening (which has about zero application to our balc-o-farm, but we’re dreaming of “someday,” in which winning the lottery [even though we don’t buy tickets] factors rather prominently) we stumbled onto the YouTube channel of a gentleman who goes by the handle “ldsprepper.” Among his video series is one all about the good ole self-watering bucket. This being our third year gardening this way, we consider ourselves neither novice nor expert, so I settled in with a morning cup of tea to watch some of the videos. I saw one called “Off-Grid Self-Watering System: The Ultimate Container.” Well, you’d better believe I wanted to see that! He started talking about using his system to grow strawberries, and my ears perked up. A way to grow lots of strawberry plants in a small amount of space? By adapting the system we were already using for our veggies?? Yes, please!
Essentially, ldsprepper drilled holes in the sides of his buckets for the strawberry plants to poke through, and cut down a second bucket to be his reservoir. Brilliant! In fact, he had worked out a way to stack two buckets and grow double the plants in the same footprint. In a later video, though, he admitted that the double-stack didn’t work as he’d hoped (I’ve since watched several of this gentleman’s other videos, and this is one of the things I appreciate about him – he is more than willing to share what didn’t work for him as well as what did/does).
We decided that we’d like to try making a couple of the “Ultimate Containers” for strawberries, but without stacking them.
First, my hubby cut down a couple of containers, and caulked some lengths of PVC pipe in the bottom to hold up the planting container, giving them ample time to dry in the sun.
Then we mixed up our soil & perlite (to help keep the weight down on the deck & retain water) and planted the strawberries. They came in groups of 25 from our local nursery, so we planted the extras in the tops of our containers instead of putting the lid on, as ldsprepper did in his. To help compensate, we a layer of mulch on top of ours, though, which will help hold moisture. It might not do so as well as a lid, but at least it’s something…
We were concerned about losing soil through the holes so we’d purchased some landscape fabric, cutting a length to fit the circumference. The plan was to hold it in place and cut “Xs” where the holes were in the bucket.Unfortunately, the fabric wouldn’t stay put as hubby was working it for the first bucket, so we abandoned the idea. Problem was, our concerns were valid. As soon as I started watering the newly-planted container, the potting mix started pouring out the sides. Eek!
How did we solve the problem? Abandoned landscape fabric to the rescue! We cut squares large enough to fit through the holes, cutting a slit long enough to go around each plant. Then, my ever-patient husband poked and prodded them through each hole with a plant stake. It made a big difference! A little soil still escapes, but not nearly as much, and we’re hoping that as the plants get established even less will wash through the holes.
Fortunately, we’d only planted the first container when we discovered the problem, so we cut more fabric squares and inserted them as we planted the second container, layer by layer. These were much easier to install than those we “retrofitted,” and much less soil washes out of the second container than the first.
So, in a couple of square feet we’ve got nearly 50 ever-bearing strawberry plants. It’s been a few days, and they seem to be adjusting nicely; leaves turning up toward the sun, new leaves popping out, etc. Fingers crossed!
Note: A couple more things we did differently than the video: the buckets we had were converted from some we already had, and they already had the watering tubes in them, so we just left them in. We’ll still water through the mulch for the most part to get nutrients to the plants. Also, we put the buckets up on plant stands, so we don’t accidentally decapitate any of the plants when we’re dragging the hose around on the deck. To that end, we’re also going to move them out of harm’s way once we get the center structure for the deck built. More on that later…
Here’s the Ultimate Container video by ldsprepper, with all due credit!
little farm on the balcony 