Do you ever get bug bites in your strawberries? That’s my main challenge to harvesting perfect, plump, red ones. So the last couple years I’ve grown fewer strawberries in the ground and more in containers, which has vanquished the bug threat.
I start the strawberry plants in one-gallon containers, whether I’ve bought a six pack or bare-root plants, or if I’m transplanting runners.
And I put just one plant in a one-gallon container. I’ve tried two or three plants (as pictured above), but they quickly outgrow that volume. You need a five-gallon container if you want to grow more than one strawberry plant in a single container for more than a month or so.
I use my homemade compost for the container mix, which includes some composted chicken manure, and that has achieved good results. I think that any high quality potting mix would perform just as well or better. For example, I’ve found that Recipe 420 performs very well for growing most vegetables in containers.
Off the ground
But here is the most important thing. The reason that growing strawberries in containers prevents (or at least greatly reduces) bug damage is that the berries are not lying on the ground where the bugs live and roam. The bugs that eat my strawberries most often are pill bugs (rolly pollies) and earwigs (pincher bugs). These bugs can climb the walls of a container, but they rarely do, in my experience.
Further, to make it even less likely that bugs get up into the containers, I elevate the containers. I usually place the containers on top of bricks.
Alternatives
There are other effective ways to minimize bug damage on strawberries. I’ve used my chickens to debug the area around the strawberries. Having bare ground (no mulch, including straw) around the plants helps because it eliminates habitat. And there are poisons you can buy that will kill the bugs. You can also lower expectations until it heats up around June or July, which is when the bugs become less active; you’re likely to get more undamaged berries then.
These alternatives to reducing bug damage on strawberries might be the best method for your situation. But for me these last few years, growing in containers has been the best in terms of least time required, most effective, cheapest, and safest.
On the topic of safety, strawberries from the grocery store rank dirtiest among all fruits and vegetables, according to the Environmental Working Group’s report. (Also, see here.) So my take is that if you’re going to eat strawberries, it’s wise to either buy them from a farmer you trust or grow your own.
Summer
In about July, it becomes difficult to keep plants in containers watered in my hot, inland location. Because of this, I either move my container strawberries into half-day sun near the east side of my house or I put the strawberry plants into the ground under a fruit tree.
From these plants under fruit trees, I can then dig out runners the following winter to make the new year’s potted strawberries. I dug some runners out today.
This winter’s strawberries for my kids
In addition to digging up and potting up runners, I’ve also bought some new strawberry plants in the last few weeks. I bought a six-pack of Albion, one of my favorite strawberry varieties.
“Each of you gets two plants,” I told my three kids. And then I helped them pot up the new Albion strawberries into one-gallon containers. They decorated their containers and even named their plants.
My daughter showed me hers: “This one is Bunch because it has a bunch of leaves, and this one is Runner because it has a runner.”
January is an excellent time to get started on strawberries — in containers or in the ground — in Southern California.
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I have family in other parts of country. They salivate at your avocados as the East coast Avos are unpredictable and are frequently brown inside and tasteless.So my New Year’s resolution is to pay regular attention to your emails. So when can we expect Reeds? Even my grandchildren ,notorious for their pickiness, get beside themselves thinking of the Reed.
Awesome to read this, John. Reeds are usually ready in July. I have a couple sources of Reeds in addition to my tree so I should be able to offer them then. Reed really is an amazing variety.
One more comment.is it true that the first year you pick the small strawberries to allow for larger growth the second year? I don t see any plants at HD yet. What varities do you recommend.
Hi John,
You mean remove the strawberries while they’re still small in order to let the plant grow the first year, and then you’ll get bigger berries the second? I’ve not heard of that with strawberries. I’ll ask a friend who farms strawberries.
I really like Albion, as mentioned above. I also like Chandler and Camarosa. But there are probably a dozen other great varieties that I’ve never tried.
I’ve been growing strawberries in 10 gallon canvas type commercial bags, but am leaving the same plant grow from year to year. Sometimes I take the oldest (not great looking) and replace them from runners.
I replenish the lower 2/3 potting mix soil with more worm castings (Worm Gold) from a nursery.
Last year was the first year I pulled out the older plants cut back the roots and replanted in the same bag of old G+B Blue Ribbon potting mix , I removed the top 1/3 of used Blue Ribbon, replenished w fresh/new Blue Ribbon,(mixed all the mix in the 10 gallon sack, then took a large handful of Gary’s Acid Mix potting mix and replanted the trimmed roots directly into the Acid Mix
The wife says she got the most number of strawberries last year of all the several years of growing strawberries in bags. I grow 3 plants per 10 gallon “cloth” bag. (I don’t have the room so this works good enough for me)
here is a link about Gary’s technique of growing strawberries. You can start at around 22 minutes. His philosophy is different when it comes to growing composting material in a pot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72bMd6Wk430
This year I will take one complete sack of Acid Mix and Blue Ribbon to see if this makes a difference. The stuff is not inexpensive. But, when you see what non-organic strawberries cost in a store, it makes more sense.
Greg, what’s been your experience with using the same plant several years in a row, or am I better off just getting new ones from runners and from the nursery?
Hi Al,
Thanks for sharing. I have kept strawberry patches for 3-4 years and they did fine as long as I kept up with maintenance (clipping out some runners to avoid crowding, raking out dead stuff, adding some compost).
Any recommendations for where to buy Albion strawberry plants online? I didn’t see them at my local garden center though I am new to the area so haven’t looked around too much. Thanks!
Hi Emily,
I would first ask the staff at the nursery. They might be getting some in soon or be able to order some for you.
Online vendors I’ve had good experience with in the past are Territorial and Peaceful Valley.
Hi there,
I am a brand new gardener and I’ve been learning so much from your website. I just built three 3’x5’ wood planter boxes yesterday and I’d like to dedicate 1 to just strawberries. Because it’s my first time, I have the mindset that I’ll probably fail lol. BUT I’d at least like to give it my best shot. I haven’t put soil in my boxes yet. They’re about 11” high. Any quick tips for me to get started? Should I buy little plants? Should I do seeds? What would you do? Anything else? Thank you in advance.
Hi Erin,
Fun project. I bet you’re going to get great production from these strawberries. Strawberry plants like this kind of setup.
I would fill the box to the rim. The soil/potting mix will settle over time. It’s also helpful if you plant some strawberries close enough to the edges of the box such that some berries can hang over the side. This keeps them cleaner and less likely to be munched on by bugs. It also looks cool.
I would buy plants. Buy them in six packs, which are usually around $5 for the six plants.
To make the best use of the space in the box, buy six packs of lettuce at the same time and plant the lettuce in between the strawberries. The lettuce will grow fast and you’ll harvest it all by the time the strawberry plants need the extra space and sun.
This is great, thank you! So are you saying to do strawberries just around the outside of the box and lettuce in the middle of the box? No strawberries in the middle then, right? And how far apart should the lettuce and strawberries all be from each other? And can I plant them now?
Hi Erin,
What I was thinking is planting the strawberries about a foot apart throughout the box, and planting a lettuce in between each strawberry. Yes, you can plant them now.
Oh!! Got it. Ok thank you tons
I’m in north Florida and small lizards bite into my berries just as the get ripe. It’s so frustrating.
Apologies a bit off topic here, but does anyone grow blackberries in coastal SoCal? I’m in Santa Monica, zone 10b. Chill hours here are really low, less than 100, but my blackberries have been reasonably successful.
This winter though my Navajo and prime ark traveler blackberries have never gone dormant – they are still producing ripe but small berries on the primocanes.
Question – should I cut off the remaining berries now in mid February to prompt dormancy? What else to do? I want the plants to wake up at the appropriate April/May timeframe.