Strawberries

[Sniper-T]

So who grows em? what is your methodology? I've had several large patches for a few years now, and they produce next to nothing each year. The plants grow well, they flower like crazy, but then only a couple of small berries are produced, if anything. I've tried cutting them back, separating, placing straw and mulch between. I've tried pollinating by hand, and both prayer and voodoo dances.

What say you?

[helomech]

I have mine in aquaponics and in the spring I was getting lots of strawberries, but with the heat I am not getting any now.

[eagle326]

napalm them.

[ak474u]

We have vertical pvc pipe planters, and they didn't do well at all. I have 2 out of 26 still alive an making one berry at a time. They're just snacks for the boy now. Kinda gave up on the vertical method. We're gonna do an honest strawberry patch next year, and make the vertical planters into flower towers instead.

[bacpacker]

I dont have any right now other than in a large tub. When I had them in the ground, I always had them in a wide row. I kept them in a three year rotation. I would till out 1/3every year which seemed to regenerate them.

[Caveman Survival]

I have old rain barrels that i took the bottoms off then cut 4" diameter holes into all the way around (about 20 per barrel). Turned them up side down and filled them with soil. All of the bottom holes I plugged with strawberry starts (about 15 plants) and the upper holes I seeded with loose leaf lettuce. On the top I seeded with broccoli. When the lettuce grows is provides shade for the strawberries to avoid burning, and the broccoli provides shade for the lettuce to avoid bolting. I have had a nice harvest of berries and lettuce for a few years now. My broccoli never produces and stays as leaves, but that's alright, we don't really eat broc in our house and more use it as a shade cover and then compost.

As you know snipe, the winters here are horrible, so I wrap the entire barrel in burlap, stuff with leaves and when the snow falls I completely cover them in snow to insulate.

We don't get bushel upon bushels of berries, but we get enough to do up jams in the late summer or have fresh berries for salad at harvest.

It works for us

[helomech]

I have old rain barrels that i took the bottoms off then cut 4" diameter holes into all the way around (about 20 per barrel). Turned them up side down and filled them with soil. All of the bottom holes I plugged with strawberry starts (about 15 plants) and the upper holes I seeded with loose leaf lettuce. On the top I seeded with broccoli. When the lettuce grows is provides shade for the strawberries to avoid burning, and the broccoli provides shade for the lettuce to avoid bolting. I have had a nice harvest of berries and lettuce for a few years now. My broccoli never produces and stays as leaves, but that's alright, we don't really eat broc in our house and more use it as a shade cover and then compost.

As you know snipe, the winters here are horrible, so I wrap the entire barrel in burlap, stuff with leaves and when the snow falls I completely cover them in snow to insulate.

We don't get bushel upon bushels of berries, but we get enough to do up jams in the late summer or have fresh berries for salad at harvest.

It works for us

Would you mind posting a pic.

[Caveman Survival]

[Caveman Survival]

@helomech The strawberries in this barrel are more on the right side. I wanted to keep the sun off the lettuce as much as I could to prevent bolting. My other barrel (sorry no pics) has a better distribution. But as you can see in a 2 x 2 area I can plant MULTIPLE plants

[helomech]

Awesome thanks. Been wanting to do something like this for a while now.