Berry Berry Strawberry

Let me give you a heads up; this is not gonna be a jaw dropping, “have to make it” kinda project post (wait for that one on Thursday 😉 ) but wanted to put it out there ‘coz  I think most of us DIY’ers can relate to the sentiment. As any DIY’er would attest, whenever we see something our first thought is, “How else can I use it?” You know, apart from the usual purpose it is meant for. If you ask me the biggest plus as well minus of any DIY’er is this habit, to search for other uses! True we don’t want to miss a single opportunity to flex our creative muscles and often do dream up really innovative projects. But sometimes to just follow the rule and use something for what it was meant for can be such a revelation!

These days when I see a strawberry pot all I can think of is a succulent planter or even an herb planter. So for this one I thought why not use it for strawberries for a change? 🙂  Can’t tell you how normal it felt to use it for what it was intended for! Seriously, it was so relieving! I even left it aux natural! Can you believe it? 🙂

The pot, a find at the Old Lucketts Store 2 winters ago might be small but makes up for its size in cuteness and the level of detail.

Potting wise, it is pretty much similar to every thing else.

• Clean the pot.
• Cover the drainage hole with broken clay pieces aka. old broken pots or coconut fiber (hint: recycle your old coconut husk liners from the hanging baskets)
• Add a good potting mix all the way up to the first opening in the pot. In my case all the openings on the pot were on the same level. In most of the strawberry pots that I have seen the openings are staggered.
• Loosen the plant gently out of the store container and gently squeeze it through the opening towards the center of the pot. My daughter and her friend were experts at nudging the plants into the openings.
• Add soil around the plant both outside and inside the pot.
• Fill in the soil till you are on level with the next opening. Continue step 3 onward till you reach the top.
• On the top add the plant and fill the soil only till slightly above the neck of the planter. By keeping the soil level slightly above the neck you are accounting for settling while watering. After a day or two the soil should settle up to the neck of the planter.
• Water thoroughly. Strawberries like a lot of water and full sun.

There are 3 Allstar plants (from Walmart) in there. Not sure if there will be enough room for all of them. The kids have even started counting the berries! Hope I can keep them alive.

Do you grow strawberries? Any tips for this berry newbie?