The Rusted Garden Journal : KNOL: Planting Strawverries in a Strawberry Box (In Pictures)

Transfered from Google Knols to be stored on my blog.

Strawberries are a great fruit to have in your garden. They come early and can be quite rewarding. The rabbits love them as do the birds. This year my strawberries we ravaged by rabbits. The only thing I could do was replant my boxes. In a way it was good timing, the soil needed to be amended. I found plants on sale and replanted my strawberry box with a new variety.

Planting Strawberries in a Strawberry Box (In Pictures)

by Gary Pilarchik LCSW-C

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Well the rabbits defoliated my strawberries. I'll have very few to eat if any. The birds can now see the fruit like red blinking beacons from the sky. A side note, the big stores are putting plants on sale. I picked up 5 strawberry plants for .75 cents each. Normally they are $3 or so. It is time to replant my strawberry box.

Step One: Remove, Loosen, and Amend the Soil

The soil was in this box for three years. I removed the damaged plants. I removed the soil and put it in a 18 gallon container I use for this purpose. I broke the soil up, added peat moss for moisture control, and some fertilizer. It was returned to the planting box.

The box I built. It is about 12 inches deep. This depth is sufficient to cut down on the frequency of needing to water it.

Old Plants Gone, Soil Loosened, Fertilized and Amended

Step Two: Lay Out Your Strawberries

The strawberries came in coconut husk containers. If you are burying the plants in their containers make sure the roots can grow throw them and nothing from the container appears above the surface. If you leave some of the peat moss container or husk above the ground, water will get wicked away from your plant's roots.

Space the strawberries out. You can see the approximate distance for spacing. Strawberries grow runners and will fill in the spaces between themselves and they will run to the ground.

The Five Orphans I got for .75 cents. Spaced as to be Planted.

Step Three: Plant the Stawberries without Burying the Crown

This step is very important. Of course you have to plant them but you must not bury the strawberry crown. If you do, the plant could die out. The crown is between my fingers and is typically the point where new leaves are just starting to grow. You can see a leaf by my index finger. The tip of the crown again, which is between my thumb and finger should be planted just above ground level.

The Crown is Between My Fingers. Don't Bury It. Keep it Above Ground.

Step Five: Water and Admire

After you have your plants in, give them a good soaking. You will notice some strawberries at the base of the container. They are left over the strawberries from the plants that were removed. The runners will reach the ground and start new plants for you. I decided to leave those plants there. Don't forget to admire your work. Enjoy!