First it is important to decide if you want to plant your strawberries in a pot or in a garden. If you have limited space in your yard, it might make sense to start with a strawberry pot; however, if you’ve got room to spare, then take a chance and plant a strawberry plant.

Planting a strawberry pot:

     A strawberry pot is round in the middle and has strategically placed openings that tilt slighty downward and in for proper draining. This design is meant to protect the plant from grit and to allow the fruit to grow. 

What you need:

• Strawberry Jar
• Wire Mesh or Window Screen 
• Organic Potting Soil
• Strawberry Plants
• PVC Pipe or CardboardTube (about 1 inch)
  

Optional:

• Compost, Peat, or Leaf Mold

Getting Started:

Place a piece of the mesh or screen over the drainage hole so the soil does not fall through.

Next, put your soil (compost, peat, or leaf mold optional) into the pot until it reaches the lowest opening. Meanwhile, put the pvc pipe or cardboard tube in the pot while filling around it with more soil. This pipe or tube will be used as a watering device to keep all openings of the jar adequately watered.

Then, put the strawberry plants in, making sure the crown of the plants is just above soil level. Repeat this process of soil and plants until each level of openings is filled.

When you are about two inches from the rim of the jar, stop adding soil and plant a few plants in the top of the jar.  Then fill around these plants with soil.

Finally, water well around plants and in watering device to adequately water all the openings. Put water carefully in each opening, being sure not to wash soil away.

Lastly, put your plant in an area that will get around six hours of sun a day. Rotate plant every few days to allow all sides of the plant to get sun. 

Caring for your strawberry plant:

Test soil often to be certain your plant has enough water. Put your finger in the soil about an inch, if it is dry then you should water it.

You may want to review options for fertilizing your plant.

Also, rid your plant of yellow leaves or rotted fruit whenever you spot them and pick berries as soon as they are ready. 

For information on planting strawberries in a garden stay tuned!

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If you have visited my site before you know that I like the quick and short explanations.  So, I’ll start there–following are the major benefits to hydroponic plants:

• 25%-75% faster growth
• 2-3 times more growth
• 1/3 the amount of water use
• No soil-born pests  
• No weeds
• Control over growing conditions

All of these statistics are as compared to plants grown without the use of hydroponics. Now for those of you that require more information and explanations, just continue to read as I dig deeper into each of these benefits.

The main reason that hydroponically grown plants grow faster is that hydroponics allows for more oxygen to be absorbed by the roots of the plants; therefore, allowing the roots to absorb the nutrients more efficiently.  This produces plants that are larger, healthier, and grow more quickly.

One of the reasons plants produce more abundantly when grown hydroponically is that we control the growing conditions.  By providing the plants with adequate support; the growth medium; nutrients; ph balance; and light (when necessary), we can guarantee that plants will grow generously.  This will give us the opportunity to be very generous with our neighbors because it is very likely that we will have more than we need!

Hydroponic plants are good for the environment.  Why?  Well, conventional gardening methods use far more water than is needed when growing hydroponically.  Also, more plants can be grown in a much smaller space when grown with hydroponics.

Finally, my favorite reason for growing with hydroponics, no weeds and no soil-born pests–for obvious reasons, no soil.  In addition, there is less maintenance and mess for these plants.  Hydroponics can be used to grow plants on a plant shelf, your kitchen counter, or in your backyard.  The sky is the limit!  So, wait are you waiting for?  Get started today with one of the ebooks that helped me tremendously in my hydroponic ventures:

 >>The Hydroponic Garden

Let me know what you think and how your garden turns out.

All the best,

Renee

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