Stay alive!

March 31, 2018 8:02 AM

I have three of these Strawberry plants arriving on Tuesday. Please give me your best advice for keeping them alive and healthy on my NW facing porch.

I'm in Maine. We don't really have a yard. I have mixed results with porch plants, but these were a gift and I want to maximize their chance to thrive.

I do have a narrow strip of land on the southern side of the house, but there is a big tree and also the road.

Please be very specific in your recommendations: container size, specific soil, food - make me a shopping list.

posted by anastasiav to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Strawberries are weeds. I routinely rip them off the tarp at the allotment after the runners have set root in a small amount of leaf litter. I would just put them in the ground under the tree and not worry about them. If you want to baby them and have a place to overwinter them that isn't too cold then a 3 foot long trough filled with potting soil. Put one at each end and a third in the middle. Overwinter them in a cool garage,but not outside in the full brunt of a Maine winter.
posted by koolkat at 9:47 AM on March 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

One of my favorite garden youtubers has been doing strawberry episodes for a couple of years - you may not want to build exactly this tower but she's got all the tips and info in there anyway. Strawberry Tower, Strawberry Tower tips.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:47 AM on March 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

A northwest-facing porch is unfortunately about the worst possible sun exposure; your strawberries may survive there but they would be much more productive if you could figure out a way to site them someplace where they'll get the fullest southern exposure possible. If they have to be on the porch, however, I'd put them in hanging planters and hang them on brackets that stick out from under the eaves so at least they get some chance of getting full sun. I would plant each plant in its own separate hanging planter (about 12" in diameter) with a built-in water reservoir and be prepared to water frequently. Planting them in separate planters will maximize sunlight for each individual plant compared to some of the fancier hanging planter systems out there on the market. It will also give you a little room to established a couple "daughter" plants for next year--aim for a total of 3-4 plants per pot. Plant in ordinary potting mix. Get a box of all-purpose water-soluble Miracle-Gro and fertilize every couple of weeks during the growing season following the directions for indoor plants. After the foliage dies back in the fall, take down your planters, and trim the old leaves down to the crown. If you have a cool but protected space (garage, unheated basement) you can store them there over the winter (they do need some cold over their winter dormancy so you can't just bring them inside). If you don't have a space like that I'd suggest storing them on the porch in a box, making an insulating nest of straw around each pot. Thinking positively and long-term, individual strawberry plants follow a cycle where they may not be very productive their first year, have a couple of good years, and then start to decline, so plan on encouraging a couple of runners each year in each pot to eventually replace the mother plant.
posted by drlith at 10:13 AM on March 31, 2018 [1 favorite]