strawberrys grown in guttering

[adamhartree]

hi,
i am thinking about growing strawberry plants in guttering lengths that are attached to my south facing wall. has anyone else tried this and what was the results. i was thinking about securing 3 lengths of guttering to the fence and laying a pourous hose pipe in the bottom of them then filling with the compost and strawberrys and feeding them through the hose. do you think this would work. any advice apricianted.
thanks

[Aberdeenplotter]

hi,
i am thinking about growing strawberry plants in guttering lengths that are attached to my south facing wall. has anyone else tried this and what was the results. i was thinking about securing 3 lengths of guttering to the fence and laying a pourous hose pipe in the bottom of them then filling with the compost and strawberrys and feeding them through the hose. do you think this would work. any advice apricianted.
thanks

Because guttering is so shallow, you will struggle to keep your plants hydrated, despite your leaky hose, in the heat of summer.

[FB.]

Because guttering is so shallow, you will struggle to keep your plants hydrated, despite your leaky hose, in the heat of summer.

I agree. Strawberries are very hungry and thirsty plants. I don't think that the plants would reach a good size, nor produce much fruit of good quality.

The guttering would dry very quickly and I doubt that they'd get a sufficiently steady supply of water from the soil; it would be a case of too wet (lack of drainage) and too dry. Plants really don't like that.

However, I have heard of people packing a drainpipe with compost, sealing one end and boring some holes into the sides of the pipe - into which the strawberries are planted.

[Potstubsdustbins]

The drain pipe method works well if you get the 6" pipe and get it for free, otherwise it is expensive to buy.

Colin

[gojiberry]

If you get a pump and use a hydroponic system they will be brilliant, otherwise as stated it would be impossible to keep them well watered.

Ian

[robert0881]

I cut 6 inch pipe and done mine in that last year they worked very well. I only cut the top part out of the pipe so that i could maximise the amount of soil inside. i also plugged the ends with 6 inch pots to allow water to come out if i over watered. Good thing about it was that when they were done i just lifted the pipes out and put them at the back of the garden. They have over wintered very well and have thrown some good runners from last year. planning taking them out and doing them in grow bags this year. Adam are you from near hartee house/biggar? going by your username. If so you can have my old pipes from last year. I dont want anything for them. I have about 6 approx 5ft long. I had 4 plants in each one.

[adamhartree]

hi robert,
thanks for the offer but no im not near there, im in birmingham, thanks anyway. i have seen it grown in guttering before but wasnt sure how good the mothod works.

[FB.]

im in birmingham.

Pop that in your profile - it can help enormously when giving or receiving advice, due to local climate variations.