Revitalising strawberry towers

[Bigmallly]

Have you considered a strawberry pallet?

[d000hg]

It's the sort of self-build idea I had in mind although probably less work.

How to Build a Wall of Strawberries - Savory Lotus

In fact, that's outrageously simple! I was thinking something more along these lines but taller and shallower - using a pallet had occurred to me:

How to Make a Better Strawberry Pallet Planter



That link makes a point about using non-pesticide-treated pallets though, not sure how important that is?

[d000hg]

I'm a bit worried about the water-storing capacity of soil/compost in a tall thin structure though... and watering at the top that it would simply run straight through to the bottom. But then soil often seems very dry to me when plants are quite happy.

I might mix some of those water storing gel crystals in with the soil.

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

What about a couple of these!....................?



Or even something as simple as these............

[d000hg]

I mean they're basically the same thing as the plastic towers I have now, which are a s quid sheet of bendy plastic and a tube in the middle

More attractive, I'll give you that.

Regarding the water retention issue I suppose it would be pretty easy to add some partitions in the pallet so you have soil on multiple 'shelves'.

[lolie]

I mean they're basically the same thing as the plastic towers I have now, which are a s quid sheet of bendy plastic and a tube in the middle

More attractive, I'll give you that.

Regarding the water retention issue I suppose it would be pretty easy to add some partitions in the pallet so you have soil on multiple 'shelves'.

A lot depends on how long you want to keep it. Most ideas will be fine for one season. If you want to keep the strawberries in the same container for several years, then you need to think about how you're going to amend the soil and maintain drainage and water-holding capacity over that period.

Notice how none of the plants in those photos are fully established plants with all their leaves spreading out? Such "great ideas for strawberries" photos always look like they've been taken with plants which have just been potted.

[d000hg]

I definitely don't want to be starting over every year, it seems contrary to the whole point of gardening really (and I'm lazy). I'd at least like to get a couple of years out of a batch.

[SaraJH]

How much space do you actually have?

What about experimenting with 3 options and seeing which does best?

[lookbettertomorow]

I repotted mine after one year due to unsuitable depth of pot and gutted to find the dreaded vine weevil just waking up.
Pleased I did it otherwise a spring of head scratching why the plants were going backwards. Apparently strawberries very suspectable to vine weavils. Just saying