Strawberry planter, do I drill holes??

[magicmarigold]

I bought a few of the stacked planters to put my sstrawberries in as I have very limited space in the garden but now I'm not sure if I should drill holes in the bottom or not! Each layer has a hole in the middle but I don't know if I should drill a hole in each section or would that just mean it would be dripping down right on top of the strawberries below??

I tried to add a photo but it keeps saying photo failed to upload...I'm rubbish! But basically it's the elho stacked planter and it's got a drainage hole right in the middle of each layer so the water would drain down the middle...

Thank you for reading this, it's probably a really stupid question but I'm confused ha

[burnie]

Not familiar with this type of planter, but I would suggest not drilling them as long as the plants can drain into the middle

[nickdub]

Not familiar with this planter, but you'd think it would be designed with all the drainage needed. Probably best to just use as is and keep an aye on the plants as they grow to make sure the compost doesn't get water-logged.

[veggiechicken]

Is it one of these?

[magicmarigold]

Yes that's it!

[4Shoes]

With that limited soil, would expect them to dry out quite quickly, so no expect they have enough drainage.... you may want to add some moisture gel to retain water as you plant it up... just like hanging baskets.

[muck lover]

I would be really interested in how you get on with the planter. Particularly the watering. I looked at the big strawberry barrels but they were expensive and I was concerned the water wouldn't get to the bottom plants. I would like a planter in my polytunnel to give me the most strawberry plants for the smallest 'footprint' but the watering is always the problem.

[magicmarigold]

Well they are in and looking fine at the moment, will be able to tell when they start growing again however I do see a problem with it. There will always be some at the back that are completely blocked off from sun, I will have to make sure I rotate the planter often. Either that or I'll leave the two worst spaces empty. I'll see how it goes this year.
With regards to watering, well who knows in this weather! Everything's covered in ice and snow so will have to wait for it to warm up a bit before I can tell. I'll keep you updated!

It has saved alot of floor space in my tiny renter's garden though! More space for peas...

[Ani]

I bought similar set two months ago and I made additional holes. But I am in wet North Wales and usually have problems with waterlogging, not drying off, even with smallish planters. And these can hold more soil than I expected.
What I don't like is that the bottom three positions are quite shady and also the back one in the middle tier. I have six strawberry plants in the top two planters and I leave the bottom one for more shade tolerant crops (pak choi, lettuce, similar things).