Raised Strawberries

[Dynamo]

Latest project at the allotment. I bought these trestles from IKEA for a fiver each and got some planks for a quid or so each. I'd seen a programme on telly where strawberries were being grown commercially and they were raised off the ground so the fruit doesn't trail in the dirt so I thought I'd do the same. I'll be covering the wood with some polythene in the next few days to help it last a lot longer.

[roitelet]

May help to keep the slugs at bay and make them easier to pick too.

[jonny the plant pot]

I do exactly the same but used old decking .
It's a great idea but be warned in warmer months you will after go water every day.
If you havnt got time to go everyday then it's not so great.

[veggiechicken]

Nice work, Dynamo
My local PYO grows strawberries in growbags, on raised beds like yours. Seems to work well for them and picking is a doddle

[Dynamo]

It's a great idea but be warned in warmer months you will after go water every day.
If you havnt got time to go everyday then it's not so great.

Where I've put the trestles was a slightly raised bed where the strawberries were originally and they were constantly drying out because our soil is so light, so I then put them in pots of one kind or another, but they still needed watering on a regular basis. However, I've devised a way of making them last a wee bit longer. I've put them in some old plastic containers that had mealworms in them for the birds but rather than make holes in the bottom of them like in a plant pot, I've poked holes in the side an inch or so from the bottom so there's always a reservoir of water in the bottom. There's still a good five or so inches above the holes to the top of the compost so it isn't completely waterlogged, and the plants seem to be quite happy in that environment and don't need constant attention like the ones in normal plant pots with holes in the bottom.

[Dynamo]

I did a second one today. Gonna start fitting the polythene soon.



Here's the plastic pots I was talking about earlier in the thread. There's about five holes about an inch or so from the bottom and the plants seem healthy enough, plus the soil/compost in the pots is nice and moist. The holes are only about five millimetres wide but it seems to be enough seeing as the pots aren't waterlogged. I'll keep an eye on them though.

[Potstubsdustbins]

I do something very similar these troughs have a reservoir in the bottom and when I put knew plants in I always find that some roots have gone through the grill to lay in the water.

[Dynamo]

Here's the finished article with Polythene covering.



And now with a full load of tubs