Crop guide · Fruit
How to grow strawberries in containers: hanging baskets, strawberry pots, and everbearing picks
June-bearing vs everbearing for a balcony, why “strawberry pots” dry out, and the runner trick.
- Container
- 2 gal per plant
- Baskets beat the classic strawberry pot
- Sun
- Full sun
- 6+ hours for sweetness, not just fruit
- First harvest
- Year 1
- Everbearing crops the same season you plant
Pick everbearing for a balcony. June-bearing varieties give you one glorious ten-day glut and then nothing, which is perfect for jam and pointless for two people on a small balcony; Albion, Seascape and Tristar spread a smaller crop from June to first frost, which is what you actually want to eat.
The classic terracotta strawberry pot with side pockets is a beautiful object and a poor container. The pockets hold barely a cupful of mix, dry out in an afternoon, and the plants at the bottom never see enough water. Hanging baskets and plain 2-gallon pots outperform them every time, and the fruit hangs clear of the mix instead of rotting on it.
Full write-up coming: the runner trick that gives you free plants for next year, netting that actually keeps birds off, and what to do with the pot over winter.
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About the author
Carsten
I grow food on a 4×6 balcony and write down what works. Not a master gardener, not sponsored. When a guide is wrong I fix it and note the date at the top. Questions, corrections and photos of your pots are welcome. say hello.