Mike's Backyard Nursery

The Most Fun You Can Have With Your Bibs On!

  • Home
  • Recommended Tools
  • Products
  • Categories
    • Complete Guides
    • Gardening
    • Growing
    • Landscape Design
    • Plant Care
    • Propagation
  • Contact
  • About Mike
Home » Backyard Nurseries » How to Grow Strawberries in a Pot

How to Grow Strawberries in a Pot

Updated : January 9, 2015

7 Comments

You can grow strawberries in a pot as long as they have the right soil and get enough sunlight.  Strawberries have shallow roots, so it is easy to grow them in pots, both indoors and out. You can place your strawberry plants on a balcony, patio, or indoors in front of a sunny window.  Anything grown in pots will need to be watered more frequently.  The right time to plant strawberries is September – NOT in the spring.

Things needed

Strawberry plant from a reputable nursery, 10-12” pot with good drainage for one strawberry plant, potting soil, water hose set to soft sprinkle or a sprinkling can, fertilizer and a trowel.

Step 1:

Choose a potting container with drainage holes for your strawberry plant.  Strawberries can grow and produce fruit in any container that has good soil and gets enough sunlight.

strawberry container

Step 2:

Use all organic potting soil or stretch it by mixing very rich, dark, soil with some miracle grow potting soil – 2/3 potting soil to 1/3 yard soil to keep it light weight so the plant roots can grow, breathe and drain easily.

strawberry soil

Step 3:

Place the soil into the pot filling 2/3 full. Water until the water begins to drain out of the bottom of the pot.

watering the soil

Step 4:

Make a hole large enough for the roots of your strawberry plant and place plant in soil.

strawberries 8strawberries 16strawberries 15Fill the pot with more soil, bringing the soil to the plant’s crown. The roots should be completely covered as shown. The stems emerge from the crown, so don’t bury it under the soil.

Make sure to water the soil just enough with a soft sprinkler until it is moist but not too wet so it will not produce mildew from over wetting.  Water the soil rather than the plant.

Water the soil thoroughly to collapse air pockets and reduce soil level. Add more soil if necessary.  One to two inches of water is needed a week.

Step 5:

Fertilize strawberry plants with organic fertilizer about once a month since watering them can wash away nutrients or add a handful of compost to the container once a month.

Most strawberry plants benefit from a time-release fertilizer; you can buy potting soil with the fertilizer already mixed in, or you can buy the fertilizer separately and add it to the soil.

fertilizer

Step 6:

Place the strawberry plant in a sunny window or under grow lights. Turn the pot often so all sides get light.

strawberries 5

Tips:

When the ‘new’ strawberry plant starts to have blossoms and strawberries within say two months, it is best to take them off so that you could have a larger crop of strawberries the next year and the plant would be able to concentrate on stronger roots for a stronger plant.

The plant would last for several years to come.  Just be sure to remove all blooms (budding flowers) and runners that are produced in the fall until Christmas so that strong “Mother” plant growth is encouraged.

In order for the strawberry flowers to be generated as strawberry flower buds, the plant needs to continue to be well tended.  If water is not adequate during the period of strawberry flower bud formation, fewer buds will form.

Consequently, the following spring’s harvest will be significantly reduced.  If the strawberry plant is well tended, the strawberry flower buds should form, go dormant during the winter, and then burst forth again in the spring.  And, the more flowers there are, the more fruit you can harvest!

You must provide lots of light for your strawberry planter.  If you don’t have a sunny window or wish to place it outside, you will have to place your container underneath grow lights.  In the case of hanging pots be sure to turn the pot often so the back of the plant gets light also.

MIST your strawberries with water from a spray bottle to increase humidity levels. Strawberries fare better with high humidity, and the increased moisture will also discourage foliage pests.

strawberries 1

Strawberries 5 months later

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

marcellaI am from beautiful Bermuda born and raised. I’m an avid gardener and I intend to sell my organic fruit trees (grown from seed) and tropical plants right from my small yard. I have traveled the world as an opera singer and now I teach here in Bermuda as a voice teacher and coach. I’ve been married for almost 45 years and I have three children and four grandchildren.

Take a gander at these posts...

  • Do You Have Shotgun Fungus?
  • Tree Stump Removal Instructions
  • Check Out My Billy Goat Outback Brush Cutter!
  • 37 Ways to Know You’re Addicted to Gardening
  • How To Identify Poison Ivy

Comments

  1. John hurley says

    November 10, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    The plans for the hoop house won’t open up, would like to put this up for my peri nails for the winter

    Reply
  2. Sharon says

    October 21, 2014 at 9:06 am

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    marcellaI am from beautiful Bermuda born and raised. I’m an avid gardener and I intend to sell my organic fruit trees (grown from seed) and tropical plants right from my small yard. I have traveled the world as an opera singer and now I teach here in Bermuda as a voice teacher and coach. I’ve been married for almost 45 years and I have three children and four grandchildren.

    Her name is Marcelle

    Reply
  3. Milada Vomela says

    October 18, 2014 at 11:01 am

    I had successfully started strawberry plant in a pot from seeds this summer, thank you for the tips I need to do for next season. However, can the pot with strawberry be kept outside over winter?
    Thanks

    Reply
    • Marcelle Clamens says

      October 20, 2014 at 12:14 pm

      Hi Milada. It depends on the region you live. If your region has cold winters, please take your plants inside and put them under grow lights or near a sunny window. Strawberries love the sun and must be kept in a sunny area to remain healthy. Young plants should be tended daily. Make sure to keep them well watered (moist but not too damp as you don’t want to cause rot). They need at least one or two inches of water a week when they are in pots. Hope I answered your question. Best from Bermuda.

      Reply
  4. Marcelle Clamens says

    October 13, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    Thank you. I enjoy gardening in general. Since purchasing two strawberry plants in April, I have had about one hundred strawberry babies…. a lot of which I have shared with neighbors. It’s wonderful to be able to plant, reep and share!

    Reply
  5. Sage says

    October 6, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    Great tutorial on planting strawberries. Very informative.

    Reply
    • Anonymous says

      October 13, 2014 at 8:13 pm

      Thank you. I enjoy fresh strawberries from the garden. The two plants I bought in April from the nursery has given me almost one hundred babies since then. I’ve given away quite a few to my neighbors. I just love being able to garden, eat and share.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Rooted cuttings of variegated weigela in bunches to harden off.

Over Wintering Rooted Cuttings.

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

Mike's Big Perennial Bed.

Mike’s Big Perennial Garden

Posted On January 8, 2023 By Mike

A Profound Thank You from Mike.

Posted On September 1, 2022 By Mike

Finnegan keeping the sun off his head.

An Old Guy, Two Donkeys, a Puppy and a Hammock. What could possibly go wrong?

Posted On July 17, 2022 By Mike

This upside down donkey is a hoot!

An Upside Down Donkey and Cute Puppy.

Posted On July 14, 2022 By Mike

'Rockin Raspberry' Bee Balm.

‘Rockin Raspberry’ Bee Balm.

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

'Bubblegum Blast' Bee Balm.

‘Bubblegum Blast’ Bee Balm

Posted On June 26, 2022 By Mike

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

Posted On June 25, 2022 By Mike

Complete Guides

Growing, Rooting and Propagating Dappled Willow in Tree Form from Cuttings.

Growing Seeds, Winter Sowing, in Milk Jugs and Kitty Litter Jugs.

The Correct Way to Pot Rooted Cuttings, Nursery Stock Liners and other Plants.

Training Arborvitae and other Conical Evergreens to Grow with a Single Leader.

How to Propagate, Root Cuttings, of Dwarf Alberta Spruce.

Recent Posts

Blue Angel Hosta.

‘Blue Angel’ Hosta.

'Blue Angel'hosta is by far one of my favorite blue hostas. A big hosta like this in a perennial bed covers a lot of area and that keeps a ton of weeds at bay! These giant heart shaped leaves are very slug resistant. We have this plant in full sun. With … Read Full Article

Big Daddy Hosta.

‘Big Daddy’ Hosta

'Big Daddy' hosta is one of my favorite big hostas, mostly because it's big, it's blue and it has very interested leaves that are a bit dimpled. Big Daddy hosta gets about 24" tall and 36" wide. It's hardy in zones 3 through 9, the flowers are blends of … Read Full Article

'Humpback Whale' hosta.

‘Humpback Whale’ Hosta.

We sold out of 'Humpback Whale' hosta pretty early this year. Humpback Whale is pretty impressive hosta and this one really hasn't matured yet because they can get three feet high and 7 feet wide. I've also seen photos of them that show them to be a lot … Read Full Article

Ice Plant, delosperma

Ice Plant, delosperma

How pretty is that? And it's a ground hugging perennial that comes back year and year. These plants were new to our nursery last year so Pam and I planted three of them in our landscape at home. Not only did they do really well last year but they wintered … Read Full Article

Electric Red Dianthus

‘Electric Red’ Dianthus

I've been working on my perennial bed at the nursery and this Electric Red Dianthus caught my eye and was screaming "make my picture". So I did! Dianthus in general are great perennials for your garden. They are super winter hardy even here in cold … Read Full Article

Copyright © 2023 · Hill Country Digital Media, LLC · Privacy Policy · Earnings Disclaimer · Terms of Service