Hanging strawberries?

level200

Would keep the slugs off your strawberries too

PNSA

:T I done this last year! works like a charm, but to be honest missed seed timing so had to buy plants from garden centre then plant as normal, ended up with baskets draped in strawberries and kept postie very happy!

martinsoton

I am doing this... I have just sown some Strawberry F1 Hybrid Temptation which says ideal for hanging baskets which I think is a great idea...

The packet says to keep at a certain temperature so have them in my electric propagator

I got them from Tesco HomePlus but I bet you can get them anywhere...

Primrose

Pot up your hanging baskets with a good compost and mix in some of these water retention crystals you can get from garden centres because the compost will dry out very quickly and the baskets will need to be watered every day. Also, if you want to keep your plants for more than one season (and strawberry plants will last up to 3 years if cared for), mix in some well rotted manure or chicken manure pellets to maintain the nutrient level. although Strawberry plants are usually quite hardy, put a couple of plants in each basket and keep in a protected position until the worst frosts are over. You can then hang the baskets in their proposed location.

VfM4meplse

Wow I can't wait to get planting now!

Rotwein44

I am going to do this with strawberries and cherry tomatoes. You can get some trailing cherry tomato plants, as my garden is small!

Rotwein44

Found these:

http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/v3/strawberry-sarian-hybrid-seeds-p-7142.html

http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/v3/tomato-tumbling-tom-red-seeds-p-7862.html

nodwah

Just to add to what primrose says, I line the basket with a bit of plastic bag to help water retention - you've no idea how much they can dry out even on cloudy days - just cut a supermarket carrier bag to shape and pierce a few holes in it and then fill the basket with compost

Primrose

Rotwein - I tried the hanging basket method for cherry tomatoes last year for the first time - grew a variety called Tumbling Tom which was covered in tomatoes. You can get either the yellow or red skinned varieties, and for a packet of seeds, if you can bear to start them off yourself indoors around mid April, you will probably have enough seeds to grow a lifetime of tomatoes. Or after your first crop, you can save the seeds for future years. The tomatoes are very hungry feeders though, especially when the fruits start to appear so make sure there's plenty of nutrients in your hanging basket compost. Another good hint to stop your hanging baskets drying out, if you can't afford the water retention crystals, is to cut up an old sponge and mix it in with your compost as that will help retain water.

Penelope_Penguin

I think this'll work great - just make sure they get plenty of water - even if it's raining, as the rain doesn't really touch containers much.

I'll add this to the exisitng thread to give you more ideas.

Penny. x