Growing Strawberries In Hanging Baskets In 7 Steps (2024)

FRUIT > STRAWBERRIES > HANGING-BASKETS

By KERSASP SHEKHDAR

Strawberries are fragrant, sweet and luscious –who wouldn’t want to grow them in their garden?

These plants are super compact with shallow roots and will make a great choice for hanging baskets.

In fact, in the UK, it is actually preferable to grow them in hanging baskets rather than in beds because a sudden spell of bad weather can ruin the plants.

Luckily, hanging baskets can swiftly and smartly be moved at the vagaries of the weather.

In this guide, I share a comprehensive but straightforward approach to growing strawberries in hanging baskets using these steps:

1. Choose your strawberry cultivar to grow – prioritising those with suitability to growing in hanging baskets.
2. Select a place for them to grow, prioritising an area that receives full sun for much of the day.
3. Pick your hanging container, aiming for a depth of between 15-35cm.
4. Prepare the compost for your strawberry plants, using pebbles or gravel at the base for drainage.
5. Plant your strawberries – each basket should accommodate multiple plants depending on its size.
6. Water and feed your plants as necessary.
7. Remove any flowers in the first year to focus on fruit production.

Read on for more information on each of these steps.

1) Choose Your Cultivar

In general, a gardener should consider the fruit quality, the ease of cultivation and the plant robustness before selecting a variety to grow.

For strawberries that will be planted in a hanging basket, the variety should also be of compact size that puts out minimum runners and exhibits a proper trailing habit.

Shop for a variety with these criteria in mind.

Some strawberries to consider include:

• F.×ananassa‘Delician’
• F.×ananassa‘Fresca’
• F.×ananassa ‘Just Add Cream’
• F.×ananassa‘Merlan’
• F.vesca‘Mignonette’
• F.×ananassa‘Ostara’
• F.×ananassa‘Temptation’
• F.×ananassa‘Toscana’

While some of the above are everbearing types, a couple bear ravishing flowers and another 2-3 may produce astonishing yields, all of these varieties share two common features: they’re ideal for hanging baskets and they taste amazing!

2) Choose A Spot For Hanging

Sunlight, water and free-draining conditions are absolutely essential for growing healthy, fruiting strawberry plants.

These plants should get at least 6 hours of sunlight daily, preferably 8.

A post in the garden or a hook on a patio, porch, balcony or window are all very good spots, but a south-facing covered porch or patio is probably ideal.

If the chosen location is indoors, it should be well-ventilated and well-aired.

If the chosen location is outdoors, protect the strawberries from any harsh weather conditions and move indoors if it gets really bad.

Until the weather improves, keep the basket indoors, hanging it by a window that allows maximal sunlight and is not north-facing.

During winter, remove any runners and keep the baskets in a cool place indoors.

The aim is that the roots should not freeze.

Keep in mind that strawberry plants require chilling hours during winter – about 250 hours during which the temperature ranges from 2-7°C will work out very well.¹Tanino, K. K., & Wang, R. (2008). Modeling Chilling Requirement and Diurnal Temperature Differences on Flowering and Yield Performance in Strawberry Crown Production. American Society for Horticultural Science, 43(7), 2060–2065. https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci.43.7.2060

Plants should be watered in winter, only enough to ensure that the soil does not dry out.

3) Select Your Baskets

One of the reasons that strawberries can reliably be grown in baskets is that these plants have shallow roots.

Not only that, they perform best in containers of a similar shallow depth.

The best depth is anything between 15-35cm; a basket of these dimensions will be good for 3-5 strawberry plants.

“I grow strawberries in a living wall system,” says Colin Skelly, a Horticultural Consultant.

“Fixed to a south-facing wall, they provide very similar growing conditions to a hanging basket and flower and fruit prolifically. Divided every three years, they will last indefinitely.

“My cultivars are mid-season fruiting but additionalselections could provide strawberries all summer long.”

The basket should have drainage holes or channels.

Though strawberries in hanging baskets should not be watered so as to soak the soil, some muddy water is bound to drip through every now and again.

So, if your basket will hang in a spot where the floor has to be protected, place a few sheets of newspaper or a container underneath the basket.

4) Prepare The Growing Medium

In general, these plants thrive in fertile soil that has a neutral to alkaline pH and is free-draining.

For strawberries in any type of container, the best soil is a potting mix that is peat-free.

Before filling the basket with the medium, put a thin layer of small pebbles and grit to facilitate drainage at the bottom.

The best fertiliser for strawberries is a potash-oriented formula; do not use an ericaceous fertiliser.

As for other types of containers, a liquid formulation will be very convenient.

5) Plant The Strawberry Plants

Strawberry seeds are, of course, available and strawberries are often grown from seed.

However, most strawberry varieties grown from seeds are alpine strawberries and they are not the most suitable varieties for hanging baskets.

The bare roots or starts should be planted in between the centre and the edge of the basket so you can fit 3-5 in a basket.

Firstly, dampen the medium but do not soak it.

Next, simply scoop out some compost with your hand, take your plant, gently spread out its roots and tuck it in the hole.

Be sure not to set it too deep and the compost should not come up over the green part of the stem.

Backfill the hole with your hand, pat down the compost and dampen it as you dab it down.

6) Water & Feed The Strawberries

Strawberry plants need very regular watering and fertilising, more so than most other fruiting plants and trees.

Plants should be watered almost every day, depending on the weather and the exposure to the sun.

Except in winter, the soil should be made moist all the way through, but never soaked.

Simply test the top 3-4cm of the compost with a finger to know when to water.

It should not get completely dry for any great length of time during the growing season.

If you see any more water than the occasional trickle coming through the basket, this is probably an indicator of overwatering.

Try to water in the early part of the morning and try not to wet the foliage or fruit.

Fertilise the plants with a liquid formula, feeding them every 2-4 weeks during the growing season at 70-75% of the dilution instructed by the manufacturer.

Pour fertiliser away from the plants and the roots.

7) Remove Any Flowers

Strawberry plants are perennials that should give you 3-4 years of a good harvest, but they can do that only if you give them the first year off.

The plant, specifically the roots, needs to develop properly so that it can produce fruit of top quality and quantity.

To achieve this objective, during the first year only, pinch or cut off all the flowers.

For June-bearing types, you’ll remove the flowers once and that will be that, but for everbearing types, remove all of the flowers during the plant’s first year.

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  Tanino, K. K., & Wang, R. (2008). Modeling Chilling Requirement and Diurnal Temperature Differences on Flowering and Yield Performance in Strawberry Crown Production. American Society for Horticultural Science, 43(7), 2060–2065. https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci.43.7.2060