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Outdoor hanging baskets are beautiful gardening and landscaping accents for your backyard or balcony.
They can be filled with blooming flowers and trailing plants, succulent gardens, and even edible fruit and vegetable plants.
In this tutorial I will be using a hanging strawberry planter to demonstrate, but these steps can be applied to any plants in a hanging basket.
Hanging strawberry planters are a popular and easy way to grow strawberry plants. Whether you are looking for more space in your garden or choosing to decorate your yard with more edible accents, strawberry hanging baskets are a great option.
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Related:Â How to Grow Sugar Snap Peas in a Pot
Step #1. Line the Wire Basket
Coconut coir liners are most commonly used to hold soil and plants inside metal hanging baskets. They increase air circulation and give them a prettier natural look.Â
You can buy a wire hanging basket online or at your local nursery. Iâve even seen a the basket with the coco liner included all for just $5 in Home Depotâs Garden Center. Whether you pick a 12- or 14-inch sized wire basket, make sure you pick the matching size for your coco liner.
Step #2. Block the Bottom of the Coco Liner
In the above picture, I tried to show you how easily water goes through coconut coir.
Because coco liner is so porous, to retain some water after watering the plant, it is best to add a liner along the bottom of the coconut liner. This can be a piece of plastic garbage bag (with some holes punched in it) or even a disposable diaper!
Step #3. Fill with Potting Soil
Since this is a hanging plant pot, make sure you select potting soil rather than garden soil which is meant for in-ground gardens and can be too heavy.Â
Also stay away from soils meant for moisture-retention since they will contain chemical polymers and hydrogels that you donât want to consume in your harvested strawberries.
Step #4. Arrange the Plants
You can plant two to three strawberry plants in a 12â to 14â planter. Up to you!
If you are planting an array of flowers, arrange the trailing plants on the edges and one larger plant in the middle. If you are going for a flower ball look, you can even cut some holes in the side of the coco liner to insert some more trailing plants at the sides.
Step #5. Loosen the Roots
Loosen up the roots when you remove the plant from its plant nursery container.
Once you plant it, this will encourage the roots to spread outwards (especially if they are pot-bound) and provide a good foundation for your hanging basket plant.
Step #5. Water Well
Water the outdoor hanging basket thoroughly until water runs out the bottom. Flowers in coconut coir liners and hanging strawberry plants need to be watered once daily and sometimes twice in a hot and dry environment.
When watering strawberry plants, do not wet the fruit to prevent it rotting. On the other hand, do not let your hanging strawberry plant dry out between waterings.
Step #6. Care for your Hanging Basket Plants
Fertilizer:
The plants in your hanging basket planter should be fertilized twice a month since a this planter will retain less nutrients than in-ground gardens.
Hanging strawberry plants can be fertilized slightly more frequently, about every 10 days. Use an organic liquid fertilizer that is high in potassium but low in nitrogen like this one.
Harvest:
Harvest your strawberries as soon as three-quarters of the fruit has turned red. Lightly twist it back and forth, without damaging the plant.
Enjoy your strawberries and enjoy your trailing flowers in your new hanging basket. đ
Happy planting!
This is so cool! Can I do the same with spinach and herbs?
Thanks Reilly! You sure can, just make sure you put the basket in the appropriate amount of sunlight for whatever veggie/herb you are growing đ