HI everyone, I’m new here. I am having a delima hopefully someone can help me with. I live In Indiana, not sure what zone that is. I currently have strawberry plants in pots. I can not figure out which is the better option. Next summer we also want to grow raspberries and blueberries. If I use pots, i don’t like how the dirt gets all smelly after it sits in the heat all summer. I had to dig up a plant and the whole pot smelled really bad. I don’t know if that I’d safe?
I could easily transplant them to the ground but my questions with this are:
We are currently renting. If we ever move, can I dig them up and take them with me without killing them?
How do I cover the plants in the winter if they are in the ground?
We have a few stray cats that instantly go towards fresh dirt and poop, and it stinks in the heat, and it’s gross. How can I keep the cats out? In the pots, the cats don’t bother them
This is our first year with the strawberry plants. They should produce fruit next summer hopefully.
Thanks everyone for your help! I really appreciate it!
Soil in pots shouldn’t smell bad unless it’s the cat poop. If the soil itself smells bad that’s because it’s water logged. You need a better draining mix. Not regular soil that’s no good in pots. A course mix that drains well.
Planting in the ground is usually a better idea. Both raspberries and blueberries should work well in ground in IN. Cover the soil with coarse mulch and the cats should go elsewhere.
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I thought about using mulch! I know with the strawberry plants, they grow a lot of runners, which need to make contact with the dirt to grow. If I put mulch down, can the runners still grow and reach the dirt?
No that won’t be good for strawberries. Mulch would be for the other berries.
Ok, I can do that. Is there anything I can use for the strawberries?
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Ok, one more question. Would straw work for strawberries, blueberries, and raspberies? I just need something to layer on top of the dirt bUT that they can still grow. Sorry for all the questions, but thank you everyone!
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If the Blueberries are going in ground or container,a mix like fruitnut suggested works great.Mine are mostly in pots and all the roots live in,is about 70% Pine bark mulch and 30% Peat moss.In the ground,more peat can be used,maybe 50/50.
I wasn’t kidding about the straw,that’s where their name came from. Brady
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If a source can be found,wood chips can be a decent mulch for the Raspberries and maybe Blueberries,but I’d go with Pine bark for those and probably the Raspberries also,just to make it simpler. Brady
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I buy bags of Triple Mix when its on special at Lowes and that’s mainly composted wood chips. I mix with peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. I add rabbit compost (straw with rabbit pee & poop) to feed the blueberry bush. I grow mine in either large planter pots or 2’x2’x18" cedar boxes. They have done very well and all the sun this summer has given me a bumper crop. In my situation I can’t plant in ground due to Morning Glory vines growing like weeds if allowed to, so my backyard is now completed covered over with either deck, gravel, greenhouses/sheds or landscaping cloth.
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In-laws in ground fig tree
In ground persimmon Fuyu
In ground Chojuro Asian pear.
These are older, far larger and more productive than most of my trees but 3 In ground fruit trees fills up most of their reg sized urban backyard. To squeeze 49 fruit trees into my admitted much larger urban orchard i keep 90% of them in 35g planter pots or cedar diy garden boxes (2 similar trees like a Fuji and Ambrosia apple in each 6’x2’x30" box).
I’m happy if eventually I’m able to harvest several dozen to 100+ good fruit of the 48 varieties I grow.
I posted this pic in another thread but here’s only a portion of what we harvest every day in late summer from our urban farm/orchard.
Anthony
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I grow in containers. If I could figure out how to make it work for more than a token amount of strawberries, I would. Most container growing strategies for growing strawberries look like novelty plans for a small amount if berries to me -----I haven’t tried.
It’s only the two of us now. I can make compost in big quantities and get mail order grow bags for cheap. So it’s reasonably efficiently for us. It would be different if I were buying bags of potting soil every year. I can use an out of the way part of the yard, skip a lot of pressure from gophers, grow acid-loving plants like blueberries that would be almost impossible in the ground and easily move the vegetable garden next year if I don’t like the results.
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For raspberries I am doing both. I was constantly battling the raspberry canes that were suckering into my perennial beds so I buried a row of large black nursery pots. They are filled with a good well draining mix and topped with composted manure. Last summer they were newly planted and so my harvest is small this summer, but the new suckers are tall and healthy. I kept about 2" of pot above ground and it makes it easy to whipper snip around them without harming the plants, and the weed pressure is gone. Next summer will be the test, if I get a good harvest of berries per pot I am going to bury more.
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I am kind of experimenting with this right now. The micro climate in front of my house jumps a couple of zones, so I can do stuff like keep citrus outdoors uncovered all winter and they don’t lose any leaves. There is also no weeding to do, and less pest pressures. Additionally, kids can harvest some of the fruit without freaking out over mosquitoes, snakes, etc in the “real” garden.
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