How are you growing your strawberries this year?

I was thinking about using another method next year to grow strawberries. Has anyone used another method than the stackers or the EBs? I was thinking about using the topsy turvy upside down planter for strawberries or the bloommaster. Has anyone tried either of these methods and how many strawberry plants can you plant in the strawberry upside down planter? How did you fare using this method?
joy

This is my first year with strawberries. I have one HEB with everbearing berries, plus 3 hanging baskets with 4 plants each in them. The guy at the garden center said to put 6 plants in a 12" basket since I'm not planning to overwinter them but that seems excessive. The baskets are the self-watering type with a reservoir underneath and a wick. I'm anxious to see which group does better since they are all the same type of plants.

I have to fertilize the baskets by hand so I'm tempted to use tomato spikes rather than mixing in Tomato Tone every few weeks. I guess I could just mix in Miracle Gro with my water like for the rest of my plants. How do the rest of you fertilize non-EB containers?



TL

Tigerlily: Right now I have strawberries in a GP and a EB; both self watering and they are doing fine. I was wondering though why you would use tomato tone on strawberries? I thought they were like blue berries and needed the opposite of tomatoes which is calcium and magnesium for toms. I would like to know more about strawberry plant food myself. As far as a liquid plant food I use the miracle grow sprayers with the plant food bottle attatchment. In baskets and hanging planters I use Schultz's fertilizer which is granular but is time released, and follow up with the liquid fertilizer or if I am in the mood, use Bob's fertilizer as it has magnesium and calcium in it when you add epsom salts to it and then just use the watering can with the nozzle off it.

How big are your baskets?

joy

Please keep us informed of how your strawberries do ok? I was thinking about trying hanging strawberry baskets or the strawberry topsy turvy, depending on how my toms do in the tomato topsy turvy this Spring. .

I'm not an expert by any means, but I know fruits like a high middle number so I went with Tomato Tone's 4-7-10. The tomato spikes are 6-18-6. Mostly I know if I have to mix in Miracle Gro every time I water I'll forget. :) The hanging baskets are 12". The strawberries have been planted for about 2 weeks now and I'm excited to see new growth!

I saw some strawberry topsy turvy-type things for sale in Lowe's a while ago and the packaging annoyed me. They show the baskets with tons of strawberries, they say everying you need is included, but all they give you are SEEDS! If I knew a little less about strawberries I might have been deceived and thought I'd get a harvest this summer. Grrrr.

Tigerlily: I had thought about the hanging baskets and plants myself, couldn't even fathom using seeds either. LOOL Keep us posted on how they do ok?
joy