As you can also see from my new header, on Friday the first Peony finally opened!
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And now for the Strawberry Pot…
I have had this beautiful strawberry pot for about 10 years now, yet have never had much success growing anything in it.
The problem is that the little pockets just don’t soak up any water in dry weather, so the plants dry up while the top flourishes… I didn’t plant it at all last year – such a shame.
The solution? I googled strawberry pots and found a great way to deal with this watering problem. If you have a similar pot this may be useful for you too.
This is what you need:
A strawberry pot, and a piece of pipe the same height has your pot (30cm in my case) and about 5cm in diameter…
(If, like me, you are not adept with drills yourself) A man of many talents to drill some holes in the pipe (sorry, not available for the photo!).
A nylon stocking/sock(!) and a little adhesive tape…
Some potting compost…
And some plants (not necessarily strawberries!). I used some bacopa and blue lobelia, and a pink geranium for the top.
First, mark where the holes in the pipe should be, as in the pictures above – they don’t need to be very big. For a 30cm pipe I have four rows of four holes.
Put a piece of nylon stocking over the top of the pipe and pull it down to almost the bottom. Cut off the excess and tape it in place. This stops soil from entering the pipe and clogging it up.
Put a little compost in the base of the pot and press the pipe into the centre, then fill the pot lightly with soil to hold the pipe in place. Now push the plants into the pockets and fill up compost all around them, pressing firmly. When the pockets are finished you can then fill the pot to the top and add a plant to the top too. Don’t worry if the pipe/stocking is still visible – the plants will soon cover it. Water through the stocking covered pipe! It will seep slowly into the lower end of the pot and (hopefully!) keep all the pockets supplied with moisture.
This photo is two weeks later, and it seems to be working very well…
I also bought some smaller pieces of pipe to bury next to my tomato plants to aid watering. And some smaller watering cans to relieve my wrists. It means walking to the outdoor water supply more often, but seeing as my legs are fine I think this is the only solution!
Have you got any tips for watering?
