Richard Evans wrote:
KTTT wrote:

Mulch will help to reduce rotting significantly since the surface of the
mulch will dry out much faster than that of top soil after watering.

Even if the mulch does not dry out fast, because of the coarse nature of
the mulch, there is less surface area where the strawberry and the mulch
are in contact with one another. Less wet surface area translated to
less rotting.

What kind of mulch do you recommend? Pine straw? Bark? Pulverized
rubber? Bear in mind I only have eight plants in a circular three-foot
container.

- Ideally, I would use the rubber mulch since it dries out much faster
than anything else and lasts forever. However, this thing will get
quite hot as it seems to absorb heat and does not want to release it. I
would use this rubber mulch in a container only if the foliage of the
plants is large enough to cover most of the soil surface.

- Cypress mulch last very long. And with its fine texture, there will
less surface area for the strawberry to come in contact with. However,
cypress mulch pack down very quickly. The strawberry runners would have
a hard time to root though this packed layer of mulch. (It should not
matter if you plan to buy new strawberry plants next year.)

- Bark, like the rubber stuff, will dry out very fast too but the flat
surface area of the bark chip will collect lot of heat, especially for
plants in container where the soil is already hotter than usual.

- That would leave pine straw as the best option. The fine texture of
pine straw will minimize the surface area that the strawberry would come
in contact with. It dries out very fast too. But it doesn't last very
long. With daily watering and frequent fertilizing, pine straw would
break down in about two years or so. And when it breaks down, it will
stay wet longer (but still much better than bare soil.)

If it was me, I would use pine straw for the strawberry plants inside a
container.