Growing Strawberry's
 

I live in Southern Kentucky. I am wanting to grow soem strawberry's at
home but because of my time demands want to do so if possible without
alot of upkeep.

Thought baout building a "container" for lack of a better term out of
railroad ties. Kind of a pyramid, one square on top of another square,
etc.

Putting down plastic for weed control then on top of the plastic
putting mulch.

I have never grown strawberrys. Are they vines that put out "runners"?
If so, will my idea not work because of the plastic? (Runners will not
be able to root)?

Here's a link:
http://www.garden.org/search?keyword...&submit=search

Strawberries send out runners above the ground. At the end of each runner is
a little plantlet which will take root under the right conditions. With the
ones I've grown, the runners have been maybe 8-10" long, so that means you
want 16-20" around each original plant. The mother plants tend to get weak &
ratty after a couple of years, so you want to pay attention to the runners.
Some may hang over the edge of the planter and die. I sort of helped mine by
weighing them down on the soil with large bark chips.

They're a bit labor intensive, but so what? The difference between fresh
strawberries and store bought ones is analogous to either having sex, or
listening to a love scene from the lobby of a movie theatre, but not getting
to the door of the theatre quickly enough to see it. :-)

By the way, one advantage of your pyramid idea is that when you're designing
it in your head, you can include a way of making a tent using plastic mesh
available at garden stores. Without that, you may end up sharing most of
your crop with birds and other rascals.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I live in Southern Kentucky. I am wanting to grow soem strawberry's at
home but because of my time demands want to do so if possible without
alot of upkeep.

Thought baout building a "container" for lack of a better term out of
railroad ties. Kind of a pyramid, one square on top of another square,
etc.

Putting down plastic for weed control then on top of the plastic
putting mulch.

I have never grown strawberrys. Are they vines that put out "runners"?
If so, will my idea not work because of the plastic? (Runners will not
be able to root)?

Please don't use railroad ties, especially for anything you plan to eat. I wouldn't use any treated wood for food. From this site:
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/c...gardening.html
"Avoid using creosote-treated railroad ties. Freshly treated creosote lumber can leach into the soil for several years and continues to give off vapors over a seven to nine year period."

More pressure treated wood info.
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsh...mer_safety.htm
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...tml?cmp=EM8707

Newt

"Newt" wrote in message
...


Please don't use railroad ties, especially for anything you plan to
eat. I wouldn't use any treated wood for food. From this site:
http://tinyurl.com/663yt
"Avoid using creosote-treated railroad ties. Freshly treated creosote
lumber can leach into the soil for several years and continues to give
off vapors over a seven to nine year period."

More pressure treated wood info.
http://tinyurl.com/59u5s
http://tinyurl.com/728uu

It's the strangest thing - I built a cold frame 10 years ago using UNtreated
2x10 lumber. It's been out in rain & snow every year but 2. No rotting, even
the 2" or so of wood that's in constant contact with the soil. And, I didn't
use rot-resistant wood like cedar or redwood - just whatever your average
2x10 at the lumber yard is made of. If it rots, so what? The frame's bolted
together in such a way that in an hour, I can disassemble the sides, lay
them on top of the new wood, trace the pattern & drilling points, and have a
whole new frame in 2 hours, or 3 hours if the neighbors stop by to chat. 4
if they bring beer.

I just don't see a reason for treated lumber to enter one's mind, at least
not for structures which are above ground. The OP's strawberry planter fits
this category.