Strawberries are tough plants. They can grow in pots, containers, and in the ground. When grown in decorative pots, strawberries are also good indoor plants because their leaves are plump and the fruits are luscious. A potted strawberry plant with hanging fruits of different shades of red is such a refreshing sight to anyone coming in through your front door.

So how do you start growing your own strawberries? You find a nice pot first. Strawberry pots are a bit costly but they provide spaces or ‘holes’ for the plant runners, and they go with a dish to catch water drippings from the pot so these are appropriate for your indoor strawberry plants.

Strawberries need only 3 important things to survive:

• Sunlight. 6 to 8 hours of morning sun can make the strawberry plants healthy and happy. If your house faced east, you’d just place the strawberry pot just outside the front door. The plants will have some shade protection against direct sunlight, which strawberries hate.
• Good and rich soil. Good soil means clean and free from bacteria or pests. Mix good soil with compost fertilizer. Both homemade and commercial types are fine. You can also buy a bag of potting mix.
• Water. Strawberries need good drainage. Make sure the pot has an appropriate size of hole and that it is not clogged so that excess water will flow out freely. Strawberry fruits dislike getting wet because they will get ill with botrytis.

Now that you have a strawberry pot or two, you go to the local plant nursery and purchase the strawberry seedlings. Choose the hardy variety which give large-sized fruits. The potting mix and fertilizer are also available here.

Caring for your strawberry plants is not difficult. When watering, avoid wetting the plant, especially the fruits. Use a watering container with a long and small-mouthed spout.

Feed your plant with fertilizer every month. Let in some air into the soil by cultivating with a stick. Pull out weeds or any plant growing in the pot so that your strawberries will not have competition.

Birds like strawberries and are attracted by the red color. Put the strawberry pots under a tent made of net when you take them out in the morning to protect the fruits.

Strawberries do not mind when left outside during winter. They seem to fruit better after getting frosted. If their pots shattered, the strawberry plants can be repotted without fuss in the spring. Just remove the dead leaves and keep off moss or weeds.

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