Just because you live in an apartment does not mean that you cannot grow your favorite fruit- strawberries! Strawberries are very simple to grow and easily can be grown in a pot. They are winter hardy perennial plants that will thrive as long as they are planted in well drained, fertile soil that is exposed to plenty of sunshine. If you have a balcony, then this is probably the best place to grow your strawberries.

Three Types of Strawberries

Strawberries can be broken down into three groups:

Standard (May/June bearing)- These are the highest quality strawberries. They are particularly useful for freezing and making jams. They also yield the largest crop.

Everbearing- This type generally produces two crops- one in late spring and the other in early autumn.

Day Neutrals- This is the newer type of strawberries. These one are able to produce strawberries for a lengthy period during the entire growing season.

Get Growing!

The steps for planting strawberries are relatively easy. First of all, always plant them early. Right after the last frost is a good time. Plant your strawberries in a special strawberry jar, such as one made of terra cotta. This type of jar is one that has pockets in it.

The next thing you need to do is to decide what type of strawberries you want to plant. An example of an everbearing strawberry is the Ozark Beauty. This type should grow the same year that it is planted. On the other hand, the standard strawberries, such as the Earliglow will not produce strawberries until the following year.

Choose a rich potting soil that has lots of sphagnum peat moss in it. This helps to lock in moisture. Fill the pot up to the first pocket with the soil. Then you will want to place a strawberry plant in the first pocket. Allow most of the stem and the leaves to hang out.

Now take your soil and continue to add it to the next pocket. From there, plant another strawberry plant.

Once all of the pockets have been planted, fill the remainder of the jar with soil. The rest of your plants should be planted in the top half of the jar. Six plants per pot is a good amount.

Keep the pot in a sunny area, and make sure you water the plants every day.

Be advised that you must pick the berries, preferably once they have grown to full size. If you just leave them, you will have plants that bear a minimum of fruit.