Grow strawberries on your sunny windowsill
Who doesn’t love eating strawberries? But picking homegrown strawberries and throwing them straight into your mouth hits differently. They are sweeter and are much more delicious than what you buy in small punnets from the supermarkets. There’s also a sense of accomplishment and pride with knowing you grew something.
Strawberries are one of the tastiest fruits around and they also happen to be quite easy to grow. One thing that they all have in common is they grow really well in pots. Even growing just one or two small pots of strawberries will produce enough to either snack on or top your morning bowl of cereal with.
There are also so many varieties of strawberries that suit almost any climate and they are the perfect introductory plant to edible gardening because they don’t require a whole lot of maintenance. Just an occasional removal of dead leaves, regular watering and fertilizing.
Because strawberries grow so easily in pots, they can be grown by anyone, even if you don’t have any outdoor space. Strawberries will happily grow indoors on a sunny windowsill.
It’s best to choose a pot that is about 20-30cm however I have successfully grown strawberries in smaller pots than this. Drainage is really important so always use a pot that has adequate drainage holes. To prevent water from leaking from your pot onto your windowsill I would recommend growing in a small plastic pot that fits inside a larger ornamental pot. Growing in a smaller plastic pot also makes it much easier to repot and add fresh compost and potting mix when required to do so.
Strawberries grow really well in full sun and most varieties need about six hours of direct sunlight each day to be at their best however some varieties like the alpine strawberry for example are much more shade tolerant and can be grown where there is less than six hours of sunlight.
Another benefit to growing strawberries on your kitchen window is that they won’t be devoured by the local wildlife. Humans are not the only creatures that love the taste of strawberries, birds love them just as much as we do and so do those pesky slugs and snails. Growing indoors will prevent the berries from disappearing completely before you get to them.
So why not head down to your local garden store and pick up a few different varieties of strawberries to grow indoors. Better yet ask your garden obsessed friends and family if they have any that they would be happy to share with you because strawberries will send out runners which can be grown into new plants. Strawberry plants can also be divided up to create more plants.
Good luck with your strawberry growing!
