Post by mogal on Oct 30, 2022 20:43:40 GMT
I lucked onto a Green Stalk vertical planter and transplanted 2 varieties of strawberries into the pockets, leaving the Cardinal plants plain and marking the Laramie everbearing plants with a small stick. They were in an overgrown raised bed whose wooden sides had begun to rot and collapse and I didn't want to bother with the mess or expense of trying to build a new raised bed. Besides, getting up and down on these legs is getting harder and harder while I can stand in one place to tend the Green Stalk. Yes, I'm aware of its space limitations even though ours has 42 pockets.
Anyway, I had dug up all the daughter plants and decided I wanted more. Most people just tack down the runners and let them root in situ but I didn't want to wait until next spring. Instead, I filled some recycled cell packs with a mixture of potting mix dumped from other pots and good compost to fill 2 nursery flats, the 11 x22" ones. Then I went out and carefully selected the loose runners that had daughters showing little nubbins that would form roots. After cutting away the runner part and larger leaves, I just laid the nubbin ends on the soil gently and watered them, then covered the flat with a humidity dome. Such pretty new fresh growth! I've had a few failures but it's not big deal to go cut a couple more daughters, trim and stick those. They are under lights I use for starting plants. I hope to shift them to the hoop house by the time I need the space for seed starting.
If I can find another Green Stalk planter or afford one on sale next spring, I plan to transplant all the Laramie plants to the new one and replace them with Cardinal plants in the old one. Cardinal is a June bearing variety and Laramie is everbearing. Both have good color and flavor and are hardy around here.
I hope they don't fail but if they do, at least I've been able to play in the dirt so far this fall tending them. I got a box of 10 Cardinal plants originally marked for $10 for half price on close out last spring. Right now, I have 70 healthy looking plants and a few that are questionable so a decent return on my investment of time since the compost was homemade and the potting mix reclaimed, plastic cell packs, flats and domes reused.
Anyway, I had dug up all the daughter plants and decided I wanted more. Most people just tack down the runners and let them root in situ but I didn't want to wait until next spring. Instead, I filled some recycled cell packs with a mixture of potting mix dumped from other pots and good compost to fill 2 nursery flats, the 11 x22" ones. Then I went out and carefully selected the loose runners that had daughters showing little nubbins that would form roots. After cutting away the runner part and larger leaves, I just laid the nubbin ends on the soil gently and watered them, then covered the flat with a humidity dome. Such pretty new fresh growth! I've had a few failures but it's not big deal to go cut a couple more daughters, trim and stick those. They are under lights I use for starting plants. I hope to shift them to the hoop house by the time I need the space for seed starting.
If I can find another Green Stalk planter or afford one on sale next spring, I plan to transplant all the Laramie plants to the new one and replace them with Cardinal plants in the old one. Cardinal is a June bearing variety and Laramie is everbearing. Both have good color and flavor and are hardy around here.
I hope they don't fail but if they do, at least I've been able to play in the dirt so far this fall tending them. I got a box of 10 Cardinal plants originally marked for $10 for half price on close out last spring. Right now, I have 70 healthy looking plants and a few that are questionable so a decent return on my investment of time since the compost was homemade and the potting mix reclaimed, plastic cell packs, flats and domes reused.
