How to Line a Strawberry Basket

First Basket

• 1

  Prepare the coir peat brick by soaking it in water according to package instructions and breaking it up into small pieces.

• 2

  Mix the broken up coir peat brick with potting soil in a bucket.

• 3

  Hang one wire-hanging basket on a hook.

• 4

  Place the coconut insert into the wire-hanging basket and place a water drainage planter insert at the bottom. The insert will prevent water from pouring out of the bottom.

• 5

  Fill the coconut insert halfway with the soil mixture.

• 6

  Decide how many plants you have and how many holes you will need throughout the entire basket. Cut holes in the coconut basket with a pair of pruning shears. Start the first set of holes about 6 inches up from the bottom and another set about 4 inches above.

• 7

  Remove the strawberry plant from its container and remove excess roots. Do not remove or damage any large roots, only remove thin roots. Push the plants into the holes of the coconut basket. Pinch the root system to make it fit through the hole. Pull apart the opening in the coconut insert with your fingers to make more room to fit the plant root ball; however, do not open it more than necessary or the soil will fall through. Pull back some of the soil in the basket if needed to allow ease of insertion.

• 8

  Push the coconut back around the plant openings to seal in the soil. You want to cover the holes you created for the plants by tucking some of the coconut around the stems of the plants.

Assembling the Second Basket

• 9

  Turn the second coconut basket upside down and cut a 6-inch circle from the bottom using the pruning shears.

• 10

  Remove the wire chain from the second wire-hanging basket.

• 11

  Place the second coconut basket into the second wire-hanging basket and turn it upside down, placing it over the top of the original hanging basket. Do this while the original basket is still hanging. Wrap floral wire in several areas around the rims of the top and bottom baskets to join them together.

• 12

  Fill the top basket halfway with soil. Cut holes in the top coconut basket in the same manner as previous steps and add the strawberry plants.

• 13

  Fill the basket with soil through the top hole you cut in the coconut basket. Use a small garden shovel to add the soil through the hole, moving the soil around to be sure it covers the edges of the pot, and as a result, the roots of the plants.