Strawberry Plants for Hanging Baskets: The Best Varieties

Seascape

• Seascape is one of the most productive and disease-resistant varieties of strawberry plants. Due to its shallow roots and the fact that it does not produce runners, Seascape makes an optimal plant for hanging containers. Its berries are bright red, large and firm, of high quality.

Sweet Charlie

• A favorite among growers in Florida, Sweet Charlie berries have a distinctly sweet flavor.This plant is early bearing, producing fruit from December through February. Sweet Charlie needs nutrient-rich soil and lots of sun; it is hardy in zones 5 through 9.

Ozark Beauty

• An ever-bearing variety that can survive low temperatures and will produce few runners, the Ozark Beauty is a hardy and vigorous selection. It has large, red, sweetly delicious fruit that usually ripens from July to mid-August, depending on the climate.

Chandler

• A vigorous producer, spring bearing, dessert strawberry, the Chandler variety needs plenty of water and nutrient-rich soil. The berries are medium to firm, large with good flavor, and they freeze well. Chandler is not recommended for northern gardens because they are not winter hardy. Plant in zones 5 through 8.

Tristar and Tribute

• These are the standards for day neutral strawberries. Day neutral plants produce flowers and fruit continuously throughout the season, are heat tolerant, and have few runners. Tribute has larger fruit, but Tristar has a sweeter flavor. Remove the flowers until the end of June to increase yield. Both are disease-resistant varieties.They are popular in the northeast and cooler climates.

Considerations

• Suspending strawberries in a hanging basket keeps away the slugs and snails. Choose a cloudy day or plant late in the afternoon. Five or six plants fit in a wire hanging basket. Set the plants in the soil so that the surface is covering the tops of the roots. Fertilize once a month with a fertilizer that is high in potassium.