The Strawberry Experiment

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Our house came with so many interesting things. There were all the paint colors (I really do mean ALL, and 50+ cans of paint, mostly from the '90s), and the flower pots buried in the yard, and this, and the bathtub at the end of the driveway.

What would any sane person do with a bathtub in their driveway? I planted strawberries in it, of course. And watered them, and harvested a few little berries here and there, and that was about it for 2 whole years. I've finally paid them enough attention to realize that our five little strawberry plants from Home Depot (Bonnie Plants brand, of course) have more or less outgrown their bathtub. 

Right? 

I'm pretty impressed, actually. I shouldn't be, because strawberries are perennials and like chilly winters (have I mentioned it snows here?). And the other cool thing about strawberries is how they reproduce. A strawberry plant will send runners out that are clones of itself, like this: 

Now, ideally, the runner would root into some nearby dirt and not just hang sadly (and, yes, spiderwebby) down the side of a bathtub. It should start to grow roots and become independent if there's dirt to put roots in. Since I would rather move my strawberry babies to other parts of the yard than let them grow down the bathtub, I decided to see if they're willing to grow in pots. After all, some of them already have roots. They want to grow so much. I'm really just giving them what they want. 

I happen to have some little compostable pots that were 20 for 99 cents at (where else?) the 99 Cent Store. Or you could get these from Amazon (they're basically the same). Throw in a little soil, position the strawberry runner in the middle, secure in place with a railroad staple from the toolshed (why do we have railroad staples?), and water.  Now, in theory, these little guys should root in 2-4 weeks and be ready to be separated from their mama plant (see how I left the "runner" stem attached?). 

The reason I'm calling this an experiment is because I've never done it before. I have no idea if it will work, or, if it does work, if the baby plants will survive replanting in another part of the yard, or if they'll be sturdy enough to survive the winter. But I'm totally willing to give it a try (one of the benefits of strawberry runners is that they're free). And I'll gladly keep you posted on how they're doing. In the meantime, see if you can find all 12 baby strawberry pots in the bathtub: 

Click here if you're ready for what happens next!