Another quick update

This time it's on my £5 (originally £15) Strawberry planter that I bought a few weeks ago in a fortunate visit to Homebase when they were selling off the damaged pots cheaply. I noticed that on Aldi's special buys for today they had a pack of 6 strawberry plants for £2.99. Perfect, I needed six. 5 for the 5 intact cups on my planter, and one for the top. So I zipped to Aldi and got a pack of Elsanta. I've had Elsanta before (before the evil weevil got them). I liked them. They fruited well and were tasty. I know people can get all snobby over taste, and that some are bred for supermarket mass-production, but Elsanta suits me. There was a choice of another 2 varieties, Christine (early season), or Red Gauntlet (late season). Elsanta is a main season strawb (in case you were wondering).

After getting the plants I popped over to Poundstretcher. They sell bags of 20L Multi Purpose for £1.29. It's quite good stuff, although this bag had a few large twigs in it. But generally the compost is light and fluffy stuff. And 20L is a good size for me to pick up and carry to the car. Another reason to buy.

Back at the ranch and I've planted up the planter. I've blocked the broken cup with a piece of broken terracotta pot that I had for crocks. I could have used some of the compost bag turned so the black interior faced outwards and made a barrier for it that way. Or, in fairness, I think if I'd have put a strawberry plant into the half cup it would have blocked it up enough so the compost didn't escape. But the broken cup is facing North, so I'm not sure a plant would do very well in that cup anyway. And I know people moan about these type of planter that the plants don't get any water because they are in the cups, but even my smallish plants' roots went through to the main bit of the planter, so if I water over the whole top surface they'll get watered. It's only really the crown and leaves in the cups, which i think is good because they aren't supposed to sit in damp and wet.

So, there you have it. A planted up strawberry planter for under a tenner. Bargain. I only used half a 20L bag of compost to fill it, so I've got some for potting on and earthing up the spuds in bags. The plants should last me a couple of years if I can keep the evil weevil out. And the pot should last too, if I keep it in a sheltered spot over winter.

I actually think even at full price these planters are not bad value. You can get them in terracotta like I've got, which is that lighter sort of peachy terracotta. It's heavier than the darker terracotta. The planter is fairly weighty even before it's filled with compost, so I don't think it's going to blow over. This is it in terracotta - http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=200596 (Keep an eye out for a 15% day, if you fancy one. They must be due one soon.)