"Planting My Strawberry Bags for Hanging....."

My "Strawberry Kit" from Park Seed Company arrived today. The kit includes 24 strawberry plants and 2 plastic bags for hanging. Each bag will hold a total of 12 plants, but the top 2 will be planted later when the bags are ready to be hung outside. I had purchased extra bags with plans of taking some of my existing strawberry plants from one of the raised beds and transplanting them into a hanging bag, too.

Each bag is filled with potting soil to about 2" from the opening at the top of the bag.  The top back of the bag will be laid over the front and taped so that no soil will be lost when the bag lies on its side. The directions suggest having the planted bags lie on their side for a few weeks to give the plants a chance to become established.

I added a couple more slits in the bottom to allow for better drainage when hanging.

After the bags were filled, I hung them on a shepherds hook and thoroughly soaked the potting soil, using warm water so it would be absorbed easier/quicker.

Here are the 2 bags from the kit filled with top edges taped so no soil will be lost and ready for planting.

Planting is done by using my forefinger as a dibble, creating a nice sized hole for inserting the plants. Nice bruise on my arm ,eh? I have no idea how I got it........but know my old skin bruises so easily the older I get.

Here the plant is inserted into the planting hole. The soil is pressed around the plant by putting pressure on the plastic around the opening and moving the soil underneath towards the plant.

Here are the bags filled with the plants that arrived today. I will add more strawberry plants to the 3rd bag and to the top of the bags which now hold 10 plants, using strawberry plants from my garden.

Heres to hoping I have saved this years strawberry crop from the local chipmunks by "raising the bar" so to speak.  ;)