I have no idea if that is enough room or not, but what a neat idea! I may have to do that next year for annuals!

Wow, I'm starting to think my giant strawberry jar is a recipe for disaster! I'm not over a restaurant, but rodents in the city are a matter of course, right? For anyone who doesn't live in Chicago: There are nasty signs in every alley about "rodent control."

I'm presently wondering who'll win the most of my berries: the ants that seem to be climbing two stories of our wall to get at the seedlings in the kitchen window, or the enormous house centipedes that have been turning up. No cockroaches so far, at least, but this will be our first summer in this building.

Sorry -- had to get that off my chest.

Aside from things I've read elsewhere about trapping/poisoning rodents, which doesn't seem like much of a solution near edible plants -- you seem to be on the right track with keeping the plants up off the ground.

But rodents can climb down, too. What about using those squirrel blocking devices they put on bird feeders? I've read putting Vaseline on whatever's supporting the plant will keep things off, too.

Good luck -- I'm following along in case anyone's got some better advice for you, for my own balcony garden. This is an experimental year for me, being the first.

I'm skeptical about netting keeping birds off my berries, let alone rodents, but it's worth a shot!

There are strips of plastic spikes that help keep pigeons from roosting wherever you put them. I've also read that mints will repel mice. If you plant catnip, maybe you'll attract some alleycats to help with the rats. I'm doing that, also.

If your strawberries don't produce runners, you shouldn't have much of an issue. I grow mine in a trough container that is 1ft x 2ft. I can usually get about 6 in there (although I'm sure it'll take more).

I have 5 northern highbush blueberries that are about 5ft tall (not including their 12" pots). How long it will take will depend on what size/age your plants are. My very first almost 10 years ago, were 6" bareroots and it took about 3 years for them to begin to fruit more than a few and about around year 6, they were hitting a stride. My others were already fruiting in 2 gallon size (probably about 3 years old when purchased) and I've had them for about 4 - 5 years now. I'm in a hi-rise and haven't had a problem with birds eating my fruit. I get carpenter bees up here who pollinate my blueberry flowers (thankfully). They have a slightly bigger probiscus than the bumblebees (and I've read that they can sometimes knock the flowers off trying to get inside and can also put a hole in the flower...lol). And despite them being territorial (I usually get 2 up here who chase each other away on occassion and wonder what the heck I'm doing out there watching them) they do a fine job.

{{gwi:1250}}

So being that you are lower down, you should get plenty of bees (hopefully bumblebees) to do the work without needing any blossom set spray.

I don't know what to recommend about 4-footed critters (I would think they could chew through netting), except you might want to consider some hardware cloth (like plain window screen material that comes in rolls) and sortof make an enclosed cage around your plants. It would probably be easier to do since yours are dwarfs.

Hi All!

Thanks for your ideas! Oh, & to clear up an urban legend  RATS CAN CLIME BOTH UP GUTTERS & UP STAIRS! LOL! I just donÂt know where the people IÂve talked to picked up THAT idea!

Well, I got my strawberries in the mail today & planted them in the shoe pockets of a plastic over the door shoe holder and it looks like it is really going to work!

The weather here is STILL erratic so I am thinking of just keeping them inside. Then I donÂt have to worry about cold nights OR the rats!!

I have a closet that, if I keep the door open all the time, will give them a lot of light. The only prob. is that the pockets leak a little bit. Just a drip here and there but I still need to put a pan under it!

I havenÂt been able to plant my tomatoÂs upside down outside yet but I will post picÂs of both the Strawberries and the tomatoÂs when they get going!

I have been ignoring the mold on the pots and just watering them less so I think that worry is gone! They are over 5 inches now! IÂm so HAPPY! LOL!

Thanks for the advice!!

How did your blueberries do? I've been thinking about getting some.

october17,

Blueberries in containers do very well in containers because they are shallow rooted by nature. The critical element if you want fruit is low ph. Blueberries are perhaps the most finicky of plants when it comes to soil ph. They need around 5.0. Potting soil is lime adjusted to be near 7.0 and this isn't going to work well at all.

To do blueberries in containers you need to use peat (in the 2 cu foot bags, not the peat in potting mixes which has lime added to raise ph, blueberries despise lime). Add some pine needles, some compost etc.

After that you have to fertilize with a low ph fert, don't use any old fert because they are all higher ph if not labeled as being for acid loving plants or azaleas.

watering is another issue. I don't know what the tap water ph is in your area, but often the ph and flouride and chlorine are too much. Use rainwater. You can trap it in 5 gal buckets. If you live in an apartment talk to the landlord about it or just find the downspouts and put 5 gal buckets under them when it rains. Rain is low ph and acid rain is even lower (that's why it is called acid rain ;-).

Do all this and you can have a bountiful crop of blueberries in containers. Ph is the main thing. Get it right and all goes well, get it wrong and results are disappointing. Also, Blueberries take 4-5 years to produce well and most plants are sold as 2-3 year old plants so expect to get little to nothing the first year.

Blueberries are one of the most healthy things you can eat, richer in antioxidants than just about anything else so they are well worth the effort in maintaining a low ph for them to prosper in.