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DIY Succulent Strawberry Planter

This DIY Succulent Strawberry Planter is a great way to display a variety of succulents in one planter so that each plant has its own special space.

If you love succulents as much as I do, you will want to check out my guide for buying succulents. It tells what to look for, what to avoid and where to find succulent plants for sale.
Step by step tutorial. This Succulent strawberry planter has small openings that are the perfect size for cacti and succulents.

And for succulent plant care tips, have a look at this guide for how to care for succulents. It is loaded with information about these drought smart plants.

I love strawberry planters.  The pockets on the side are perfect for plants that send out offshoots. Each little “baby” can fit into the protruding pockets to make their own little home.

They are perfect for strawberry plants (of course!), spider plants and other plants like strawberry begonias. Today I am converting mine into a succulent strawberry planter.

Make your own Succulent Strawberry Planter.

But for this project, I am going to use my new strawberry planter for my succulents.  They are all quite small, so each of them will fit into the little pockets and make a charming planter.

Most of them don’t cascade but I don’t mind that.  (although I am looking for both a donkey’s tail and a string of pearls when I can find them at the right price. The last one I found at the Farmer’s market were $20 for a TINY plant.  Not for me!)

Isn’t it lovely?  Here is now I went about putting it together.

You will need the following supplies.

  • large strawberry planter (Mine is about 20 inches tall and 9 inches wide.)
  • small succulents plants (succulent offsets work great!)
  • cactus potting mix
  • packing peanuts
  • rocks

I assembled my plants.  I chose crassula, several cold hardy sempervivum (hens and chicks), a fishhook Senecio succulent, a Stenocereus Hollianus Cristadacactus cactus and Purslane Summer Joy yellow (it does cascade), as well as a thin leaved jade plant for a bit of height.

The plants came from a few new purchases as well as an old planter that had seen its better days.

Plants for the succulent strawberry planterMiracle Grow Cactus, Palm and Citrus Potting mix is my soil choice.  It drains well and is a perfect choice for succulents that don’t like wet feet.

Miracle Grow cactus, palm and citrus potting mix is perfect for succulents.The first thing I did was to put rocks in the bottom of my planter.  There was a drainage hole there but with succulents, I wanted to make sure that the soil drains really well.

Rocks help with drainage.Next step was something that I do in all of my heavy pots.  I added several inches of packing peanuts.

The peanuts mean that you have less soil (which saves money) and also means that the planter will be lighter to move around – a real plus with heavy planters.

Packing peanuts in a pot mean that you use less soil and the planter is lighter too.The first pocket has some hens and chicks (sempervivum) as well as a piece of a fish hooks senecio.  The latter will trail down a little over the side.

Sempervivum and string of pearls

This Kalanchoe Tomentosa is also known as pussy ears or panda plant.  I love the fuzzy outside of the leaves.  It is easy to see where it got its common name!

Kalanchoe Tomentosa is also known as donkey's ears.This sempervivum, hens and chicks, has some babies that are now growing over the side of the pocket.   Sempervivum is also somewhat cold hardy too.

Hens and chicks sempervivum has trailing babiesThis pocket holds a Haworthia cuspidata. I love the rosette shape of the plant!

Haworthia Cuspidat has a lovely rosette shape.This little cactus is just covered with spikes but loves his new home.  The name of this cactus is Stenocereus Hollianus Cristada.

He is supposed to be green, and I don’t know if he’ll revert back to his original color or not but I like the brownish color against my planter color anyway.

This cactus is right at home in its pocket.These baby sempervivum, hens and chicks got very spindly in the last planter but look great over the edge of the pocket of this one.

Baby sempervivum, hens and chicks, love to trail over the edge of this pocketPurslane, Summer Joy Yellow, Crassula and a thin leaved jade plant are perfect for the top. They give both a cascading effect and the height that the planter needs.

Purslane, crassula and jade complete the top of the planter

This is the finished planter.  It has both side interest, trailing interest and height on the top. I love the way it all came together.  Finished Strawberry succulent planterI have it sitting in a grouping of other succulents in a perfect spot on our deck.

Small grouping of succulents fits this area of my deck perfectly.These planters sit right underneath my white birdcage planter that has both upright and trailing vinca in it.  When I water the birdcage planter, the residue drips down to the planters below giving them just enough moisture, so I never even have to water them!

Birdcage planter with upright and trailing vincaAnd now, if I can just find some strings of pearls succulents and burros tail succulents, I’ll be a happy girl. They will get added later to accent two of the pockets.  

For more Cacti and Succulent planting Ideas, see my Succulent board on Pinterest and check out these posts:

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Pamela Johnson

Wednesday 3rd of July 2019

I live in zone 5, would I be able to leave this planter with hens and chicks outside during the winter months?

Carol

Wednesday 3rd of July 2019

The hens and chicks would be fine. Planters can be another story. I have had some overwinter just fine (normally terracotta ones) but most of my glazed pottery planters need to be protected even here in zone 7b or they will crack or lose the outer glazing.

Kayla Wallace

Thursday 14th of February 2019

Hello! I just moved my "healing" chicks and hens into their strawberry pot after being rescued from a family member leaving them to die, so im so scared of under/watering. Any tips on how to evenly water succulents in a starwberry pot? Thank you!!

Carol

Friday 15th of February 2019

Hi Kayla. A strawberry planter has challenges for succulents since it has a large portion of soil in the center with no plants in it. I'd treat each section on its own when deciding whether to water. Hens and chicks are very forgiving plants. I'd err on the side of underwatering. Allow the soil in each section to feel quite dry before you water again and water from the side sections individually. Then just add a bit of water to the top area but don't try to get all the inner soil wet.

Christine

Friday 11th of July 2014

Such a great container for succulents...and I love that you have the birdcage planter above it...great idea:-)

admin

Friday 11th of July 2014

Thanks Christine. I've been looking for both the birdcage and the strawberry planter for a while. I love them together too! Carol

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