companion growing

[steve@dot17032012]

Hi,
I read on one companion growing list, that you can grow strawberries and mint together, and on another you cant.Has anyone grown them together or is it a bad ideaI am growing them in an old iron bath that we had just been dumped on our allotment when we took it over and put it to good use.

Steve

[lancashire lass]

I don't know the answer but after mulling it over, wonder if the idea is bad because mint can take over a bed and be very invasive - to the detriment of the strawberry plants. Mint contains various chemicals that give it characteristic taste and smell such as carvones and menthols which can have antiseptic qualities, but whether these affect strawberry plants is something I do not know.

Strawberries and mint plants are not that expensive so you could try an experiment and see for yourself. Why not grow some strawberry plants and some mint in a big pot to see for yourself (I'd recommend a big deep pot because of mint's natural invasive traits) and see if it makes any difference compared to a big deep pot with just strawberries in?

[Richard]

Interesting.

If you left the Mint with the Strawberries together for next year, in the soil, the Mint would definitely take over, they spread like Horseradish!

The good news is that Strawberries will grow in almost anything. I have some in old Air Bricks, some in pots and some in an old steel feeding container for Chickens.

They're normally pretty tough plants.

Richard