One way to propagate strawberries is to grow from seeds. Young bushes obtained in this way can bloom after 6 months, so most often planting material is planted for seedlings in January and February.
Is it possible to grow strawberries from seeds
Many gardeners are used to propagating strawberries vegetatively: rosettes or dividing the bush. But plants can be grown from seeds, although most often this method is applied to beardless small-fruited varieties. With the help of seed propagation, breeders breed new varieties and hybrids.
Those plants that we grow in our garden plots should be called garden strawberries, but the word "strawberry" has long been established in everyday life.
Presowing seed treatment
Strawberries from seeds are most often grown through seedlings. In this case, use:
- peat tablets;
- individual cups;
- containers.
Since strawberry seeds are very small, they are not directly planted in open ground. To increase the germination of planting material, pre-sowing treatment, which consists in stratification and germination, is necessary.
Selection of seeds for planting
Now on the market you can find seeds of various varieties and hybrids of strawberries. When choosing a bag, you must definitely look at the expiration date, since planting material quickly loses its germination rate and may not germinate a year after ripening and packaging. The packaging also varies the number of seeds, some hybrids contain from 4 to 10 seeds. And, of course, you need to consider what you want to get in the end: bushes for the balcony, a fruiting plantation in the open ground or beautiful hanging ampelous plants.
In the market you can buy different varieties and hybrids of strawberries
Another option is to collect seeds from your own berries. But if you have several varieties on the site, then they could become dusty, and your own unique hybrid will grow from the seeds.
Stratification
Stratification of seeds is a prerequisite for obtaining friendly seedlings. It is carried out both before sowing, and after it.
The procedure consists of the following steps:
- Strawberry seeds are poured onto a moist cotton pad and covered with a second.
- Everything is placed in a small food container and cleaned for 2 days in a warm place.
- Then the container is placed on the lower shelf of the refrigerator and kept there for another 2 days.
For stratification, strawberry seeds are wrapped in wet wipes or discs and placed in the refrigerator
- Within two weeks, the seeds are moved either to heat or to cold. Every day, the container is opened and ventilated.
If you are preparing to plant several varieties, do not forget to sign the names.
After stratification, the seeds can be sown in plates, peat tablets or left warm until the roots appear.
Germination
Seeds of particularly valuable varieties can be sprouted before planting.
- Stratified planting material is laid out on a saucer with a napkin folded in several layers.
- Spray with melt or rain water and place in a transparent plastic bag.
- The bundle is left in a very bright and warm place with a temperature of 25 ° C. The condensed droplets of condensate are removed, and if the bag is dry, moisten the seeds by spraying.
When germinating, the seeds should not float in water.
How many seeds of strawberry germinate
Seeds of small-fruited varieties that have passed stratification and are in ideal conditions, germinate in a week. With improper sowing or with a lack of heat and light, seedlings may not appear.
Seeds of large-fruited strawberries germinate for about 2-3 weeks.
Ways to plant strawberries with seeds
Most often, the following methods of sowing seeds are used:
- in the snow;
- in peat tablets;
- in individual cups;
- into a common container.
In the snow
One of the easiest ways to plant strawberries is to sow dry seeds in the snow.
- Take a small food container with a lid and make drainage holes in the bottom.
- Pour soil mixed with sand or vermiculite into a container, slightly compact.
- Spread 1-2 centimeters of snow.
The snow layer on top of the soil should be 1-2 centimeters
- Strawberry seeds are poured out or spread with a toothpick on the snow.
From above, the seeds do not fall asleep, when the snow melts, they pull them into the soil
- The container is cleaned in the refrigerator, and after a few hours, when the snow melts, they cover it with a lid.
- After 7-10 days, the stratified seeds are taken out of the refrigerator and placed in a warm and very bright place. Best of all - under the lamp. At a soil temperature of 25 ° C, the seeds germinate within a week.
- Every day, you need to ventilate the crops by lifting the lid.
- The lid from the container is not removed until 2-3 real leaflets appear on the seedlings.
Video: planting strawberry seeds in the snow
In peat tablets
Recently, peat tablets have become increasingly popular. Their main advantages are:
- lack of dirt when landing;
- ease in picking.
It is better to plant in peat tablets already stratified or germinated seeds.
It is convenient to grow small seeds in peat tablets.
Stages of planting in peat tablets:
- Soak the tablets in warm water.
- Swollen peat tablets are slightly squeezed and placed in a container with a lid.
- In each tablet is placed 1 germinated seed or 2-3 stratified.
- Cover the tablets with a lid and place them in a warm and bright place. Ventilate the greenhouse once a day, opening the lid and inspecting the plantings.
- After emergence, the cover is not removed, only the condensation that appears is removed.
- When 3 real leaves appear, strawberry seedlings are gradually accustomed to ordinary air.
Video: planting seeds in peat tablets
Strawberry seedling care
From the very first days, strawberries need a 12-hour light day. With early winter crops, seedlings must be illuminated. Best of all, bicolor phytolamps cope with this task. Due to the red and blue spectra, seedlings are not stretched. In extreme cases, you can illuminate with conventional LED or fluorescent lamps.
In cloudy weather, the light is left for 12 hours, in clear and sunny - turn on in the evenings for several hours. If it is not possible to supplement seedlings, then sowing is best done in March or April, when there is more natural light.
Strawberry seedlings must be supplemented if seeds were sown in winter
Another important nuance is heat. Strawberries will grow well only at 25 ° C. If the seedlings are on the windowsill, then check its temperature and, if necessary, cover the surface with insulation material:
- polystyrene;
- several layers of cardboard;
- foil foam.
The first weeks, strawberries should grow under the lid so that the inside of the container has its own moist microclimate. When the soil dries, watering is carried out by spraying from a spray gun or a syringe with a needle that sticks into the soil. If the container with seedlings is closed well, then rarely have to be watered.
Strawberry seedlings are very small, you should not open the lid immediately, wait until 3 real leaves grow
Picking seedlings
When 3 real leaves appear on young bushes, plants can be transplanted into separate containers, and then accustomed to the air of the apartment. Dive stages:
- Before picking, it is advisable to spill the container with strawberries with HB-101 solution (1 drop of the drug per 500 ml of water).
Vitalizer NV-101 is bred at the rate of 1-2 drops of the drug per liter of water
- We prepare individual containers for each bush, fill them with loose nutritious soil mixtures. To do this, mix:
- 10 liters of purchased peat;
- 1 liter of biohumus;
- 1 liter of vermiculite;
- 2 liters of soaked coconut substrate.
It is very convenient to dive strawberry seedlings into separate cells on a pallet
- We pry each bush from the nursery with a small fork and transplant it into an individual pot, lightly water it with HB-101 solution. Make sure that the strawberry heart is at ground level.
Strawberry seedlings dive one in each cup
- Spray the spiked seedlings with Epin or HB-101 to relieve stress and better rooting. If seedlings before the picks grew under the lid, then we cover the pots with foil and gradually adapt to the air of the room over the next few days.
I accustom my strawberry seedlings to the dry air of the apartment immediately after a dive, spraying the plants every 2-3 hours with water in which the NV-101 preparation is diluted. All plants perfectly tolerate picking and quickly take root.
If strawberry seedlings were grown in peat tablets, then you need:
- Cut the tablet, remove the mesh.
- Plant with an earthen lump put in a pot.
- Sprinkle with earth.
After the transplant, care for strawberries is reduced to regular watering, periodic top dressing, and, if necessary, to add soil. Strawberries are very fond of water, especially if standing on a hot windowsill or in the sun. Then small pots need to be watered every 2-3 days.
You can feed strawberries 2 weeks after the pick, but the dose of fertilizers should be halved. It is best to use those drugs where nitrogen prevails.
I feed the whole seedlings of strawberries every 10 days with the Gumistar preparation, breeding according to the instructions. Plants develop very well, grow strong and healthy.
Strawberries are very fond of feeding with Gumistar, which includes nutrients and growth stimulants
Video: picking strawberries
Landing in a permanent place
At the age of two to three months, strawberry seedlings can be transplanted to a permanent place.
High-quality seedlings at the time of planting in a permanent place should have several leaves and a well-developed root system
Small-fruited remontant strawberries are grown mainly at home in a cache-pot, on a balcony or loggia, along paths or on a separate garden bed. For each bush, a two-liter pot is enough. You can plant several plants in a long balcony box, then the distance between plants should be 20-25 cm.
Large-fruited strawberries, as a rule, are grown for planting in open ground or a greenhouse, less often - for growing in a cache-pot. Seedlings are planted in open ground only after a positive temperature has been established and frosts are no longer expected. Young plants are gradually accustomed to new conditions: for several hours they take out bushes into the air, leaving them longer and longer every day.
Usually on the back of the bag indicate the desired distance between the bushes, because each variety has its own characteristics and some plants can be very large. Therefore, planting large-fruited strawberries can be at a distance of 20 cm to 50 cm between the bushes.
Ampel strawberries bear fruit not only on the outlet itself, but also on the mustache, which is why it looks very nice in hanging baskets, flower pots or on vertical beds.
Photo gallery: where you can transplant strawberries
- Ampel varieties can be planted in hanging boxes
- Large-fruited strawberries are most often planted in open ground.
- Small-fruited strawberries grab two-liter pots
Further care for strawberries grown from seeds is the same as for harvested from rooted mustaches.
Video: planting strawberry seedlings in open ground
In order to grow strong and healthy seedlings of strawberries from seeds, it is necessary to sow stratified planting material, apply additional illumination of plants in the initial period, carefully water and feed seedlings. Then by the beginning of June you will receive blooming strawberry bushes.
