How to grow strawberries from seeds for seedlings at home

Typically, strawberries are propagated by seedlings, purchasing them at a garden center or planting your own. Experienced gardeners have long learned to propagate it from seeds. How to properly grow strawberries from seeds to get strong, healthy seedlings? More on this below.

Advantages and disadvantages

At first, it will seem to a beginner that propagating strawberries by seeds is a difficult task.But, having gained experience, the gardener will understand that this method has more positive aspects than negative ones. The advantages include the following points:

• the ability to grow a large number of seedlings;
• low cost of seed;
• the ability to choose any variety you like;
• absence of diseases (if seedlings are grown correctly).

The disadvantages include:

• the inability to propagate hybrid varieties grown by seedlings on your site;
• the complexity of the method.

Having mastered the technology of growing strawberries with seeds at home, the gardener will no longer be able to abandon this method of propagating the plant.

Which varieties to choose

Strawberries vary in size, taste, and ripening time. When choosing a variety for cultivation, the gardener focuses on these qualities, as well as its resistance to pests and diseases. The most popular varieties:

• Sarian F1;
• Queen Elizabeth;
• Gigantella;
• Regina;
• Mashenka;
• Marshmallow;
• Diamond;
• Moscow delicacy F1.

Advice! In order not to be disappointed as a result of planting, seeds must be purchased from flower shops, and not from random people.

How to properly grow strawberries from seeds

Having chosen the variety you like, begin planting. It must be taken into account that seeds cannot be collected from berries purchased at the market or in a store for the reason that if it turns out to be a hybrid, then the gardener will never see shoots.

Sowing dates

In the northern regions, seeds are planted in March; in the southern regions, sowing can be done as early as late January or early February. The gardener regulates planting individually, depending on the climatic region, as well as on the early maturity of the variety. You cannot be late with sowing, as the strawberries may not have time to take root on the site.

Selection of capacity

You can plant strawberry seeds in any container, the most popular of which are the following:

1. Plastic cassettes sold in garden centers. One seed is planted in each compartment. They already have holes made for draining water.
2. Small wooden boxes.
3. Cups made of plastic or paper. They are convenient for sowing, but when transporting they are placed in large boxes.
4. Peat pots. Seedlings can be planted without removing them. They decompose in the soil, which serves as additional nutrition for strawberries.
5. Various packaging from pies, cakes, cookies. It is necessary to make holes in them to drain excess water.

The gardener chooses containers depending on his capabilities. Whatever container is chosen, it must have drainage holes. Stagnant moisture is detrimental to the root system: it can become infected with fungus.

Soil preparation

The development of seedlings largely depends on the quality of the soil. If, for example, there are fungal spores in it, the seedlings will be susceptible to disease. In poor-quality soil, seedlings will not be strong and friendly. To sow seeds, you can take soil from the garden, but you need to add turf soil (2 parts), peat (1 part), sand (1 part) to it. All components are mixed, a little wood ash is added.

You can purchase ready-made substrate at a flower shop. Universal soil is good because it contains all the nutrients that seeds need for growth.

Whatever substrate is chosen, it must be disinfected. There are several methods of the procedure: calcination in the oven at a low temperature, freezing, treatment with biological preparations.

General rules for sowing seeds

Regardless of the choice of container for planting, you must adhere to the general sowing rules:

1. The seeds are pre-conditioned for 8-10 weeks at low temperatures (for example, in the refrigerator).
2. Before sowing, the seeds are treated with antifungal drugs.
3. The soil is pre-disinfected.
4. The seed is planted to a depth of no more than 0.5 centimeters.
5. Containers with seeds are placed in a warm room with an air temperature of 23-25 ​​° C.

It is better to choose seeds of hybrid varieties for sowing, since they are intended for seed sowing. If you sow them pre-germinated, this will shorten the germination time.

How to sow in a container

Instructions on how to plant seeds step by step:

1. A container is selected whose optimal height is 10 centimeters.
2. The container is treated with a solution of potassium permanganate or alcohol, after which it is well dried.
3. If the container is cardboard or wooden, a film is placed on the bottom, on which holes are made with a sharp object to drain the water. The film will prevent the bottom from getting wet and rotting.
4. A small layer of drainage made of expanded clay or small pebbles is laid.
5. The prepared substrate is poured on top.
6. Compact the soil and irrigate with water from a spray bottle.
7. Place the sprouted seeds on top.
8. Sprinkle a 0.5 centimeter layer of soil. If ungerminated seeds are planted, they are not covered. They only need to be lightly pressed into the ground.
9. Cover the container with film (sprouted seeds are not covered).

The container is placed in a warm place. It must be ventilated every day. The soil should be kept moist but not wet. The instructions for sowing seeds in a separate pot for beginners are similar. The only difference is that each glass contains one seed. The sowing procedure is simple, it can be done even in an apartment, and in the spring you can plant young seedlings in the countryside.

Sowing technique in peat tablets

Sowing is done as follows:

• tablets are filled with warm, settled water;
• after swelling, excess moisture is squeezed out;
• a depression is made on top, the seed is placed in it, which is then slightly pressed;
• The tablets are placed in a shallow container, which is covered with film;
• The container is placed on a bright, warm windowsill.

Just as in the previous case, the container is ventilated every day. As necessary, the tablets are sprayed with water from a spray bottle. If the gardener sows sprouted seeds, then you should not cover the container with film.

Seedling care and picking

Without daily inspection and care, seedlings will not fully germinate and develop.

Temperature

In the first days, containers with crops are kept at a temperature of 25 ° C on a light windowsill. The film cannot be removed, since delicate and small shoots can be scorched by the sun. After germination, the temperature can be lowered slightly, but the lighting can be increased, otherwise the sprouts will stretch.

Watering

Water the seeds carefully. If you water them from a dish, they can go deeper into the ground. Therefore, it is necessary to moisten the soil only with a spray bottle with a fine spray. For grown seeds, you can use a medical syringe, from which young plants are sprayed to the very root. The water should be warm and settled.

Note! Even a single drying of the soil is detrimental to seedlings.

Lighting

The lighting should be bright, but without direct sunlight on the delicate leaves. The midday sun can scorch the sprouts, so boxes with seedlings are shaded during this period. If the windows are located in a poorly lit part of the room, then the seedlings must be illuminated with artificial lamps.

Protection from diseases and pests

Treating diseases is more difficult than preventing them. To prevent fungal diseases, plants must provide the following conditions:

• seeds are treated with antifungal drugs before planting;
• Overmoistening of seedlings is not allowed: watering is done after the top layer of soil has dried;
• between young plants there should be a distance sufficient to ventilate them.

To prevent diseases, biological and folk remedies are used, including treating plants with solutions of potassium permanganate, iodine, and boric acid. If fungal diseases are detected, strawberry bushes are sprayed with Fitosporin solution. Severely affected plants must be removed so that they do not infect the rest of the seedlings. When bushes are damaged by pests, it is sprayed with insecticides.

Picking

After 2-3 true leaves appear, the seedlings must be transplanted into a larger container or into separate pots or cups. Plants planted separately will experience less stress when they are planted in the ground, since they will retain their root system. Holes are made in the cups to drain the water, soil is poured, seedlings are placed, and watered.

When transplanting into boxes, seedlings are taken with tweezers and planted together with a lump of earth. The intertwined roots must be carefully separated. The plants are still very tender, so picking is done very carefully. When 5-6 leaves appear on the bushes, they can be transplanted into open ground, provided that the threat of frost has disappeared.

Further care is no different from caring for strawberries grown by seedlings.Timely watering, loosening and fertilizing the soil, protecting plants from diseases and pests will provide the gardener with a bountiful harvest. By growing several varieties of strawberries with different ripening periods, you can enjoy delicious berries for a long time.