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Probably, every summer resident is familiar with strawberries - everyone loves this berry, therefore they try to plant at least a few bushes on their site. It would seem that there is nothing difficult in cultivating strawberries: everyone knows that garden culture reproduces with a mustache or dividing a bush. However, it is far from always possible to use these methods of propagating garden strawberries (it is also often called strawberries), sometimes you have to go the other way - to increase the number of bushes with seeds.
Is it possible to growing strawberries from seeds at home, what secrets of growing exist, how to care for seedlings, and what are the difficulties of this method - this is what this article is about.
How to grow strawberries from seeds at home
The method of growing strawberries from seeds has always been considered very difficult and time consuming. Of course, it is much easier to simply root the mustache or divide the strong kutas into several parts, but this is not always possible. It is quite expensive to buy seedlings in a nursery, especially if the gardener wants to plant a large area with strawberries.
In this case, you can try to grow strawberry seedlings yourself using the seeds of this culture.... Seeds can also be bought, but when the strawberry variety is elite, they will be expensive, and are sold in 5-10 pieces per bag. As you know, the germination of strawberry seeds is low, so half of the purchased material may simply disappear.
For everything to work out, you need to follow the technology. You can familiarize yourself with it in this article, and see an illustrative example in the video instructions from experienced gardeners.
To do this, leave the largest and most beautiful berries on the bushes, give them a little overripe. Then remove the skin with a knife with the seeds and carefully separate the seeds under water. The seeds are dried on a cloth and stored for 3-4 years.
Which strawberries are propagated by seeds
The budding gardener should know that not all varieties of strawberries and strawberries can reproduce by seeds. Hybrid varieties are categorically not suitable for this method. Such strawberries may have seeds, they may even germinate and produce good seedlings, but there is no guarantee about what the fruits will be and their taste characteristics.
Elite expensive varieties of large-fruited or exotic strawberries (of an unusual color, shape, with a taste or aroma that is not inherent in this berry) are difficult to reproduce, it is especially difficult to increase the number of such bushes at the expense of seeds. The seeds germinate poorly, the seedlings are weak and unviable.
And here remontant small-fruited varieties, which are often called strawberries, on the contrary, reproduce well by seeds.
Cross-pollination with other varieties should not be allowed, otherwise the purity of the variety will be violated, the quality of the seedlings can only be guessed at.
Growing from seeds will be more effective if you choose one of these strawberry varieties:
- for "Diamant" is characterized by resistance to viruses and pests, as well as high yield (up to two kilograms per bush);
- "Dukat" is not afraid of spring frosts and also gives good harvests;
- "Olivia" is not so fruitful, but it is not afraid of drought and heat;
- the "Bagota" variety is late-ripening, the strawberries are large and sweet;
- on the contrary, “Lakomka” has an early harvest;
- strawberry "Sakhalinskaya" bears fruit all season, is characterized by increased durability;
- "Geneva" is one of the large-fruited varieties that can multiply by seeds.
When to plant strawberries for seedlings
In order for the seedlings to grow and be ready for planting in open ground, at least two months must pass from the moment of sowing the seeds.... If strawberries in most of Russia are usually planted at the end of May or in the first days of June, as well as taking into account the 2-3 weeks allotted for seed stratification, it is possible to determine the optimal time for sowing seeds is the end of February or the beginning of March.
Later crops will not have time to get stronger, they will have to be planted in the ground later, when the heat has already come. If you plan to grow strawberries in a greenhouse, you can sow seeds earlier, starting in January.
Preparing seeds for planting
Summer residents interested in the question of how to grow strawberries from seeds should understand that the process is not easy, requiring accuracy and time. But self-grown seedlings will make it possible to increase the number of strawberry bushes on the site at no extra cost.
First of all, the strawberry seeds should be prepared for planting. This process can be roughly divided into three stages:
- Soak. At this stage, the strawberry seeds are laid out on cotton pads or cotton cloth. It is recommended to moisten the seeds only with melt or rain water, then the growth stimulation will be stronger, the seeds will germinate faster, the seedlings will turn out to be strong and of high quality.
- Germination. Cover the moistened cotton pads or cloth with swollen seeds with another layer (discs or cotton cloth) and moisten well. It is very convenient to germinate strawberry seeds in a plastic container with a lid. Only in the lid you need to make small holes with a needle so that the seeds have access to air. The covered container is placed in a warm place for a couple of days (temperature is 20-22 degrees). During this time, small sprouts should appear.
- Stratification. One of the dacha tricks for growing strawberries from seeds is keeping the already hatched seeds under low temperature conditions. This will help to harden the seedlings, because strawberry seedlings are very fragile and weak, they often die. For stratification, a container with hatched seeds and a moistened substrate is placed in a refrigerator. It is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the seeds and the level of moisture, if necessary, add water - cotton pads should not dry out. Stratification usually lasts two weeks, if necessary, this period can be extended, but maximum for a month.
After this preparation, the strawberry seeds are ready for planting in the ground.
Sowing strawberry seeds for seedlings
Containers for strawberry seedlings are chosen shallow, but voluminous... Various pallets, plastic food containers or specially knocked down wooden boxes are suitable for these purposes - in such dishes the seedlings will feel best, the roots will begin to develop correctly.
The soil for strawberry seedlings can be any. The only requirement is that the soil must be crumbly in order to be well saturated with oxygen. You should not choose too nutritious soil for strawberries; it is better to take ordinary garden soil and mix it with peat, turf or forest soil and part of river sand. A few weeks before sowing, it is recommended to bake the soil in the oven for 20-30 minutes.
The earth is poured into containers and tamped tightly. Shallow grooves are made at a distance of 5-6 cm from each other. Moisten the soil from a spray bottle and spread the hatched seeds at intervals of 2 cm. You do not need to cover the strawberry seeds with earth; sunlight is enough for them to take root.
If there is such an opportunity, the containers are not completely filled with soil (2-3 cm are left to the upper edge), the remaining space is filled with well-packed snow. The seeds that have hatched are spread on the snow and squeezed a little. Over time, the snow will melt, and the strawberry seeds will press tightly to the ground.
All the time until a couple of real leaves appear on the seedlings, containers or pallets with strawberries should be covered with a transparent lid, glass or film.... This will create a special microclimate inside, and also helps to retain moisture.
It is quite simple to assess the degree of soil moisture: if there are drops of condensation on the lid, the strawberries have enough water... If the lid is dry, it's time to water the seedlings with a spray bottle. When there are too many drops, the seedlings are not even visible through the lid, you need to remove excess moisture with a cloth and open the container for airing.
Care for strawberry seedlings at this stage consists only in watering and airing. Carefully ventilate containers with strawberries: gradually increasing the time. First, a larger hole is made in the lid, then the lid is slightly shifted, only after such preparation the seedlings are left open. First for a few minutes, then for a day, as a result, the strawberries are left overnight.
Strawberry seedlings dive
It is necessary to dive strawberry seedlings only if the seeds are sown in common containers. When individual cups or peat tablets are used, diving can be avoided. But, due to the fact that the germination of strawberry seeds is low, they are often sown in common containers, and then, I dive the strongest plants.
By this stage, the strawberry seedlings should have at least four true leaves. You can dive seedlings with a match, a thin stick or tweezers. Previously, the earth is thoroughly moistened with a spray bottle. Individual containers are prepared by filling them with the same soil as the one that was used for sowing the seeds.
A small depression is made in the ground and the seedling is carefully transferred along with an earthen clod. Slightly compact the soil around the stem and water the plants. After diving, you need to water the seedlings at the root, you can no longer use a spray bottle - the water should not get on the strawberry leaves.
This will allow the development of a superficial root system, subsequently the seedlings will take root better and get stronger faster.
It remains to wait until the strawberry seedlings grow up, warm weather sets in, and you can transfer the seedlings to the ground.
You can learn more about this from the video:
Growing strawberries from seeds in peat tablets
Many gardeners prefer to grow strawberry seedlings in peat tablets. Not all cultures love peat, but strawberries are just among the fans of such a substrate.
Preliminarily, the tablets are placed in a flat tray and poured with warm water - they should swell and increase in size. After that, the hatched and stratified seeds can be planted as usual (the method described above).
But there is another way: swollen strawberry seeds are placed in a peat tablet, cover the container with a lid and put in this form in the refrigerator. After stratification, the container with peat pellets is placed in a warm place with a constant temperature of 20 degrees.
How to grow strawberry seedlings from seeds correctly
There are some secrets that help summer residents propagate their favorite strawberries with seeds:
- you also need to gradually accustom strawberry seedlings to the sun. First, the containers are placed in a bright place, but not in direct sunlight. As the seedlings grow, the time it spends under the sun increases. After diving, you can leave strawberries on the windowsill.
- If the roots of the seedlings are visible, you need to carefully sprinkle them with earth, as if spilling the strawberries. If this is not done, the plants will fall down and disappear.
- Mold may appear on the ground. In this case, the mold is removed with a match along with a thin layer of soil, and the container with strawberries is ventilated more often, the level of soil moisture is carefully monitored.
- Before planting in a permanent place, strawberry seedlings must be hardened. Do this as usual, gradually increasing the time of the "sessions".
- For seeds, drip irrigation from a spray bottle is useful, but when green leaves appear, the strawberries are watered only under the root. It is convenient to do this with a teaspoon. Condensation from the container lid should be regularly wiped off so that drops do not fall on the delicate strawberry leaves.
- In order for the strawberries to develop normally, and the bushes to become strong, in the first year after planting the seedlings, all peduncles and mustaches should be removed.
Simple rules will help you grow healthy strawberry seedlings in your normal home environment. Growing from seeds can be a great alternative to propagating strawberries with a mustache or dividing a bush. The first failures should not stop gardeners - painstaking work, in the end, will give the result in the form of strong seedlings of the desired variety.
Another video about sprouting strawberry seeds will help the novice gardener:
