How to grow garden strawberries from seeds. How to grow delicious strawberries from seeds at home? Planting seedlings in a permanent place

" Strawberry

The strawberry harvest directly depends on the quality of the seedlings. Experienced gardeners grow berries from seeds on their plots. Seed material can be purchased or collected independently from ripe Victoria. In this article we will look at how to plant berries on summer cottage how to germinate seeds and propagate.

Traditionally, strawberries are grown by rooting tendrils and dividing the bushes. Seeds are used less often. For some reason, seed planting is not widely used. This is largely due to the fact that this is a very complex and painstaking process. However, this method ensures that good quality seedlings are planted.

It happens that a very tasty berry is bought, but its variety is unknown. Having collected the seeds from this strawberry, you can plant it in your own area. In caring hands, even a very rare variety will grow from purchased seeds, which can then be planted in the garden. Only remontant species are suitable for planting. Germination hybrid varieties not guaranteed.

Where to get seeds for planting?

Widely available for sale the best varieties strawberries, you need to choose based on the characteristics of a particular type. There are early, mid-season and late varieties. You can buy them in specialized stores or online.

The best varieties for growing berries from seeds at home:

• Bagota
• Gourmand
• Sakhalinskaya
• Muscat
• Fresco
• Rügen
• Geneva

Due to the high cost, you can prepare the seeds yourself. The largest and ripest berries should be selected. Cut off the top layer. The collected strawberries are washed, spread on paper and dried.

Store the seeds inside a glass container; strawberries will remain viable for 3-4 years.

Timing for sowing seeds for seedlings

Before you start growing strawberry seedlings. You should adopt the secrets shared by experienced gardeners.

So that the seeds germinate together, and the seedlings are strong and do not overgrow. Sowing work must be carried out on time. The time for sowing Victoria seedlings is the end of February - beginning of March. The resulting seedlings are planted in a permanent place in May. In the northern regions, the dates fall at the beginning of June.

Preparing for sowing

Gardeners use two methods to prepare seeds before sowing. Both of them are effective, you can choose any of the options:

1. Before disembarking planting material soak. This is done so that the seeds swell. This method allows you to check how high quality the seeds are. Expired seed material will not swell and remains empty inside. It is better to soak them on a piece of cloth. There is no need to simply fill it with water; the seeds may get wet. Soak them for 2-3 days. It is necessary to ensure that the fabric does not dry out.
2. The second method is to harden the seed material. To do this, you need to moisten a piece of cloth and place seeds on it. Wrap them up and place them inside the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. The temperature should not be too low. Plants hardened in this way will more easily withstand frost. Keep the seeds in the cold for 2 days.

If desired, you can simply sow strawberries in boxes with soil and water them with a spray bottle. For those who don’t like to be lazy, we suggest considering the planting method from experienced gardeners.

It is not necessary to prepare the seeds; however, these measures will ensure 100% germination of healthy seedlings.

How to plant seeds?

Landing is carried out with preparation fertile soil . To grow strawberries for seedlings, mixed soil is required. Take 2 parts of earth, part of sand and peat, where you should add wood ash, vermicompost. The soil should be light crumbly. Otherwise, after watering the soil will be clogged.

• The prepared soil is poured into boxes. Leveled and compacted.
• Using a stick, draw even shallow grooves along the length of the box.
• Seeds are placed inside the groove with tweezers. If you don't have tweezers, a toothpick will do.
• Between each seed, so that they are not thickened, leave a distance of 2 cm.
• When planting different varieties, you need to sign each furrow.
• After planting, compact the soil and water generously with a spray bottle.

Until strong shoots appear, it is better to water with a spray bottle, otherwise the water will wash away the seeds.

Caring for seeds before sprouts appear

The seedlings do not require any special care other than watering until the seedlings need to be planted. It is better to keep the box with seedlings on the window, sunlight will shine through the glass. Until shoots appear, the box can be covered with glass or film to preserve moisture.

Pick when 2-3 leaves appear. Carefully remove the seedlings and transplant them into separate cups. Peat cups are ideal for this purpose. If planted in disposable tableware, you need to make a hole at the bottom of the cup.

How to plant berry bushes in open ground?

Self-grown strawberry seedlings proper care should be green, fresh and healthy looking. Before planting in the ground, you need to water the cups generously. The weather should be warm by now. If there are cold nights, it is better to wait a while, use a greenhouse or covering material.

The seedlings are planted in a prepared bed; the soil in it should be loosened and fertilized. Lately, gardeners have been actively planting in raised beds with covering material. If you grow strawberries traditional way, stronger bushes need to be mulched.

Straw, hay or sawdust are suitable for mulch. Good owners use mown grass or rotted leaves.

Difficulties in growing berries from seeds at home

Difficulties that novice gardeners may encounter:

1. Expired seeds will not sprout, in which case they need to be replanted.
2. Ensure regular watering; in dry soil the sprouts may die.
3. If the window is very sunny, it needs to be slightly shaded, otherwise the leaves may turn yellow.
4. In addition to watering, seedlings can be sprayed. If it grows poorly, feeding with growth stimulants is recommended.
5. If the soil smells moldy, then watering needs to be reduced, otherwise the sprouts may rot.

If you follow all the recommendations, monitor the condition of the seedlings and properly care for them. On your site you can create a harvest-rich strawberry meadow. By experimenting with different varieties until late autumn, the harvest will be guaranteed!

Growing strawberries from seeds at home is carried out by both experienced gardeners and beginners. The fact is that the seedling method is considered simpler and more convenient compared to the seedless method. With the seedless method, seeds should be sown in the fall to wait for the first shoots to appear. next year. At home, strawberries can be planted as seedlings at the end of winter, so that in June the seedlings will move to open ground. About how to grow strong and healthy seedlings, which will calmly survive the landing on the site, we will tell you further.

The time for sowing strawberry seeds directly depends on the variety you choose. There are early, middle and late varieties, each of which has its own approximate planting date. When growing strawberries at home, you should focus on February or early March. Seeds planted during this period will have time to sprout by the time they need to be moved to the garden.

The timing of sowing strawberries depends on the availability of lighting equipment

If you prefer to plant seeds earlier, in the first half of winter, then you should take care of purchasing fluorescent lamps in advance so that the seedlings have enough lighting in the absence of the sun. Theoretically, if you have artificial lighting, you can grow strawberries in any season.

Seed preparation

Preparing the seeds is an optional step, but it will make it easier further cultivation seedlings and will protect you from many unpleasant surprises. In order for strawberry seeds to quickly adapt to the soil and begin to grow, it is necessary to start germinating them in advance. Germination is carried out in several stages:

There are several ways to germinate seeds. The one above is just one of many. As alternative method you can use moistened gauze and plastic bag. The seeds are placed in gauze, placed in a bag and also placed in a warm room for a couple of days.

The main thing is to provide a moist, warm environment, which will facilitate the seeds to hatch as quickly as possible. Stratification, in turn, involves immersing wet seeds in low temperatures.

How to select seeds?

You can get seeds in two ways - by buying them in a store or by collecting them from your own strawberries. When purchasing seeds, focus on trusted manufacturers to avoid low-quality products. If you select seeds yourself, the following tips may be useful to you:

• Choose for sowing only those seeds that were collected from bushes that were distinguished by their rich harvest and good health;

  

• The most best seeds in ripe strawberries they are located in the middle part, as well as at the base. Such seeds have the most developed embryo and, most likely, will not cause you any problems when placed in the ground;
• To make it more convenient to extract the seeds, cut out the layer of pulp you need from the berry and dry it by placing it on a sheet of paper. The dried pulp will easily separate from the seeds if you rub it a little in your hands;

  

• It is advisable to store the seeds in a glass container.

Before starting to select seeds, the gardener must understand that different varieties of strawberries differ in the way they bear fruit and, accordingly, in the amount of harvest they produce. There are non-remontant and remontant varieties of strawberries, as well as day-neutral varieties. We talk about each of the designated groups below.

You can also read more about the features of its cultivation on our portal.

Soil preparation

Strawberries can be classified as unpretentious plants that are ready to produce crops even on not the most nutritious and “friendly” soil. But if you want to grow large and juicy berries, you need to take care good composition future soil mixture. The finished soil must have the following characteristics:

Turf soil is included in the “recipe” of most mixtures for strawberry seedlings

In order to prepare a soil mixture for growing seedlings, you will need the following ingredients:

• Turf soil;
• Sawdust;
• Ground dolomite;
• Ash;
• Humus.

For ten liters of peat there are three tablespoons of dolomite and one glass of ash. It is also possible to add rotted manure. All described components are thoroughly mixed until smooth.

Disinfection

One of the most simple ways Soil disinfection is steaming. In order to steam the soil, take a large pan, fill it a quarter with water and put it on the fire. Place a colander filled with soil on top and cover the pan with a lid. As soon as the water begins to boil, hot steam will appear, which will rid the earth of any pathogenic bacteria, algae and fungal spores. The duration of the procedure is one hour.

You can also warm up the soil in the oven or in the microwave, but the latter two options have a rough effect on the soil and destroy not only harmful, but also beneficial bacteria. Steaming is considered one of the most gentle methods of disinfection.

Sowing seeds for seedlings

When the soil and seeds have undergone comprehensive processing, it is time to begin the most important thing - planting. If you have already sowed other seeds, then the process of sowing strawberries will not surprise you with anything new:

• Take the container and disinfect it. As a container, you can use seedling cassettes, wooden boxes or individual pots. If you are not going to pick, immediately use separate containers so that the roots of the growing strawberries will subsequently have enough soil;

  

• Place expanded clay or crushed brick in a two-centimeter layer at the bottom of the container. Drainage will lead excess liquid from the soil and will protect strawberry roots from rotting. Please note that drainage will not be effective unless there are holes in the bottom of the container;
• Pour in the soil and tamp it down with a shovel. Since you will subsequently cover the seeds with another layer of soil, the soil should not fill the entire container. Measure a couple of centimeters from the top border and focus on this mark when filling;

  

• Dig several narrow rows in the soil, half a centimeter deep, and moisten them with a spray bottle;
• Using tweezers, place the seeds in the dug rows and cover them with a layer of soil one centimeter thick;

  

• Cover the seedlings with glass or place them in a plastic bag and place them in a warm place where the temperature does not drop below twenty-five degrees to speed up seed germination.

As soon as the first shoots appear (after 20-25 days), the glass or bag can be removed and the temperature lowered by a few degrees. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to treat seedlings with a weak solution of potassium permanganate once every two weeks.

By the way! If you are planting strawberries of different varieties, do not forget to make nameplates. This little thing will be very useful to you later, when you transplant the seedlings into the garden, and will not allow you to get confused about the varieties.

Peat tablets

To grow strawberry seeds, you can also use peat tablets, which are compressed peat. In order for the tablets to expand, you need to place them in a container, fill them with water and let them reach their true size (they should swell when saturated with moisture). There is one seed per peat tablet. For convenience, you can place the tablets on a tray and cover them with a lid or put them in a plastic bag for faster germination.

By the way! The advantage of peat tablets is that you can transplant strawberries into the garden without removing the roots from the tablet. At first, peat will serve as an additional fertilizer for the plant.

Picking

Picking is carried out when at least two or three true leaves appear on the seedlings. At earlier stages of plant development, picking can lead to the death of strawberries, since it is a difficult and stressful event. Both pots and simple containers are suitable as a new “place of residence” for strawberries. plastic cups. The main condition is that the diameter of the container must be at least five centimeters.

As is the case with wooden boxes, you will also need to make holes in the new container and cover the bottom with a drainage layer. The soil mixture should have the same composition as before, then the plant’s adaptation will be as painless as possible for the strawberries. Seedlings should be carefully planted in pre-moistened soil.

Video - Picking strawberries

Planting strawberries in open ground

The timing of planting strawberries in open ground depends both on the selected variety and on the climatic conditions of your region. You should take into account in advance the time it will take for strawberries to ripen and the time of the fall in temperatures. Many gardeners prefer to replant seedlings between mid-April and early May.

Important! A couple of weeks before transplanting the seedlings into the garden, it is advisable to start hardening them by taking them out to Fresh air. As you approach the transplant date, strawberries should feel confident outdoors, both in the shade and in the sun.

Soil preparation

Both seedling and garden soil need preliminary preparation. In order to put the soil in order before planting seedlings, you need to carry out several simple steps:

• Fertilize the soil mineral fertilizers a few days before transplanting strawberries;
• Dig up the area intended for sowing using a spade bayonet;
• After digging, add humus to the soil. One bucket of humus per 1 m2.

Important! Under no circumstances use fresh manure for fertilizer - it will easily burn the roots of the fragile seedling.

A cloudy day is best for transplanting seedlings. If cloudy days are not expected, plan sowing for the evening.

Immersion of seedlings

Step 1. Make several small holes corresponding to the number of seedlings. When planting strawberries, it is advisable to group them by variety.

Step 2. When planting seedlings, make sure that the root system is not crowded or excessively damaged. To ensure that the planting material does not stop growing, the base of the heart must be flush with the ground.

Step 3. To make sure that the seedling has been transplanted correctly, gently pull one of its leaves. If the strawberries remain in their place and are not pulled out of the soil, then the planting was completed successfully.

Step 4. To allow the soil to settle and embrace the roots of the seedlings, water it immediately after planting the strawberries (regardless of the current weather conditions). Watering is done at the root; it is recommended not to touch the above-ground part of the plant.

Step 5. Mulch the soil, covering it with a two-centimeter layer of humus.

Strawberry pests

Table 1. Strawberry pests

Disease	Description	Fighting methods
	The size of these worms does not exceed one millimeter, so it is not so easy to see them. It is easier to recognize their presence by changes in strawberries - its young leaves begin to curl, the cuttings become deformed. When damaged by a nematode, the stems thicken. Strawberries become excessively brittle, which ultimately leads to a lack of harvest	Once nematodes are detected, all that remains for the gardener is to dispose of the plant as quickly as possible. The appearance of this pest can only be prevented by preliminary disinfection of the seeds before planting.
	Strawberry mites are very agile and quickly move throughout all the bushes if they are not identified in time. They are able to overwinter at the base of leaf petioles and become active at the beginning of the growing season. As a result, the strawberry leaves wrinkle and take on an oily sheen. The berries ripen very small	To avoid encounters with mites, seeds should be disinfected before planting. Infected bushes are treated first with colloidal sulfur (at the green leaf stage), then with Neoron - a week and a half before flowering
	The mite envelops strawberry leaves in a barely visible garden web, as a result of which the leaves quickly become yellow tint and quickly lose moisture	To get rid of spider mites, you need to treat the infected bushes with Karbofos. Spraying is done after harvesting. At the end of the processing, cover the strawberries with film (so that the solution is better absorbed) and remove after three hours
	Aphids are a type of pest that can be seen with the naked eye. The beetles, about two millimeters in size, are usually localized on the lower parts of leaves and stems. The main harm from aphids is that the honeydew they secrete clog the leaves, increasing the likelihood of fungal diseases.	Garlic has shown itself to be excellent in the fight against aphids. To prepare a garlic solution, dip several heads into three liters cold water and leave for a week. Pour the resulting composition into a spray bottle and treat the affected bushes

Cannot be grown from seeds. Actually this is not true. You just need to know that planting strawberries with seeds has been successfully used for beardless varieties. High-quality seeds of small-fruited alpine strawberries are available for sale: “Baron Solemacher”, “Weiss Solemacher”, “Alexandria”, “Yellow Miracle”, “Ruyana”. By choosing any of the listed varieties of remontant alpine strawberries and knowing the specifics of how to plant strawberries with seeds, you can easily grow seedlings of this popular fragrant berry. ON THE PICTURE: White-fruited strawberry variety "Weiss Solemacher". It is believed that berries without bright coloring pigments are the least allergenic.

How to sow strawberry seeds correctly?

Determining the sowing time

To obtain the first harvest of berries at the end of the summer of this year, it is necessary to sow from the beginning of February to the end of March. Strawberries germinate in good light, so when sowing early we need to provide it.

Planting strawberries with seeds: preparing the soil and choosing a container for sowing

To grow strawberry seedlings, low (5–6 cm) but wide containers are used. It is convenient to use a ready-made plastic container with a lid. To remove excess water and improve air circulation, punctures are made in the bottom and lid.

Neat holes in a plastic container are obtained by using a hot awl or needle.

The container is filled with soil. You can use soil mixture self-made from sand, vermiculite and leaf humus (1:1:1). Ready-made soil for seedlings is also suitable (as we wrote earlier, GreenWorld brand seedling soil is ideal for these purposes). Before filling the container, the soil is sifted. Strawberries prefer loose neutral soil, without excess nutrients.

It is useful to treat the soil with the preparation. This will help avoid damage to young shoots. The drug solution strengthens the immune system, stimulates plant growth, and also suppresses diseases.

When sowing, strawberry seeds (photo) are distributed on the surface of compacted soil without being buried. To ensure uniform sowing, use a mixture of seeds with sand or ready-made seeds in granules.
ON THE PICTURE: The easiest way is to plant strawberry seeds in separate peat tablets.

You can increase seed germination by using soaking before sowing. To do this, place the seeds on a napkin moistened with snow or rainwater (water from a reverse osmosis filter will also work). The water is changed twice a day. After 2–3 days of soaking, germination inhibitors are destroyed in the seed shell.

Successful planting of strawberries with seeds for seedlings is possible using snow sowing techniques. To do this, pour a layer of snow into a container with prepared soil. It is compacted to a thickness of 1 cm and the seeds are laid on top. The container is closed with a lid or polyethylene and placed on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator, where it is kept for 3 days. The advantage of this method is that, as the snow melts, the seeds are evenly distributed over the surface and are slightly drawn into the soil by the melt water. At the same time, they are stratified.
ON THE PICTURE: This method of sowing allows you to evenly distribute the planting material, since the seeds are more visible against the background of snow.

After the stratification stage is completed, the containers are placed in a warm place with a temperature of +20 to +25°C. On the windowsill may be required additional insulation from below (for example, a layer of foam). Planting strawberries with seeds will not be successful if there is insufficient light. Containers are placed in the brightest place or under fluorescent lamps. Daily care care for crops consists of ventilation and removing condensation on the lid of the container.

It is necessary to moisten the crops using a spray bottle, and only if condensation has stopped forming.

Strawberry seeds usually germinate 1–2 weeks after sowing.

How to properly care for seedlings?

You need to take care of the sprouts very carefully the first time the strawberry seeds (garden strawberries) sprout. The sprouts are very tender and weak, so thin grown roots are sprinkled with soil gradually, in 3 stages. To do this, take sifted soil and sprinkle it thin layer so that the seedlings do not lean to the side, but can reach towards the light. This procedure repeat 3 days in a row. Water the seedlings from a pipette using water at room temperature (from +22 to +24°C).

Mistakes made when caring for strawberry seedlings

• waterlogging;
• low temperature;
• insufficient hydration;
• too tight fit.

Under these conditions, strawberries may develop blackleg disease. As a preventative measure, you can spray the crops with the prepared solution.

It is necessary to ensure additional lighting seedlings. Until mid-March, the duration of artificial lighting is up to 12 hours a day, then 6–8 hours a day in cloudy weather. Despite additional lighting and careful care, at first strawberry seedlings develop slowly.

Feeding can begin after the true leaves appear. Apply special fertilizers for seedlings or fertilizers for garden strawberries at half dose.

You can get a more complete idea of ​​how to plant strawberry seeds by looking at the process of planting strawberries with seeds on video.

Picking strawberry seedlings

Picking is carried out when the seedlings have 2-3 true leaves. The sprouts are transplanted into separate small containers (50–100 ml each). For the successful development of the strawberry root system, it must be protected from light. Therefore, containers are taken opaque (dark plastic). You can use regular transparent water cups, but they should be placed in a dark, tall tray. Drainage holes are made in the bottom of the containers. They should be large enough for the sprouts to absorb water from the pan. By watering seedlings through a tray, the development of a powerful root system is accelerated.

How to pick strawberry seedlings

In the soil where the plant is transplanted, make a depression with a stick or pencil. It should be deep enough so that the spine does not bend. A solution of “Kornevin” or another stimulant for root formation is dripped into the hole. The sprout is taken by the leaf and lowered into the prepared hole. The rosette from which the leaves grow should not be buried in the soil, but should not stick out from it either. On the first day after picking, it is advisable to cover the seedlings with film.
ON THE PICTURE: The main condition when choosing containers for picking is opaque walls that protect root system strawberries from the light.

Before planting in the ground, caring for seedlings consists of periodic watering, spraying the leaves every 2-3 days, for which they use melt water. Fertilizing is carried out once with liquid complex fertilizer in half the dose 2 weeks before transplanting into the ground.

Planting strawberry seedlings in the ground

Young plants are transplanted into the ground when they have at least 6 true leaves. In early - mid-May, when planting is carried out, day and night frosts are still possible. Therefore, plantings are covered to protect against the cold non-woven material(spunbond).

When transplanting, it is more correct to maintain the integrity of the earthen ball around the roots of the seedlings. The planting depth should be such that the rosette is not buried in the soil. The best option is to place it flush with the soil surface.
ON THE PICTURE: If you allow the soil in the container to dry out slightly before planting seedlings in the garden, it will be easier to maintain the integrity of the earthen ball, and therefore the root system of the seedlings.

Caring for strawberries involves periodically loosening the soil, watering and weeding.

Features of growing large-fruited varieties of garden strawberries (strawberries)

Gardeners have successfully planted strawberries with seeds for seedlings in the case of remontant, beardless varieties. For large-fruited varieties, growing from seeds is undesirable. Despite similar technology When grown from seeds, the resulting plants do not inherit valuable maternal traits. In the first year of cultivation, the berries are similar to the described variety, but in subsequent seasons the fruits become tasteless, small and dry. On average, only 1 in 1000 seeds bears the characteristics of the variety. That's why large-fruited varieties Garden strawberries are propagated vegetatively. Young seedlings or mustaches are purchased from a trusted seller, and then own plot Reproduction is carried out by mustaches or dividing the bush.

New: Decorative strawberries

Hybrids of ampelous strawberries from Holland, grown for decorative purposes, are presented on the Russian market varieties: "Gasana", "Tuscany", "Laurent", "Milan", "Tristan". These are potted and container plants. Technological techniques for planting ornamental strawberry seeds are similar to the methods for growing alpine varieties of strawberries. Ornamental strawberry seedlings quickly turn into compact bushes with early flowering. Main advantage decorative varieties - raspberry, pink or scarlet flowers. The berries have no distinct taste; instead of dense pulp, they have a watery structure. Exactly decorative properties are fully reproduced when growing plants from professional seeds.

ON THE PICTURE: The flowers of decorative hybrid strawberries are impressive with their shades of pink, which are sometimes as “screaming” as in the photo (variety “Lipstick”).

The most in a reliable way To get the variety of strawberries you need and avoid many diseases and other troubles is to grow strawberry seedlings from seeds.

What gardener would deny himself the pleasure of growing strawberries on his plot? In fact, its name is large-fruited strawberry, but we are more familiar with the name strawberry, so we will continue to call it that.

Usually everyone starts it at home in the usual way: they take bushes from a neighbor and plant them, without knowing either the name of the variety or other valuable information about it. Together with the bushes they get all his diseases. There is no guarantee against this even when the seedlings are purchased on the market.

By growing seedlings from seeds ourselves, we will avoid this risk.

First, it is important to decide what kind of strawberries you want to have. Remontant varieties They produce several harvests per season, but their berries are not as tasty. The most large varieties hybrid, but all hybrids require more fertilizer than conventional varieties. There are also many differences in taste. Your choice will depend on the purpose of cultivation: more sour is suitable for canning, and sweeter for fresh eating. The choice of varieties allows you to satisfy any gardener's needs. Here are some of them:

Moscow delicacy F1

This is a remontant hybrid variety, the fruits are large, dense and have excellent taste. The variety is early, productive (up to one and a half kilograms per bush). It is beautiful, which allows it to be used in hanging and vertical beds.

Sarian F1

A new remontant hybrid, suitable for growing in greenhouses and conservatories. Berry picking can begin within four to five months after sowing. Large-fruited, resistant to both frost and drought, little susceptible to infection with fungal diseases.

Queen Elizabeth

It is also remontant, but not a hybrid, which allows you to collect seeds from it. Fruits all summer without pause. The berries are large, bright raspberry in color, aromatic, dense in consistency, and transportable.

Gigantella

The name indicates the large size of the berries (up to 120 grams)! Gigantella bears fruit once per season, not a hybrid. The berries are very sweet, and the dry skin allows them to be preserved well.

Geneva

Appeared in our country in the nineties. Yield variety even with a lack of sunny days. It yields twice a season, has a dormant period, and is large-fruited.

Marshmallow

Attracts with high yield and early ripeness. Tolerates shade and is not fussy to care for. The taste is airy and light, as evidenced by the name of the variety itself. Fruits once a season.

Tristar

Large conical berries. May produce a second harvest in late summer. Sweet dessert variety.

The berries grow on the runners, so you should not pick them.

Diamond

Resistant to viruses, early ripening, produces up to 2 kilograms of berries from one bush.

Ducat

Differs in frost resistance.

Other varieties

Sakhalin berries bear fruit all summer and until the end of autumn. It is impossible not to mention such proven frost-resistant varieties, like Festivalnaya, Mashenka, Bogota, Mount Everest, Zarya.

When purchasing seeds, be sure to look at the expiration date, and if it is coming to an end, then do not take them, since germination greatly depends on freshness. In terms of cost, choose the average ones in order to risk less.

Remember that you cannot collect seeds from hybrid varieties yourself; you must buy them.

To collect the seeds yourself, you need to choose the berry you like, it must be overripe. We remove the top layer from the berry, immerse it in water and carefully separate the seed from the pulp, filter. Now all that remains is to dry the seeds, and they are ready. You can sow them immediately, but if necessary, they are perfectly preserved for three to four years.

Benefits of growing strawberries from seeds

At first glance, it seems that growing strawberries from seeds is very difficult. Indeed, strawberry seeds are difficult to germinate, and sprouts sometimes die. But the only problem here is the lack of necessary knowledge and experience. If you master this simple technology, you will always use it, because it provides a number of advantages:

1. Unlike seedlings, seeds last a long time.
2. It’s easier to choose the variety that’s best for you.
3. The cost of seeds is severalfold fewer seedlings.
4. You will know exactly the name of each variety and its characteristics.
5. One berry can produce many bushes.

Try to purchase strawberry seeds no later than January, otherwise they may disappear from sale. Until you are completely confident of success, it is better not to buy expensive elite seeds; when purchasing, be sure to check the expiration date.

Seed preparation

First you need disinfection by immersing for 20 minutes in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then we take a transparent container with a lid, making holes for ventilation. We cover the bottom with cotton pads or cloth, after wetting them, then lay out the seeds.

It is very difficult to spread out such small seeds; a toothpick can help with this. Cover the top with the same moistened material and close the container with a lid. The napkin should be moistened every day, but not filled with water (use a spray bottle).

If you decide to sow several different varieties, then use different containers for them, which are worth labeling. We keep it warm for two days, making sure that the seeds do not dry out, put it in the refrigerator for two weeks and also maintain humidity.

This operation is called stratification. After stratification, the seeds are ready for sowing.

Instead of tap water, use melt water. In winter there will be no shortage of such water.

Timing of sowing seeds

IN middle lane and in the north you should sow no earlier than March, but in the south of Russia you can do this already in February and even in mid-January. Specific dates depend on the variety and climate characteristics, so determine the exact date individually. If you are late with sowing, the strawberries will not have time to take root in the soil.

You can sow seeds in more early dates, if you use a lamp for illumination.

Preparing the substrate for sowing

Gardeners on own experience We were convinced that ready-made soil mixtures do not always meet the required parameters. For strawberries, it is better to prepare the mixture yourself.

Unsuitable predecessors for strawberries are: strawberries, raspberries and nightshade crops. After them, you should not take land; it is better to prepare land in the forest or in a forest belt.

The substrate should be light, crumbly, and not fertilized. Here are examples of its composition:

• A mixture of forest soil and sand in equal parts;
• Three parts each of vermicompost, peat and sand;
• Two parts are turf and one part is sand and peat.

Buy vermicompost in the store, deoxidize the peat with lime or dolomite flour before mixing.

You can destroy pests in it by keeping the substrate in the oven at 200 degrees for about twenty minutes. Instead of processing high temperature, you can, on the contrary, freeze the soil by placing the container outside at low temperatures. In order for healthy microflora to be restored after this, after warming up, keep the soil cool for two weeks. During this time, the seeds will undergo stratification.

It is possible to use ash and humus as fertilizer, but do not overdo it, excess fertilizer can burn the seeds.

Selecting suitable containers

The containers can be anything, let’s look at the most common ones:

1. Ready-made plastic cassettes. They can be purchased at retail outlets for gardeners. Each container of the cassette is designed for planting one seed. Drainage holes have already been made, but you need to choose a pallet yourself.
2. Homemade plank boxes. They can be used repeatedly, but must be disinfected upon repeated use.
3. Various paper and plastic cups. Seedlings from these are easy to transplant, but they require containers for transportation.
4. Pots of their peat. The advantage is that they are planted in the ground along with seedlings, but the disadvantage is that they may turn out to be of poor quality. Buy from trusted stores.
5. Transparent packaging for cakes, cookies and other things. Drainage holes are made in them yourself, and the container is ready. The advantage is that they have transparent lids.

You will choose yourself, based on your conditions and capabilities.

Before filling with soil, the containers should be wiped with a cloth soaked in a solution of potassium permanganate.

Sowing in boxes

The containers are filled with pre-prepared soil mixture (substrate), the surface is slightly compacted and watered. Then you need to make small grooves and place the seeds in them, but you should not fill them with soil on top; the seeds germinate better in the light.

After planting, sprinkle the soil with water and cover the containers with transparent lids, film or glass. Condensation (drops of water) should appear on the lids. If there is too much of it, you need to ventilate it, and if there is none, then water it with a spray bottle. The place where the seedlings will be grown should be warm and well lit, but not directly sun rays.

With this method, you can apply seed stratification directly in the ground using snow. This is done like this: Fill the box two-thirds with earth, cover the surface with a thick layer of snow, and trample it down. We spread the soaked seeds on the surface and put the box in the refrigerator for fifteen days. During this time, the seeds will flow with the melted snow and be drawn into the soil. Then we put the containers in a warm place and care for them as described above.

Sowing in separate containers

If you have prepared cups for sowing, then everything is done in the same way, only one seed is placed in each cup.

Since strawberry seeds are difficult to germinate, plant only sprouted seeds in separate containers so that they do not later end up empty.

Peat tablets are now commercially available. This product is specifically designed for sowing seeds of various crops. They have holes approximately 8 millimeters deep. Before starting sowing, the tablets must be wetted until they swell, and then remove excess water.

The hatched seeds are placed in the holes, and the whole thing is covered with a film, which should be removed when the shoots appear. You also need to support optimal humidity, water if necessary. The advantage of this method is that the seedlings do not need to be picked.

Rules for caring for young seedlings

Since the plants are very small and delicate, caring for them requires some attention.

1. Proper watering– the main condition for success. You will have to water with great care. To avoid washing away tender sprouts with water and placing them on the ground, water at the root using a medical syringe, pipette or teaspoon. The water must be settled or purified.
2. Feeding. Complexes containing potassium, magnesium, phosphorus should be added
3. Prevention. To protect against fungal diseases, water with a fungicide (Trichodermin, Planriz) once every three weeks.

If you notice that the sprout is lying down, lift it and sprinkle earth around it.

In a sealed container with high humidity ideal conditions are created for the development of mold, which produces harmful toxins. You can get rid of this scourge if:

• Carefully collect the mold together with top layer soil without damaging the roots of the seedlings.
• Lightly loosen the soil with a toothpick.
• Treat with the following preparations: phytosporin, vermiculite, a solution of one nystatin tablet in a glass of water, a one percent solution of potassium permanganate.
• Dry the soil a little, temporarily removing the lid or glass.

During subsequent picking, try to carefully shake off the soil in which there was mold from the roots of the plant. If mold has formed on peat tablets, they also need to be thrown away, and the plants should be treated with an antifungal drug.

Do not rush to open seedlings when they grow up. They need to be accustomed to external conditions gradually. Transparent covers should first be moved slightly, or opened for a short time until the seedlings get used to room temperature and humidity.

Picking strawberry seedlings

If the strawberries are not sown in separate containers, then after three leaves appear, they need to be picked. Into cups with things done in them drainage holes Place the prepared soil, compact it and water it. You can easily make your own cups from thick paper or other similar materials.

We also water the soil in containers with seedlings. Carefully transplant the strawberry sprouts along with a lump of earth. If the roots of the seedlings are intertwined, you will have to separate them in water so as not to damage them. It is recommended to pinch the longest roots when diving. Of course, after transplanting you need careful watering at the root.

Necessary conditions for growing seedlings

Optimal temperature for growing 20 -22 degrees. Illumination for at least 12 hours, but not direct sunlight. Plantings should be shaded from such rays, and if there is insufficient light, artificial lighting should be used. In this case, it is advisable to use automatic switching on automatically when darkness appears.

Monitor the humidity level in the room. If it increases, seedlings may be damaged by diseases and pests.

Due to excessive watering, strawberries may develop an ailment such as black leg. If it is detected, you urgently need to transplant the seedlings into another soil, and add a fungicide when watering.

Preparing seedlings for planting in the ground

To ensure that plants do not experience stress from replanting, some agrotechnical techniques should be used, namely:

1. Hardening. Two to three weeks before planting the seedlings in a permanent place, you need to harden them. To do this, take the seedlings out to the balcony or porch in the fresh air during the day, and bring them indoors in the evening. This is done so that the plants get used to sunlight and temperature changes.
2. Treatment with solutions. If it appears on leaves white plaque(powdery mildew), should be sprayed with a solution of biofungicidal preparations. If it starts spider mite, treat with acaricide solution.

If you carefully follow the tips, then growing strawberries from seeds at home is not as difficult as it might seem at first. She will definitely thank you for your care and efforts with a rich harvest.