Learn How To Grow Strawberries With Seeds The Right Way

If you want to learn how to grow strawberries, then you have come to the right place because we are going to guide you through the way of using the seeds to cultivate a great strawberry harvest. It is not a very difficult task to grow strawberries; in fact, they are the best fruit crop to begin with if you are new into the gardening world.

This article is going to tell you all that needs to be taken care of starting the strawberry plants with their seeds and all the detail about strawberry germination which is the main focus.

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Things to know before choosing strawberry seeds

You must know that you’ve decided on the difficult path, to grow strawberries from its seeds but the good thing is that you will get better rewards. For learning how to grow strawberries using the seeds, we think it’s important that you know some of the important aspects of the process.

The greatest thing is that strawberry fruits come true to their seed which means that the final fruit is similar the one of its parent plants.
These are usually less the popular varieties of strawberry that can be started from seeds.
Patience is the key as growing strawberries from seed is a process with several stages and takes longer.
The major benefit of seed growth is that you can choose any variety of strawberry suitable to the local climate and grow it under protected conditions.
The downside of it is that the plants won’t yield any fruit for the first year and you may have to remove all the initial flowers to allow the plant to strengthen and produce better harvest the next year.

Early preparations

Let’s quickly look at the essentials for knowing how to grow strawberries:

Place with ample sunlight for good 6-10 hours
Loamy soil with rich organic manure
A soil pH of 5.5-7
Well-drained garden beds like raised beds

Picking the right seeds

This is the first and very important step where you have to decide which variety of strawberry you would like to grow. Choose the right cultivar as per the garden conditions and there you go. At this stage, you must be careful about the fruit aspect as most of the hybrid varieties don’t yield the true fruit but the heirloom seeds and alpine varieties.

It would be good if you pick the seeds of wild alpine open-pollinated or the old heirloom cultivars. The hybrid varieties should be avoided as they are mostly grown from the runners and may give unsatisfactory results.

Cold stratification

Now comes the toughest part that is germinating strawberry seeds. A process that facilitates that is known as Cold Stratification. This is like insuring the seed growth before the fall as it is difficult to sprout them at that time.

We begin with the stratification part where you need to put the seeds packet inside a Ziploc bag or an air-tight jar. Close the contained now and just place it inside the refrigerator. You need to keep them there for about 3-4 weeks or a month.

Some varieties don't have to go through this stage but it won’t cause any side effect if you make them. This mimicking of colder conditions just ensures proper germination. Also, the germination might take even longer up to 6 weeks so be prepared in advance.

Now, remember that you don’t have to directly open the bag once it is out of the cold. Let the temperature settle down to the room conditions while the bag remains sealed. The idea is to not let the condensed air settle on the seeds suddenly.

The calming down will take about a day and then the seeds are ready to go into the soil. Watch this video.

Starting the seeds- when and how

See if you are going to experience the last frost of spring after 10-12 weeks and that is the right time to start the seeds indoors once strawberry seed germination is over.

The seeds are too small so you have to plant them near the soil surface. Be ready with seed starter mix which is moistened and put in the seedling trays. In every cell, put around 3-4 seeds at a gap of around 1 inch at the top itself and tap them over gently to not end up covering them with soil. Spray water over the seeds now and keep them softly moist throughout the germination process.

The process can last anywhere between 1-6 weeks and you have to just wait now with the trays soaking sunlight and the warmth. It is very important to keep the seeds warm so wherever you put the tray, make sure that there is enough sunlight or any other heat source.

You can thin the seedlings if they grow too close and keep the biggest seedling for use. Also, you can shift the growing tiny seedlings to another container that is bigger to accommodate the growth.

Transplanting the seedlings

This is the third stage after strawberry germination is successful and now we move the young plants outside. You must see if the weather is good enough to allow that. By this time, the seedling must be around 2-3 inches tall and this is a call to move them out.

However, it is to remember that the seedlings are still delicate as they have been under-protected indoor conditions. You need to prepare them for the change by exposing them to the hardening process before outdoor planting. When the temperature rises, you start taking the seedlings out every day and then gradually increase the time they spend outdoor until you leave them out for full one night.

Hardening is done to keep the plants safe from sudden damage by the environment change.

You must have a rich soil prepared on a proper garden bed by now. Transplant the young seedlings into the soil bed with a spacing of 8-12 inches depending upon the seed variety. You can transplant the seeds in any handing basket or a container too.

Saving the strawberry seeds

This is a great thing to do if you are keen upon ensuring that every stage of how to grow strawberries process emanates from your end and you can also ensure the continuance of the true fruit production.

You can put 4-5 strawberries with water into a blender and run for around 10 seconds. Strain the mix and throw away the floating seeds. Put the residue into a strainer and drain the liquid to let only the seeds remain.

Now put the seeds over a paper towel and dry them nicely. You can store these in an envelope and then use them accordingly as we discussed above when its time.

Caring of the plants

Here are some quick pointers about the after-care:

Mulch the crop bed to avoid weed and lessen water needs.
Hand weeding is a better idea.
Keep the plants adequately moist always.
Feed the plants with all-purpose granular fertilizers.

Final words

This was all about the guide that we gave you for learning how to grow strawberries using its seeds. You just need to be a little attentive throughout the process which is not that difficult and take proper care of the plants once they start blooming. Be ready for sweet fruits or delicious jam later!

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