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At present, lovers of indoor plant growing are rarely surprising; many exotic fruits and berries are grown on window sills and balconies: citrus fruits, kiwi, figs, bananas and much more. Therefore, strawberries on the windowsill have long been no longer some kind of exotic. Nevertheless, growing this beloved sweet and sour berry with the heady aroma of summer in winter, when there is little sun and heat, and memories of summer warm any soul, is a rather tempting idea. One has only to keep in mind that strawberries, even in the garden, are not among the problem-free berries, and when grown on a windowsill, they will require increased attention all the more.
Choosing the Right Variety
Perhaps many have already tried to tame this delicious berry and settle it at home. Usually they do this: they dig up flowering strawberry bushes or even young, recently rooted plants from the garden and, having transplanted them into pots, take them into the house and try to take care of them like ordinary houseplants. Most often, none of these experiments work out, and confused gardeners decide that home conditions are unsuitable for growing strawberries.
In fact, there are many subtleties, and one of them is that not every strawberry variety is suitable for growing in a room on windowsills.
Although there are other varieties of strawberries, remontant, which are capable of several waves of fruiting during the year. But even with them, not everything is so simple.
Among them are the following varieties:
Long day varieties
These plants are able to lay flower buds only with a long daylight hours, lasting more than 12-14 hours. They usually bring 2-3 crops of strawberries per year: from May to September. Moreover, as a rule, later harvests are characterized by abundance, size of berries and especially sweet taste. True, many of them, unable to withstand such a load, die, and the next season they must be renewed from young plants. Examples of such varieties of strawberries are:
- Garland;
- Crimean remontant;
- Autumn fun, etc.
Varieties of a neutral day
These varieties of strawberries can lay flower buds with a neutral light day. Accordingly, they are able to almost continuously bloom and bear fruit for more than 9 months a year. Moreover, fruiting practically does not depend on the time of year and day. These strawberry varieties also do not live long, after 2-3 years they must be replaced with new plants. It is the strawberry varieties of the neutral day that are most suitable for growing at home. In recent years, many similar varieties of strawberries, both and foreign, have been bred. Examples include:
- Queen Elizabeth 2;
- Tristar;
- Brighton;
- Geneva;
- Miracle of the world;
- Albion;
- Thelma and others
All of these strawberry varieties can be tried at home, although they may have different care requirements.
Alpine strawberry
Finally, there is another group of garden strawberries, which is distinguished primarily by its unpretentiousness. It makes a minimum amount of care requirements – it is enough just to water it regularly and provide it with additional lighting. This is an alpine strawberry or a small-fruited remontant strawberry. The berries of these varieties are much smaller and more reminiscent of ordinary wild strawberries. They also have a high aroma and sweetness. With regular feeding, alpine strawberry bushes are able to bloom and bear fruit for 4-5 years, and only after this period will they require replacement.
And unlike large-fruited varieties of garden strawberries, the seed method of reproduction makes it possible to obtain plants that are as similar as possible to the mother ones. Examples of such varieties are given below:
- Baron Solemacher;
- Alexandria;
- Ali-Baba;
- Rügen and others.
How to get planting material
There are several ways to obtain planting material for growing strawberries on a windowsill.
Buying ready-made seedlings
If you have decided on the most suitable strawberry variety for yourself, then you can buy plants in nurseries or specialized stores. It is better not to buy remontant strawberries in the markets or from random sellers, because there is too much chance of getting a regular variety, moreover, with a low fruiting potential. But if you are confident in the reliability of the seller, then buying ready-made strawberry seedlings is the fastest, easiest and most convenient option for obtaining the necessary planting material, however, and the most expensive.
Own seedling
If you have a suitable remontant strawberry variety growing on your site, then it will be most convenient to get your own seedlings, the quality of which you will be sure of, and you will not have to invest anything in it, except for your efforts.
There are two technologies for getting your own seedlings.
1 method
It is necessary to wait for the period when the mother strawberry bushes begin to grow with rosettes. This usually happens after the first wave of fruiting.
To obtain good, abundantly fruiting seedlings of strawberries, only the very first mustache should be rooted. In the future, their fruit potential is sharply reduced. For rooting, prepare containers with holes (disposable cups or pots), fill them with soil mixture. You can take purchased soil and mix it with sand in a 1: 1 ratio, or you can bring earth from the forest.
Dig the prepared containers with soil carefully into the ground next to the mother strawberry bushes, so that the edges of the pots are visible and direct a suitable outlet from the first mustache into the pot. Pin it with wire. Carry out the same operation with other bushes and sockets according to the amount of strawberry seedlings that you want to get. Water all the pots with soil regularly, not allowing the soil inside to dry out. After about three weeks, the rosettes should be fully rooted – evidence of this will be the new leaves that they form. At this point, the tendrils connecting them to the mother plants will need to be trimmed so as not to weaken the strawberry mother plants. It is very important to continue regular daily watering of young rosettes. It is possible that on especially hot days you will need to water them twice a day.
If buds form on young strawberry bushes, it is better to remove them so that the sockets get as strong as possible before the onset of cold weather. It is better to leave the pots in the ground until the first frost. Before the onset of frost, pots with strawberry seedlings are taken out of the ground and treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. To do this, they are simply immersed in a container with a pink solution for 20 minutes. After that, the water is allowed to drain and the pots with seedlings are placed in a place with a temperature of 0 to + 10 ° C for several days. Only after passing the addiction procedure, strawberry seedlings can be brought into the room and placed on the window.
2 method
Less labor intensive, but strawberry plants spend more time establishing and acclimating.
Just before the frosts, it is necessary to dig up well-rooted and developed young strawberry rosettes, remove all dry and damaged leaves from them, but keep in mind that the plants should have at least three good young leaves. Then processing in potassium permanganate is necessary, as well as in the first case. After that, the strawberry bushes are planted in pots with pre-prepared soil.
You can also use purchased land, or you can bring it from the forest – the main thing is, if possible, do not use garden land, since it can be infected with nematodes. When planting in the soil mixture, you can add a little sand, charcoal and ash. If there is any doubt about the quality of the land mixture, then it would be better to warm it up in the oven or in the oven for disinfection. After warming up, the earth should be treated with a solution of phytosporin in order to “revive” it, that is, to introduce beneficial microorganisms.
After watering, it is advisable to keep strawberry seedlings for some time in cool conditions and only after a few days be placed in room conditions on the southern windows.
Growing seedlings from seeds
As already mentioned, some varieties of remontant strawberries can be quite easily grown from seeds and at the same time get completely identical mother plants.
Seeds are usually purchased from a store or isolated from their berries. The soil for sowing seeds should be very light, loose, air and water permeable. You can buy ready-made soil for seedlings, as well as cook it yourself. To do this, it is best to mix peat, leafy soil and sand or vermiculite in equal proportions. Spread the seeds on the surface of the soil, without deepening or covering them with earth.
The container is closed on top with a film and placed in a warm and bright place. Sprouts may appear in 2-3 weeks. Since they are very small, before the formation of 3-4 leaves, the film should not be removed, but only lifted for daily ventilation. After about a month and a half, strawberry sprouts can be planted in separate containers so that they develop more intensively.
Conditions optimal for fruiting strawberries on the windowsill
Of course, the age of the planting material determines the timing of future fruiting. If you purchase already adult flowering strawberry plants, then the berries can be obtained in a month. When growing seedlings of strawberries from seeds, the first berries in favorable conditions are formed approximately 6 months after germination. Well, when growing your own seedlings obtained from strawberry mother bushes, fruiting is specially postponed in order to allow the bushes to ripen well. In any case, by the New Year it is quite possible to get a harvest of fresh fragrant berries.
What conditions do plants need to create when growing strawberries on a windowsill?
planting container
For a normal and comfortable existence, each strawberry bush needs at least 3 liters of land. From this you need to proceed, choosing a pot for growing it. Moreover, the roots of strawberries are mostly superficial, so it will be better if it is larger in width than in depth. At the bottom of the pot, it is necessary to provide a drainage layer of expanded clay, pebbles or foam plastic with a thickness of at least 3 cm.
Light and temperature
The most important thing when growing strawberries in a room is the right intensity and duration of illumination. Fluorescent lamps or phytolamps must be turned on for at least 12 hours a day. It depends on the amount of light how sweet the berries will be. Indeed, even on the southern window in winter, strawberries will not have enough light for normal life without additional illumination. The room should not be too hot, the temperature should range from +18°C to +25°C.
To do this, during the flowering of strawberries, a soft brush for drawing is carefully drawn over all the flowers.
Watering, feeding and protection
Watering should be regular, but the land should not be waterlogged, as strawberries can get gray rot and other diseases.
Strawberries need top dressing during the flowering period, as well as after each wave of fruiting. You can use both organic fertilizers, such as mullein, bird droppings and humates, as well as special mineral fertilizers for strawberries.
Of insects for strawberries, only aphids and spider mites can be dangerous at room conditions, from which spraying with soapy water and maintaining moderate air humidity helps. You can also use Fitoverm bioinsecticide. And for the prevention of strawberry diseases, it is best to use Fitosporin. It is a biological fungicide, harmless to humans, but quite effective against the main strawberry diseases.
To summarize
Flowering and fruiting strawberries on the windowsill all year round is a very tempting idea, but it must be remembered that even the most prolific varieties need rest. At least two or three months a year, any strawberry should rest. During this period, it is desirable to do without top dressing, although watering should remain regular. The temperature during this time should be maintained at a normal level. Illumination may well be enough natural if the dormant period is timed to coincide with spring or summer.
Thus, getting delicious strawberries on the windowsill at any time of the year is quite a real thing, if you follow all the above recommendations.
