Strawberries from seeds: growing seedlings with video

Growing berries from seeds is a laborious task, but it also has advantages: seeds, unlike seedlings, can be stored for a long time, they are not affected by diseases. Seeds can be prepared independently from ripened berries or purchased ready-made. And already in the middle of winter, you can start planting so that seedlings are ready in the spring. In order for it to grow sustainable and healthy, you need to know how to grow strawberries from seeds.

What varieties to use

Not all strawberry varieties are suitable for using their seeds in seedlings. To achieve a high yield of strawberries, cultivation is carried out from the material of special plant varieties. The optimal ones are:

1. Mutofavorit. Landing takes place in the first half of winter. This variety has an average ripening period, has large berries – up to 100-120 grams.
2. Gourmand. Strawberries of this variety ripen early, when planting, you need to take into account that the variety bears fruit better in the southern regions. Seeds are planted at the beginning of winter, and seedlings – in April. In May, you can harvest the first harvest.
3. Sakhalin strawberry. Universal variety, planting can be carried out at any time from December to January. From summer until the first frost, you can harvest.
4. Bogota. The variety has large berries, it begins to bear fruit late. To grow strawberries from seeds of this variety, they are planted at the end of January, and seedlings – in the spring.

Seed harvesting

First you need to choose the right berries for harvesting seeds for planting. We remove the berries from a healthy bush, not damaged by diseases, not having dry leaves, with strong stems. We extract the seed from the center of the berry and near the stalk. Such seeds are the most developed, have a high degree of germination. From the berry, cut off the top layer of the skin with seeds.

We spread it with the seeds up on a clean napkin that absorbs the juice. When the pulp of the strawberry dries, it will be possible to separate the seed from the pulp. After, carefully select the seeds and put them in a tightly closed transparent container. Thus, the resulting material can be stored for about 4 years. Growing seedlings of strawberries from seeds is possible only from quality materials that are stored properly.

Planting Seeds

You can plant strawberries from the beginning of winter until April. Seeds before planting in the ground, it is desirable to soak in a solution of any growth stimulant. Planting strawberries with seeds from already germinated seeds will increase germination. We place a container with moistened seeds on the window, the temperature should be about 15 ° C. After 3 days, you can start laying in the prepared soil.

In order to grow healthy and high-quality strawberries from seeds, the planting container must be disinfected with a solution of “potassium permanganate”. Expanded clay or gravel is usually used as drainage.

Seedlings will hatch in 20-35 days. The seed must be kept in a humid and warm atmosphere. Growing seedlings in this way requires careful watering: you can use a pipette or a small spoon.

What should be the soil

Before planting strawberries with seeds, take care to prepare the soil for seed germination. It is better to use a mixture of compost and garden soil for this purpose in a 1: 1 ratio. Add 10th part of wood ash. To grow seedlings, it is not necessary to use too fertile land. You can even use any soil mixed with sand.

It is advisable to ignite such drainage in the oven so that all pests die. The finished substrate is also suitable for planting strawberry seeds. As dishes, you can use special silicone molds or food bags – kefir milk. Ready-made forms have holes in the bottom, so be sure to make the same in homemade food bags.

Planting technique

At the bottom of the container intended for planting, pour a layer of drainage about 2-3 centimeters thick. From above we pour out a mixture of earth and ash or ready-made soil. The earth needs to be lightly tamped and watered abundantly. Sprouted strawberry seeds need to be filtered, choosing only the healthiest and strongest. Seeds are placed in the prepared beards, carefully grabbing them from the molds with tweezers. We leave a distance between the shoots of about 2 centimeters. If many varieties were used in cultivation, label each groove.

Seeds can be planted directly into the soil on the site. Since planting takes place in winter, we lay out a layer of snow 1-2 centimeters thick in the container, and lay the hatched seed directly on it. From above, you can pour the earth in a thin layer so that the top layer does not freeze.

You can plant shoots using agrofibre. We lay it on the soil, lay the corners in small holes, pour soil around the entire perimeter. We plant the seedlings sprouted from the seed with small cuts in the fiber, pushing the roots there. We push the roots into the recess directly under the film, we fall asleep with earth. Sprinkle a layer of compost on top and water thoroughly. Large incisions should not be made: weeds can begin to grow from there.

Large seedlings obtained by growing from seeds should not be planted under a film. Be sure to feed the plant with fertilizer, and in large quantities. Once the strawberries start growing, it will not be easy to fertilize. Therefore, we use 2-3 buckets for each meter of compost film when planting. You can plant seedlings on a straw mattress.

For this we use pea straw. After harvesting the peas, we leave the tops in the soil, burying it a little in the top layer. Next, saturate the earth with nitrogenous fertilizers. After 2-3 weeks, seedlings can be dug in. An important condition is the observance of the distance between the growths – about 40 centimeters. The aisles do not loosen, leaving them tightly packed.

Further Care

The main component of care is high-quality and timely watering. Watering strawberries also needs to be done according to the rules:

• if the seedlings are in a silicone form, water an hour before planting in the ground;
• if the shoot was grown in a peat tablet, we lower it into the water for 30 seconds before planting;
• if the roots of the shoots are open, you need to soak them in the HB-10 solution for 101 hours, diluting them according to the instructions.

Watering young bushes is best done not at the very root, but with a sprayer. We water until there is a small puddle under the bush, that is, abundantly. Until the seedlings take root, water every 3-5 days. After rooting, depending on the weather, we water once a week. The roots of the grown seedlings need to be cut: we leave them 1 centimeters long.

If the seedling is in a container, you can plant it throughout the summer. The best fertilizer for berries will be a mixture of potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. You can purchase ready-made fertilizers designed specifically for strawberries. Fertilizers diluted with water are applied under the root system, avoiding contact with leaves and flowers. Dry top dressing has proven itself well: 15 grams of the mixture is poured into the loosened topsoil, mixed and again covered with earth.

A bed with plants needs constant loosening. This will saturate the roots with oxygen. Weeds must be removed in a timely manner so that they do not clog the bushes. It is impossible to grow large berries if the plant is clogged with weeds.trellis. It should be borne in mind that the fruits are very tender, so they should not be allowed to overripe on the bushes.

Advice to gardeners The construction material can be plastic, metal or wood. The final choice will depend on the characteristics of the crop being grown: the greater the mass of foliage and fruits, the more durable the support frame should be.

Instead of wire, ordinary reinforced twine is quite suitable for work. If the dacha plantation of berries is rather modest in size, then the wire can be replaced with metal rods, thin wooden slats, or even pieces of reinforcement. Everything that is at hand will come in handy for making raspberry trellises.

Video “Growing strawberries from seeds”

Video with tips on growing strawberries from seed. How to do it, what are the nuances of growing strawberries in this way.