Is it possible to grow strawberries from seeds? Seedling harvesting technologies

Growing berries from seeds is a laborious task, but it also has advantages: seeds, unlike seedlings, can be stored for a long time, diseases do not affect them. Seeds can be prepared independently from ripe berries or purchased ready-made. And already in the middle of winter, you can start planting so that the seedlings are ready in the spring. 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 seedling production. To achieve a high yield of strawberries, cultivation is carried out from the material of special plant varieties. The following can be considered optimal:

1. Mutofavorite. Planting takes place in the first half of winter. This variety is of medium ripening, has large berries - up to 100-120 grams.
2. Gourmet. Strawberries of this variety ripen early; when planting, it must be borne in mind that the variety bears fruit better in the southern regions. Seeds are planted in early winter and seedlings in April. The first crop can be harvested in May.
3. Sakhalin strawberry. A versatile 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 and starts bearing fruit late. To grow strawberries from the seeds of this variety, they are planted at the end of January, and seedlings in the spring.

Seed preparation

First, you need to select the right berries for harvesting seeds for planting. We remove the berries from a healthy bush, not damaged by diseases, without 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. Cut off the top layer of the skin with seeds from the berry.

We spread it with seeds on top of a clean napkin that absorbs the juice. When the strawberry pulp is dry, you can separate the seed from the pulp. After that, 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 strawberry seedlings from seeds is possible only from quality materials that are properly stored.

Seed planting

You can plant strawberries from the beginning of winter to April. Before planting seeds in the ground, it is advisable to soak in a solution of any growth stimulator. Planting strawberries with seeds from already germinated seeds will increase germination. Place the 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.

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 are usually used as drainage.

Seedlings will hatch in 20-35 days. The seed should 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 of preparing the soil for the seeds to germinate. It is better to use a mixture of compost and garden soil in a 1: 1 ratio for this purpose. Add 10 parts wood ash. To grow seedlings, it is not necessary to use too fertile land. You can even use any earth mixed with sand.

It is advisable to bake such drainage in the oven so that all pests will die.The finished substrate is also suitable for planting strawberry seeds. As utensils, you can use special silicone molds or food bags - milk kefir. Pre-made molds have holes in the bottom, so don't forget to make the same in your homemade food bags.

Planting technique

At the bottom of the container intended for planting, we pour a layer of drainage with a thickness of about 2-3 centimeters. Pour a mixture of earth and ash or ready-made soil on top. The earth needs to be lightly tamped and watered abundantly. Sprouted strawberry seeds should be filtered, choosing only the healthiest and strongest ones. Seeds are placed in the prepared barbs, gently grabbing them from the molds with tweezers. We leave the distance between the shoots of about 2 centimeters. If there are many varieties used in growing, sign each groove.

The seeds can be planted directly into the soil at the site. Since the planting takes place in winter, we spread a layer of snow 1-2 centimeters thick in a container, we spread the hatched seed directly on it. You can pour a thin layer of earth on top 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 seedlings sprouting from the seed with small cuts in the fiber, pushing the roots into it. We push the roots into the groove directly under the film, cover with earth. Pour a layer of compost on top and water abundantly. Large cuts should not be made: weeds can begin to grow from there.

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

For this we use pea straw. After collecting the peas, we leave the tops in the soil, burying it a little in the top layer. Further, the soil is impregnated with nitrogenous fertilizers. After 2-3 weeks, you can dig in seedlings. An important condition is the observance of the distance between the heights - about 40 centimeters. The row spacing is not loosened, leaving them tightly compacted.

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

It is better to water young bushes not at the very root, but with the help of a sprayer. 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 it once a week. The roots of the grown seedlings need to be cut: we leave them 10 centimeters long.

If the seedlings are in a container, you can plant them throughout the summer. The best fertilizer for the berry will be a mixture of potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. You can buy 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.

The plant bed 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. 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 material for the manufacture of the structure can be both plastic and metal or wood. The final choice will depend on the characteristics of the cultivated crop: 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 summer cottage plantation of berries is quite 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 be useful for making raspberry trellises.

Video "Growing strawberries from seeds"

A video with tips for growing strawberries from seeds. How to do it, what are the nuances of growing strawberries in this way.