Can strawberries be grown at home?

Ripe, juicy, amazingly tasty strawberries on the table, while a blizzard is sweeping outside the window - this is a real luxury! In the middle of winter, not every supermarket can find fresh berries, and if you can find them, their cost will be prohibitively high.

Create favorable conditions for growing berries

But after all, someone grows mouth-watering strawberries at home on the windowsill, some enterprising gardeners even benefit from this activity, turning the cultivation of berries at home into a profitable business. Breeding strawberries at home - myth or reality, accessible to anyone?

Now there are various methods of how to grow strawberries in an apartment of any size. You can effectively use the free space in your home by planting strawberry seedlings in plastic bags filled with substrate, or growing bushes with berries in traditional flower pots and boxes. It all depends on the purpose for which you plan to grow strawberries at home, and how much space you can allocate for this.

Opt for remontant strawberries that bear fruit multiple times

What do strawberries need for normal ripening? Room temperature, good ventilation and suitable soil. These conditions are easy to fulfill, because the apartments are warm at any time of the year (and if there are problems with heating, you can always buy an additional heating device), air circulation can be provided using a window, a special inexpensive substrate can be purchased in the store. This means that you can also start growing strawberries at home, if you take into account the most important points:

• Opt for remontant strawberries that bear fruit multiple times. The most popular varieties: Yellow Miracle, Queen Elizabeth, Mount Everest.
• When growing strawberries from seeds, purchased seeds should be placed in the refrigerator for 4 weeks, wrapped in a damp cloth and placed in a plastic bag - then the hardened seeds, when planted in the ground, will give friendly shoots within a week.
• Prepare a spacious pot with a good drainage layer for seedlings, as strawberries like frequent, abundant watering, but they cannot tolerate stagnant water.
• It is recommended to plant strawberry seedlings at home in prepared soil either in the fall from August 15 to September 20, or in early spring.
• Since this berry is afraid of the cold, do not keep it on the balcony, and protect it from frost.
• From time to time, do potassium-phosphorus fertilizing, and to form the ovaries, treat the plants with a special preparation "Ovary".

Ideal for growing homemade strawberries - southern, well-lit windows

The ideal option for growing homemade strawberries is the southern, well-lit windows. If there is a lack of sunlight, plant growth may slow down and the taste of the berries will deteriorate. However, you can create artificial lighting for your strawberry plantation using fluorescent lamps. Strawberries will begin to bloom and bear fruit earlier with a long daylight hours, and the quality of the berries will increase significantly. Therefore, if you are concerned about how to grow strawberries at home in the shortest possible time, provide the plants with a continuous day of light for about 14 hours.

Video about strawberries in January

How to pollinate strawberries at home?

Since strawberries at home are devoid of natural pollination, you will have to provide plants with artificial pollination during the flowering period, which can last several weeks. To produce artificial pollination flower stalks on strawberries at home, you can in two ways:

• direct a fan in the morning towards the peduncles (under the influence of the wind, strawberries are pollinated in the open field);
• pollinate each flower by hand, brushing it daily with a soft paint brush.

As you can see, growing strawberries at home is affordable even for inexperienced gardeners and does not require significant financial costs. Difficulties can arise only with pollination, especially if you decide to breed extensive berry plantations, because it is not so easy to brush every small flower every day, and with a fan, successful pollination is difficult to guarantee.

Video on how to get strawberries in January

However, you shouldn't give up! Try, plant seedlings, take good care of them - strawberries at home can bring several harvests a year, delighting you and your loved ones with ripe berries in late autumn and frosty winter.

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We are looking forward to the onset of May to feast on the most delicious, perhaps, berry -

strawberries

... It has already become customary for us to receive harvests from spring to late autumn, but sometimes we really want to taste the sweetness of our favorite berry on a cold winter day!

How to grow garden strawberries at home Alternatively, you can, of course, purchase a pack of strawberries for the price of gold in a supermarket. But the doubts that this berry will be useful are very large - the thought of the presence of chemistry that our body does not need at all leaves less doubt. I suggest another option: grow garden strawberries by the window and give yourself and your children a piece of summer in the middle of winter.

Is it possible to harvest garden strawberries in the room?

In this case, I really like the saying, which I am often grateful to in my life: "If you really want to, you can fly into space." So with a strong desire, guided by these recommendations, you can get wonderful sweet berries at any time of the year.

This requires:

• high-quality live (not frigo!) seedlings of varieties of neutral daylight hours (hereinafter NSD), which we get from the first row of whiskers;
• lamps (better phytolamps) for supplementary lighting of plants;
• place on the windowsill;
• This article.

How to “move” strawberries from the garden to the house?

In any case, you should start preparing seedlings for home growing long before the onset of winter.

Option 1

1. When the strawberry bushes form a mustache, fill a container with a drainage hole (for example, a disposable glass or a soft plastic pot) with earth and sand in a 1: 1 ratio.
2. We dig it in level with the ground (but so that the edges of the container rise slightly), direct the first outlet into the container, pin it with an ordinary hairpin or wire bent in the form of a hairpin, and water it constantly. The earth should never dry up, otherwise the plant will quickly die.
3. After 3 weeks, when the young plant has taken root, we cut it off from the mother liquor and continue to water. At this point, watering is even more important; he should be at least once a day, it is better in the evening, and on hot sunny days, you can water it 2 times - in the morning and in the evening.
4. As soon as buds are formed on the plant, they must remove so that the outlet gains maximum strength. 
5. Cups with seedlings we we leave in the ground before the onset of the first frost, and as soon as it froze, we take them out of the ground, fill the resulting holes with earth and slightly compact them.
6. We completely immerse the containers with plants in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes, let the water drain, and bring them into a room with a temperature not higher than + 10 ° C for 2-3 days. Then we bring the sockets into the room and put to the south window. 
7. Additional lighting is required, since the length of the day is too short. The plant will need additional lighting from 6-7 in the morning until 19-20 in the evening, that is, the daylight hours for the plant should be 13-14 hours. For this we use a phytolamp.

Backlight

Option 2

This method is much simpler and less laborious.

1. Before the onset of frost, we dig out rooted young rosettes, remove substandard foliage (that is, leaves that are mechanically damaged, old ones), but so that the plant must have 2-3 true young leaves.

Left: garden strawberry seedling. Right: aging in potassium permanganate 2. Next, we keep the seedling in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate) and plant in a container with ready-made soil mixture purchased at a flower shop and mixed with sand in a ratio of 2: 1.

Why a purchased soil mixture? This is more reliable: the garden soil must be heated in the oven to destroy pests and pathogens, and the finished soil is sterile (of course, if we talk about high-quality purchased soil).

Planting strawberries 3. It is very important when planting not to deepen the heart (apical bud), which is located in the center of the rosette, otherwise the plant will simply rot.

Heart 4. Water the seedlings and bring them into the room, but for the first few days do not put them on the sunny south window, but set them in more benign conditions (north, east). After 3-5 days, we rearrange it to the south. Just as in option 1, we must use additional lighting.

Which strawberry varieties are suitable for home growing?

Experimental practice, which I described earlier in my article, has shown that the NSD ‘Albion’ and ‘Aisha’ varieties are the easiest to care for and the most resistant to diseases in indoor conditions.

The ‘Albion’ variety I told you more about these and other varieties of garden strawberries in this article.

What conditions must be created for plants to grow and bear fruit at home?

1. Lighting

As I already said, we need a phytolamp for daily supplementary lighting for 13-14 hours a day. If we neglect this point, then a well leafy plant will grow, but we will not see flowering (and harvest) in this case.

Why phytolamp? You can, of course, supplement the illumination with an ordinary fluorescent lamp, but the plants in this case will be weaker. Article Choosing a phytolamp for seedlings

2. Temperature conditions

The temperature on the windowsill should be at least + 20 ° С. It is on the windowsillrather than in the room. If the temperature is not observed, then our plants can weaken and get sick with fungal diseases.

3. Watering

It is important to choose the watering mode so that so that the earthy ball does not dry out, but in any case do not allow stagnation of water.

4. Mandatory transshipment of plants

In 25-30 days after "relocation" to the house, the plants need to be transplanted into a large container (1 liter in volume), since the root system has already developed greatly, and the outlet has become cramped in a small glass. This is what the plant looks like before transplanting:

... and so - after:

Plant transplanted into a large container

5. Artificial pollination of flowers

Pollination is an important condition for the formation of the ovary and the development of a full-fledged berry. We make it by hand using an ordinary soft brush.

Pollination If this procedure is neglected or not performed well enough, we will get deformed berries:

Deformation of the berry with insufficient pollination

Do you need feeding strawberries?

Like any plant, garden strawberries need nutrition. Under natural conditions, plants receive it from the ground in which plant residues have rotted. In a room, in a limited amount of soil, strawberries do not have such an opportunity, therefore, feeding should be taken care of without fail.

1. We apply the first top dressing ("Strawberry" or other complex fertilizer for garden strawberries) at half dose (100 grams of solution during watering), when did the first buds appear. 
2. We carry out the next feeding after the first berries have been removed, with the same fertilizer at the same dosage.

Do not be embarrassed and worried that the berry will accumulate nitrates or other harmful elements, since this fertilizer will go to the plant itself, and not to the berry.

When to expect the first harvest?

Experience shows that in winter in indoor conditions the period from planting to flowering is 30-35 days, and the first berries ripen in 30-35 days from the beginning of flowering. It turns out that from the moment of planting to the ripening of the berries, an average of about 65 days pass.

First harvest Here are our first berries:

Home harvest of ‘Albion’ strawberries

What is indoor strawberry sick with and how to treat it?

If we adhered to all the recommended planting rules, and the houseplants in the house are not affected by pests, then the strawberries are not in danger of suffering from them. But besides pests, there are no less dangerous fungal diseases - such as powdery mildew, for example.

Why might problems arise? The air in the room during the heating period is dry and warm, and we, knowing that it is unhealthy, begin to increase the humidity. This is correct for us, but for garden strawberries, which are not blown by the wind at home, but is under the influence of cold from window glass, high humidity can cause powdery mildew. This is a white fungal bloom on the leaves, stems, and then the berry.

For the prevention of the disease, you can use the drug Fitosporin, which is safe for humans. We spray the plants with it once a week. Of course, white traces form on the leaves, but the plant will be reliably protected.

Garden strawberries It is not difficult to grow garden strawberries on the window, the main thing is to want very much! Good luck and excellent harvests!

Every second gardener or just a lover of home plants wants to grow not only a beautiful, but also a useful plant. And almost every housewife will not mind strawberries being such a crop. This is beautiful too - the flowering plant emits a pleasant aroma, has a beautiful appearance, and you can get healthy and tasty berries all year round.

General concept of remontant strawberries

In order to enjoy delicious berries all year round, you need to know what species and varieties are required for reproduction. We have already written in detail about what remontability is.

Homemade strawberries all year round is quite possible if everything is organized correctly.

Experienced gardeners use for similar purposes exclusively remontant varieties, however, you should know which varieties are capable of bearing fruit continuously, and which ones - only two harvests.

Can strawberries be grown on a windowsill?

The answer is yes!

Remontant crops differ from the usual species not only in that they are able to bear fruit several times during the warm season, but also in the duration of daylight hours.Ordinary crops, as a rule, are characterized by ripening with a short daylight hours, that is, they ripen even in the dark, if the temperature allows.

Strawberries have bloomed on the windowsill, we are waiting for the first berries.

Differences in varieties

Repaired crops are divided into maturation of long daylight hours and neutral daylight hours - DSD and NSD.

DSD repairmen are able to develop and lay buds only in the presence of long-term illumination - yield twice a season... At the same time, as a rule, the second crop is distinguished by larger fruits and a higher overall level of yield. However, in this case, this species does not differ in particular endurance, as a result of which many bushes die after the season - dries up.

NSD repairmen are characterized by stronger endurance, fruiting is characterized by continuity, does not depend on the length of daylight hours... If favorable conditions are created, they are able to give a high level of yield for about ten months in a row. If grown at room temperature, with sufficient light, the weather and climate are not affected either.

Classification of varieties

If you decide to grow strawberries on the windowsill, you should ask the store what kind of seedlings they are, what are they called.

Decorative strawberry variety "Tristan".

Large-fruited strawberry "Brighton".

Repaired early ripening variety "Roman".

The main popular names of NSD remontants:

• Queen Elizabeth;
• Queen Elizabeth II;
• F1 novel;
• Tristar;
• Brighton.

Queen Elizabeth

Periodic yield.

It is believed that Queen Elizabeth refers to a species of long daylight maturing, however, many gardeners still prefer to grow it in an apartment due to the large size of berries and high taste..

The main advantages of the variety:

• ease of grooming;
• large whisker formation for breeding;
• the size of the berries is 50 grams;
• beautiful flower stalks - nice decor on the window;
• pleasant aroma;
• long-term storage in fresh and processed form.

In most cases, the first Elizabeth is grown in the house by those owners who are satisfied with such a period of strawberry productivity due to employment... The rest of the varieties are bright representatives of their species, they are distinguished by regular fruiting, pleasant aroma, beautiful peduncles, and a high level of endurance.

Rules for planting strawberries at home

When choosing a variety, it should be borne in mind that the plant will live in the selected container for about three years, since frequent transplantation is harmful to the crop - it reduces immunity and productivity, and lengthens the adaptation period.

In order not to transplant strawberries once again, you need to immediately choose a larger pot.

In addition, adult seedlings may well die due to the fact that they are not able to adapt to new conditions as much as possible.

For one bush, you can use a container with a volume of no more than three liters.... The flowerpot should be wide and medium in height - at least twenty centimeters. Balcony boxes can be used for group planting. Depending on the size of the box, the number of seedlings is calculated. If the approximate volume of the container is from ten to fifteen liters - four bushes, the distance between them is twenty-five centimeters.

Tank preparation

The seedling container must be properly prepared.

Drainage holes in the bottom of the pot.

Expanded clay or pebbles at the bottom of the container.

Loose and nutritious soil.

• At the bottom of the pot or box, holes should be cut out for the drain of excess water, and the bottom of the container should be filled with a drainage mixture - expanded clay, pebbles, broken brick or pebbles.
• As a substrate, you can use a universal ready-made mixture from a store, which is used for indoor plants.
• But it is also permissible to use a mixture prepared by yourself - forest land, humus, humus, peat, sand.
• The dose is selected on the basis of two parts to one part.

Planting a seedling

We keep the rhizome in potassium permanganate.

We place the seedling in the pot.

We add fertile soil.

Checking the location of the heart.

Top dressing

Top dressing is applied several times during the entire active period - before flowering, during flowering, during fruiting.

• It is recommended to feed approximately once every fourteen days..
• The frequency and amount of dressings will depend on the condition of the seedlings, the stage of development, and the season.

It should be remembered that there is a so-called "dead period" when the plant rests - it does not bloom, does not bear fruit, does not throw away its stepsons. At this time, all the functions of the culture freeze - the plant thus rests - you can not make any dressings and fertilizers... Can be used monofertilizer, or you can - a complex consisting of several substances.

Growing algorithm

Landing begins, as a rule, in July.

Around the second week after transplanting the seedlings, new leaves should appear.

This is due to the adaptation period - so that the seedlings can adapt to the winter, and show the result in the spring. It is planted in a voluminous pot, can be placed on the balcony, on the sunny side - on the south or southeast side of the balcony.

The appearance of the results - the first additional leaves - is expected on the eleventh day... If young leaves appear, the plant is firmly rooted and took root. In this case, the old leaves gradually die off and crumble. On the thirtieth day, the first ear of flower stalks can be expected to emerge, which should be removed in order for the second flowering to yield better results.

Peduncles

Approximately thirty-seventh day - flower stalks open.

The first flowers appear on the bushes planted more than a month ago.

Several disclosures appear first - roughly from two to four inflorescences... The duration of flowering varies within three days, then the petals crumble and the first fruits are tied.

The conditional end of flowering, if the strawberry belongs to the period of a long day of ripening, falls on approximately fifty-second days after planting.

Helping flowers to pollinate.

The first berries

At the same time, the first berries increased in size, and the peduncles bloom and fade in turn.

It is necessary to monitor the stems due to the fact that the first berries are extremely large - the stems may break.

To prevent such a phenomenon, a fabric roller or foam rubber can be placed under the stems. And you should also remember about systematic watering as needed. The first sample of ripe berries usually occurs on the sixty-first day, if all the measures of correct agricultural technology are followed.

Deformed berries appear with insufficient pollination of peduncles.

Fruiting all year round

For winter fruiting, strawberries need additional lighting, as a result of which the length of the day will increase to about twelve hours.

Extra lighting for homemade strawberries.

The temperature regime is maintained at the level twenty degrees centigrade... If the DSD variety is used for indoor cultivation, it is worth remembering that the duration of the active productivity of this species is two or three years.

If a decision is made to grow NSD remontants, you need to be prepared for the fact that a decline in productivity may occur in a year, and then you will need to carry out a new planting and breeding of young seedlings.

Video on how to plant strawberries from seeds at home

Everyone knows such a berry as strawberry, growing at home this juicy, sweet and aromatic berry will allow you to enjoy its taste almost all year round.When deciding how to grow strawberries from seeds at home, they usually do it from seeds, since it is not always possible to find seedlings.

What you need to grow strawberries at home

Growing strawberries on a windowsill is a task that any person can do, while some people not only eat these berries themselves in winter, but also benefit from this activity also financially. Consider what is the cultivation of strawberries at home. And is it realistic to do this in an apartment?

Modern technologies already allow you to grow strawberries at home and you can do this all year round, while you do not need to have a personal plot, you can do this in any apartment, so fresh strawberries on the windowsill is a reality that anyone can bring to life.

Strawberries can be grown at home, for example, in plastic bags, which are filled with a substrate, but if you do not have enough space for this, then growing strawberries all year round at home can be carried out in ordinary flower pots, which are placed on the windowsill. Everything will depend on the purpose for which strawberry cultivation is carried out at home, do it only for yourself or want to make it your own business, and a lot will also depend on how much space you can allocate to grow strawberries in your apartment.

To increase the area, you can not only grow strawberries in the apartment, but also on the balcony, so you can get much more harvest. If strawberries are grown at home on the balcony in winter, then it is necessary that it be heated, so it can be grown throughout the year.

What conditions need to be created for favorable growth

When deciding how to grow strawberries at home, certain conditions must be created for it:

• suitable soil,
• temperature,
• air humidity.

If you are growing strawberries at home, then it is not difficult to create such conditions in an apartment. There are usually no problems with heating in an apartment, if there is not enough heat, you can buy a heater, there will also be no problems with lighting, and you can make the substrate yourself or buy a ready-made one, it is not difficult to ensure air circulation, therefore it is quite an achievable task to grow strawberries on the windowsill.

When deciding how to grow strawberries at home in order to get good yields, the following conditions must be observed:

1. It is necessary to choose remontant varieties, since they bear fruit several times a year, and you can get good strawberry yields at home.
2. If you decide to grow strawberries from seeds at home, then they must be kept in the refrigerator for a month before planting. The seeds are placed in a damp cloth and then in a bag. Seeds hardened in this way will give friendly strawberry shoots at home within a week after planting.
3. The pot in which the seedlings are planted should be spacious and well-drained. Strawberries at home, as well as in natural conditions, like good watering, but poorly tolerate stagnant moisture.
4. If you are growing strawberries at home, and do it on an unheated balcony, then keep in mind that she is afraid of the cold and must be protected from it.
5. In order for strawberries to give good yields at home, it must be periodically fed with potassium-phosphorus fertilizers, and in order for the ovary to form, treated with special preparations, for example, Ovary or similar.

If you have just started looking for an answer to the question of how to grow strawberries at home, then keep in mind that it is better to do this on windows that face south. There will be the maximum amount of light and heat, so strawberries will grow and bear fruit normally at home.

If you grow this plant in winter, then there will be little natural light, so strawberries at home should be additionally illuminated with fluorescent lamps. In order for the strawberries to develop normally, and the berries to be sweet and juicy, daylight hours should be about 14 hours.

Growing seedlings from seeds

Home strawberries are usually grown from seed, with no difference in growing strawberries or strawberries. Usually, growing strawberries from seeds is carried out in small containers, it is convenient when they have a lid. If sown in containers, then after a while the seedlings are dived and transplanted into separate containers, but you can immediately plant them in separate containers or peat tablets.

If you decide to grow strawberries for seedlings and do not want to highlight them additionally, then this should be done not earlier than March. If you want the strawberries to be at home earlier, then you can sow seeds in January-February, but so that the seedlings do not die, it is necessary to organize its additional highlighting.

Repaired varieties have the best germination, while those of large-fruited varieties are worse.

To speed up the germination of seeds, they must be soaked, for this, the seeds are placed on a cotton pad, moistened with water and covered with another disc, everything is placed in a transparent container, in the lid of which there should be holes. The container is placed in a warm place for 2 days, and then in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. Care must be taken to ensure that the tampons do not dry out.

Before planting strawberries, you need to properly prepare the soil for it, which should be light and crumbly. You can take land from the garden and add sand to it, forest land is better. Young shoots of strawberries are very vulnerable, and in order to protect them from the development of diseases, the earth is heated in the oven for 20-30 minutes.

It is impossible to immediately plant in such soil, it must stand for 2-3 weeks for beneficial bacteria to appear in it.

How to grow strawberries at home (video)

Different sowing methods

Home strawberries can be grown in several ways.

Can be sown in a container, for this, it is filled with prepared earth, it is well moistened and the seeds that they took from the refrigerator are carefully laid out on the surface. It is enough to press them a little, you do not need to cover them with earth, they germinate so well.

The container is covered with a lid and placed in a warm place, but not in bright light. In order not to disturb the microclimate, the lid should often not be lifted. When the seedlings have three leaves, they must be dived and planted in separate cups, the size of which must be at least 5x5 cm.

Make sure to drain well so that the moisture in the cups does not stagnate. It is impossible to plant seedlings deeply, the heart with leaves should be above the soil.

You can use the option when seeds are sown in peat tablets, but it is better to plant sprouted seeds in them. In order for them to germinate, after you take the seeds out of the refrigerator, they are placed in a warm place and wait until the sprouts appear.

The tablets are placed in a tray with water so that they absorb it, and then germinated seeds are placed in small depressions. Now everything is covered with foil and put in a humid and warm place.

Regardless of the method of growing the seedlings, after germination, they do not need to be exposed to light immediately; it is necessary to open the lid gradually so that they get used to the new conditions.

If you plan to plant seedlings in open ground, then in April you need to start hardening them, for this they are taken out into the open air. Seedlings can be planted in open soil only in late May and early June, when there is no longer a danger of night frosts.

To make the bush powerful and healthy, it is recommended to cut off the first flowers, this will allow it to root normally, overgrow with leaves and you will get a good harvest next year.

How to pollinate strawberries at home

If you decide to grow strawberries in an apartment, then keep in mind that there are no conditions for natural pollination, therefore, during flowering, and this period lasts about 2 weeks, you will need to artificially pollinate the plants.At home, this can be done as follows: every morning a fan is directed at the flowers, and pollination will take place with the help of air, as is the case in the open field, but this method is not very effective. You can take a small brush and pollinate each flower separately, so the probability of pollination is higher, you can get good yields. Brush pollination is suitable for small plantations.

As you can see, there is nothing difficult in growing strawberries in an apartment, even novice gardeners can afford it. If a woman has grown strawberries at home, then she will not only be able to feed the whole family with this sweet and healthy berry, but will also get a lot of pleasure from doing what she loves.

Correct planting of strawberries (video)