How to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment?

Content

Every year there are more and more people who want to taste their own grown fruits in their home garden. In addition to the usual tomatoes, cucumbers and various greens, you can grow strawberries all year round on the windowsill of the house. In winter, it is especially pleasant to enjoy homemade berries.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

Features of growing on a windowsill

Having decided to grow strawberries on a windowsill, you first need to choose the right planting material. The fact is that indoors it is better to grow varieties that are unpretentious to environmental conditions.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

In addition, a special microclimate must be created in the room where the containers will be located. So that the strawberries do not hurt and grow quickly, you need to set a comfortable temperature in the room. It is equally important to control the level of lighting and humidity throughout the growing season.

Which varieties are suitable for growing on a windowsill

It is necessary to choose planting material very carefully, contrary to common misconception,greenhouse strawberry varieties are not suitable for growing in an apartment... When choosing seedlings of indoor strawberries, you need to pay attention not to the appearance of the plant, but to its characteristics.

Strawberry seedlings, for growing at home on a windowsill, should be renovation, unpretentious to the length of daylight hours and temperature. The ampelous bushes that hang from hanging containers look especially beautiful in the apartment.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

For year-round cultivation of strawberries on a windowsill at home, it is best to choose varieties such as Supreme, Geneva, Queen Elizabeth. The cultivation of the mustache-free variety Home Delicacy, Tristan, Selva, shows good results.

Video: how to grow strawberries (garden strawberries) from seeds on a windowsill

How to plant and grow on a windowsill - features, conditions and step-by-step instructions

To successfully plant and grow strawberries at home on a windowsill, certain rules and conditions must be observed. Let's talk about them in more detail below.

A place

The best place to grow remontant strawberries is a south- or east-facing windowsill.It is possible to grow a culture on the eastern and northern windowsill only under the condition of constant supplementary lighting.

Daylight hours

For rapid growth and ripening of garden strawberries, the duration of daylight hours should be 12-14 hours. If in the summer there is enough sunlight for the bushes, then in the fall and winter, when the light part of the day is very short, strawberries need illuminate with fluorescent lamps. Lighting devices are turned on 2 times a day: from 8 to 11 hours and from 16 to 19 hours.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

Temperature

It is important to maintain the temperature when growing strawberries at home. + 18- + 20 C. If the temperature is a few degrees lower, the plants begin to ache. To prevent such unpleasant consequences, it will be necessary to turn on the heaters in the fall and spring.

Humidity

Strawberries will feel good if the humidity does not exceed 70-75%. In the midst of the heating season, in winter, when the air in the apartment is very dry, bushes sprayed from a spray bottle with settled water at room temperature. However, even in this case, it is worth adhering to the measure: due to the high humidity in strawberries, resistance to fungal diseases decreases.

What container to plant

Suitable for planting bush seedlings small pots. Ampel species feel great in hanging pots. Seedlings, which have formed 5-6 leaves, are planted in a 3 liter pot. The seeds are planted in small cups, and as soon as they release the first pair of leaves, they are transplanted into spacious permanent containers.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

You can also plant plants in long boxes with a volume of 10-15 liters... When landing in such containers the distance between the bushes must be at least 20 cm... Regardless of the size, there should be holes in the bottom of the planting container for excess water to drain.

What kind of soil (substrate)

You can buy potting potting soil at a specialist store or make your own. Suitable for indoor strawberries any substrate intended for growing vegetables and flowers.

To prepare the soil with your own hands, coniferous earth, sand and humus are mixed in equal parts in a container. Also, strawberries grow well in a substrate of peat and vermicompost.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

The main condition that should be met when preparing the substrate isthe potting mix should be airy and slightly damp. At the end of the preparation of the substrate, phosphorus fertilizers are introduced into it.

Important! It is highly undesirable to use soil from the garden for planting strawberry seedlings at home: it can be infected with nematodes and other dangerous larvae. If there is no other option, you need to check it before using the garden soil, and then spill it with a low-concentrated solution of potassium permanganate. You can start planting bushes a week after disinfection.

Preparation of planting material

Experienced gardeners recommend growing strawberries at home on a windowsill with seedlings, since growing seedlings from seeds on their own is quite a long and troublesome business. Planting material can be purchased in nurseries or taken from your site, if there are remontant varieties.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

The preparation of strawberry seedlings for planting at home is carried out as follows:

  1. From the available sockets, only the the largest and healthiest.
  2. Planting material separated from the mother plant and planted in a pot.
  3. To give the strawberries a dormant period, the container is placed in a cool place for 14 days - basement or cellar.

Direct landing

Since strawberries do not like stagnant water and compacted soil, pebbles, expanded clay, small pieces of slate or brick are covered at the bottom of the pot before planting.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

Saplings strawberries are planted at home like this:

  1. A drainage layer and a little substrate are poured into the pot.
  2. The rhizome is dipped in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for a few minutes.
  3. Plants are placed in a pot and the roots are spread. The root must be full-grown in the pot.The rhizome must be shortened if the tip has to be strongly bent during planting.
  4. In order for the cut bushes to recover faster, they are immersed in a weak solution of heteroauxin for 3-4 hours. To prepare the mixture, a crushed tablet of the drug is dissolved in 5 liters of water.
  5. They fill up the missing soil to the point of growth and crush it a little.
  6. To improve the survival rate, the bushes are moderately watered with a solution of heteroauxin

You can use seeds to grow strawberries at home on a windowsill. Despite the fact that the harvest will have to wait longer than when planting seedlings, this does not scare off gardeners who do not see their life without their favorite business.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

In order for the seeds to sprout together, they need to be hardened. The planting material is laid out on a damp cloth, then it is folded in half and placed in a bag. The bookmark is then sent to the top of the refrigerator for 30 days.

The sequence of planting strawberries at home on the windowsill seeds:

  1. A shallow box is covered with prepared soil for most of it and slightly moistened.
  2. Keeping a distance, the seeds are laid out in rows.
  3. The planting material is sprinkled with a thin layer of soil.
  4. The seedling container is covered with polyethylene or glass and placed in a warm place.
  5. As soon as the seedlings germinate, the shelters are gradually removed, and the container is placed on a light windowsill.
  6. Plants with a pair of real leaves are transplanted into a spacious pot.

The optimal time for planting strawberry seedlings in an apartment is early spring or the period from August 15 to September 20.

Video: how to care for and grow strawberries at home in a pot

How to care after planting and before harvest

Watering. For watering strawberries, like other indoor plants, use only settled water at room temperature. In order not to wait for the chlorine to settle to the bottom of the container, water can be passed through a filter.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

Adhering to the technology of cultivating strawberries at home on the windowsill, the soil in the containers is moistened 2 times a week. It is best to moisturize the soil in the afternoon. After watering, the soil in the planting container is loosened.

Important! Despite the fact that the growth of strawberries after the next moistening is activated, it is impossible to get carried away with watering. Overflowing plants is fraught with the appearance of rot on the roots and fungal diseases. Stagnant water is especially dangerous for bushes.

Top dressing. It is recommended to feed indoor strawberries once every 14 days. As fertilizer, you can use conventional houseplant feed or special strawberry nutrient mixtures. Top dressing is applied in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. They begin to be brought in after the 5th leaf appears on the bush.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

If you do not want to use industrial mixtures, you can prepare food for indoor strawberries yourself according to this recipe:

  1. A 3-liter jar is covered by a third of crushed eggshells.
  2. Then 1 glass of ash is poured and the jar is filled to the top with slightly warmed water.
  3. At the end of 5 days of infusion, the solution is filtered.
  4. Before making the top dressing is diluted with water 1: 3.

You can also fertilize strawberries on the windowsill with weak solutions. mullein, chicken droppings.

Note! It is impossible to overfeed strawberries with fertilizers: a large amount of nutrients stimulates the active growth of leaves and has a bad effect on the setting and formation of fruits.

During fruiting, the bushes need a lot of iron. According to the reviews of experienced gardeners, in order to enrich the soil with a chemical element, a rusty nail must be driven into the pot a few centimeters. Admirers of the use of commercial mixtures spray the plantings with solutions containing iron compounds.

After harvesting, the bushes are rarely fed or not fed at all.

Pruning. Many will be surprised, but strawberries need to be pruned in order to increase yields. How to prune strawberries grown at home on a windowsill?

  1. On seedlings grown from seeds, the first few flowers are plucked. It is not necessary to cut off the flower stalks on strawberries, divorced from seedlings.
  2. If further expansion of indoor plantings is not planned, and it is not necessary to replace adult bushes, the antennae must be cut off. Also, cropping is recommended when there is a lack of lighting. As a result of shearing, the plants will not be wasted on the formation of unnecessary outlets, but will direct all the nutrients to the fruits.

Pollination. In order for berries to set after flowering, the strawberries need to be pollinated. There are several ways to artificially pollinate at home:

  1. By the blossoming flowers one by one holding a paintbrush throughout the entire flowering period.how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment
  2. A fan is directed at the plants. Under the flow of air, pollen from one flower is transferred to another and the strawberries are pollinated.

Video: growing strawberries in winter

Diseases and pests

During fruiting, strawberries are affected gray rot and spider mites. To get rid of the worst enemies of sweet berries, plantings are sprayed garlic tincture. To prepare a solution, 2 vegetable slices are crushed and 100 ml of water is poured. The mixture, infused for 2 hours, is filtered, poured into a spray bottle and the plants are treated.

Terms of germination and harvesting

Strawberry seeds planted in an apartment sprout for a rather long time: the first seedlings make their way to the surface 20-30 days after sowing.

Repaired strawberries, grown at home on a windowsill, bloom in 30-35 days, and ripe berries begin to be picked 60-65 days after planting.

Video: strawberries on the windowsill in winter

The year-round cultivation of remontant strawberries on the windowsill is an exciting activity that does not require so much time and effort. All troubles and difficulties will pay off a hundredfold with ecologically clean and tasty fruits.

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

Additional 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

To date, strawberries have become one of the fashionable cultures of the windowsill. However, often, once in the house, it stops blooming, and then completely fades, thereby greatly upsetting its owners. What's this? Just cheating? Strawberries can't survive in a room? Or are there secrets that allow a delicious berry to delight with its fruits all year round, even in an apartment? Let's figure it out.

Potted strawberries

Strawberry varieties for growing on the window at home

Firstly, what flower shops offer as strawberries for a window is often an unsuitable option for our climatic conditions. So, for example, large-fruited strawberry Albion. Its appearance is simply impressive: large green leaves, giant mouth-watering berries ... However, this variety absolutely does not tolerate either high temperatures, or cold weather, or lack of moisture, or the slightest excess of it. Therefore, it can be grown only in greenhouse conditions, which cannot be created on the windowsill. So what do you do?

Experienced gardeners recommend not buying beautiful strawberry bushes that attract with their berries from the windows of flower shops, but taking into the house proven remontant varieties intended for the area in which you live.They are not demanding on the length of daylight hours, they have the potential for year-round fruiting, and the ampelous options also hang beautifully from the suspended pots, delighting with their exotic appearance.

Strawberry, grade "Queen Elizabeth 2"

However, if you are at a loss in making your own choice, take a look at the variety “Homemade delicacy”, “Geneva”, “Queen Elizabeth”. According to the reviews of lovers of window beds, they work best on the windowsill. Some recommend growing strawberries from seeds, but here it is worth thinking carefully, since this process is quite troublesome, takes a lot of time and requires careful adherence to agricultural practices.

Soil for strawberries at home

If you have decided on the variety, start preparing the soil in which your strawberry will be planted. For many, the simplest solution is to buy a ready-made universal soil mixture in the store. But you can prepare the substrate yourself. To do this, in equal proportions, it is necessary to mix humus, sand and earth from ephedra. You should not go the simplest way - take land from the garden. Usually it does not have sufficient friability, and is often infected with diseases, which leads to the rapid death of plants.

Preparation and selection of strawberries for the windowsill

If you decide to plant seedlings taken from your garden in pots, do not rush to plant them. Select beautiful full-fledged sockets, without signs of disease, dig them into a small flowerpot and place them in a cold, dark place for two weeks, providing the strawberries with a dormant period. If you want to plant young bushes from layering, then remember that the largest number of flower buds is laid in the sockets formed from the second and fourth tendril buds (the first and third remain dormant in case of damage to the layering). And the further, the less the plant has the potential to yield.

Planting strawberries in a pot

Since strawberries do not like stagnant water, the first thing to start planting with is drainage. At the bottom of the pot, with a volume of at least 3 liters per bush, it is necessary to lay out expanded clay, broken brick or pebbles, into which the remnants of excess water will drain. Then, view the seedlings prepared in advance for the length of the roots. If the root system is too long, it must be shortened. The planted root should fit freely in the pot, without bending in the hole.

After the strawberry is planted, it is watered. Some flower growers and gardeners recommend using growth stimulants when watering, but experience shows that this culture has excellent survival rate without them.

Potted strawberries

Home strawberry care

In order for the strawberries planted in pots to feel good, they must be placed in the sunniest windows. Usually these are windowsills of the southern and southeastern location.

In winter, it is good to organize illumination with daytime lamps for plants to provide 12 hours of full illumination. Maintain temperature around 20 ° C.

Water, feed and spray regularly. Moreover, it is necessary to spray not only with settled water, but also with preparations containing iron, since it is this element, accumulating in the sockets, provokes the greatest laying of the crop.

Strawberries in a flower box

From ovary to berry

If done correctly, the first crop will appear in two months. However, even here you cannot leave a strawberry unattended. Unripe berries like to infect spider mites. To destroy the pest, you need to make a tincture of garlic (soak 2 chopped cloves in 100 g of water for 2 hours) and spray the plants.

In addition, many remontant varieties are very fond of giving a mustache, of course you can leave them, for decorative purposes, however, if your goal is berries, then it is better to immediately break out the appearing antennae or cut off with scissors, since they very much pull off nutrients from the mother plant , thereby significantly underestimating the yield.

That's all the tricky advice on how to harvest strawberries on the window. Observing them, you will not only collect ripe berries throughout the year, but also admire your strawberry bushes, since what could be more beautiful than a combination of greenery, white unpretentious flowers and bright berry lights ?!

We are looking forward to the onset of May to enjoy 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 strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

Backlight

Option 2

This method is much simpler and less laborious.

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

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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).

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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

What conditions need to 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 in this case we will not see flowering (and harvest).

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 strongly, and the outlet has become cramped in a small glass. This is what the plant looks like before transplanting:

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

... and so - after:

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

Deformation of the berry with insufficient pollination

Do you need feeding strawberries?

Like any plant, garden strawberries need nutrition. Under natural conditions, plants get 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 in itself, 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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

First harvest Here are our first berries:

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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.

how to grow strawberries on a windowsill in an apartment

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!

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