Can strawberries be grown at home?

Every year there are more and more people who want to taste self-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.

Features of growing on a windowsill

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

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.

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 followed. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 trimmed 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. 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 grow strawberries at home on a windowsill using seeds.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.

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.

Adhering to the technology of cultivating strawberries at home on a windowsill, the soil in 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.

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.
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 the 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.

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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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.

Ornamental 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 the type of long daylight hours of maturation, 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 large 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 appear, which should be removed in order for the second flowering to bring 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 about 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

Some hobby gardeners are wondering how to grow strawberries from seeds, which generally requires certain knowledge, without which you will never get a harvest.

In today's article, we will give the information necessary for growing strawberries from seeds, which will be useful to both beginners and experienced gardeners who decide to test their skills in a new path.

When is the best time to grow, sowing dates

Planting strawberry seeds is best in late February or early March. Some gardeners plant seeds at the end of December, which is important for areas with colder climates. Planting seeds at these times will allow the seedlings to grow strong enough for further transplantation into open ground.

Moreover, if you plan to be in a suburban area all summer, you can plant strawberry seeds in May or June, but in this case, planting seedlings in open ground will take place in the hot summer months, which will require additional care in the form of timely shading and more frequent glaze.

We do not recommend planting strawberry seeds at a later date, since the seedlings will have to be overexposed at home until next season, which is not suitable for all people.

Selection and processing of planting material

Having dealt with the timing of planting seeds at home, you should proceed to the direct selection of these very seeds.

In order to make the right choice, check out the list of the following points:

1. Before purchasing seeds, check with the seller if it is possible to grow them in the conditions of your site (type of soil on your site). The overwhelming number of strawberry varieties grow well and develop in soils of any type, but there are exceptions, which you need to find out about before the direct planting of seeds of a dubious variety;
2. Choose varieties that best suit the climatic conditions in your area. In addition, there are varieties that are resistant to certain diseases, but have a smaller yield, as well as varieties with a larger yield, but are susceptible to disease. Based on this, you should choose exactly the variety of strawberries that is right for you in these matters;
3. Decide in which position you will be growing strawberries. Modern varieties have both horizontally and vertically growing specimens;
4. Decide on the final taste of the berry itself, which can be sweet, tart, sour, as well as banana and pineapple flavors.

The most popular strawberry varieties in the conditions of the CIS countries are the following samples:

1. Gigantella;
2. Masha;
3. Victoria;
4. Gum;
5. Anapolis;
6. Camarose;
7. Regina;
8. Fragora.

Strawberry seeds should be purchased in flower shops, or from trusted breeders of this culture. Often, the seeds from such suppliers are of high quality, as well as good germination. All damaged, underdeveloped and abnormal-looking specimens should be weeded out prior to planting.

We do not recommend using seeds from store-bought strawberries for food, as there is no reliable information as to which variety or hybrid it is, whether it will suit your growing conditions, and whether its seeds will bear fruit.

Having decided on the criteria for choosing seeds, you should talk about their direct preparation, which consists in observing the following points:

1. To improve and accelerate germination, seeds should be soaked in melt or rain water for 2-3 days.
2. The soaked seeds are laid out on a damp cloth and placed in a plastic bag. The package is placed in a warm and bright place, while not allowing direct sunlight, and remains there until the seeds sprout. Check the fabric periodically and dampen it.
3. If desired, before soaking the seeds, they can be treated with phytosporin, which will protect them from possible fungal and bacterial invasions that may occur when planting in open ground.
4. Seeds are germinated at a temperature of + 27-30 degrees. Seedlings are kept at a temperature of + 25-27 degrees.

The use of growth activators in the germination of strawberry seeds is not relevant, since the culture is distinguished by good germination.

For experienced gardeners, seeds can be germinated by the stratification method, when the container with the sown seeds is moistened, covered with cellophane, and placed in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks, then in a warm and bright place, which stimulates them to active growth, and the formation of the strongest seedlings.

Choice of capacity

It is best to plant sprouted strawberry seeds in plastic or wooden boxes, from 50 cm long and 30 cm wide. Also, seeds can be planted in ordinary containers and cups, like seedlings of other plants, but this is important in cases where 2- 3 bushes of this berry, for indoor cultivation.

We advise you to use the black plastic crates that sell fruits and vegetables at major grocery stores. A plastic film is placed on the bottom of such a box, in which drainage holes are made. The box with the film is placed on a pallet, in which excess liquid will accumulate.

As for the container for planting already sprouted seedlings, here you can use ordinary containers for flowers, as well as deeper plastic cups, but this applies only to those seedlings that will later be transplanted into open ground.

If you plan to grow strawberries using the hydroponic method, special cardboard boxes will be an excellent purchase, which ensure the maximum planting density of this berry, and the ability to collect as large a crop as possible, from the smallest possible area.

Soil preparation

The overwhelming majority of strawberry varieties are unpretentious to the soil.

Despite this, in order to improve the growth rate, development, and overall fruiting, it is recommended to prepare the soil in accordance with the following points:

1. Take 1 piece of turf land.
2. Take 1 part peat.
3. Take 1 part clean coarse river sand.
4. Mix everything until smooth.
5. Put the mass in the stove for 30 minutes, and ignite it at a temperature of +150 degrees in order to destroy all microbes and fungal spores.

You can also sow seeds and grow grown seedlings in soils purchased at a flower shop, for which a fruit and berry soil mixture would be an excellent option.

General rules for sowing seeds

Regardless of which way you grow strawberries, there are general rules for planting seeds, which are listed below:

1. To obtain maximum germination, strawberry seeds should be planted in a warm room, the temperature of which does not fall below +25 degrees.
2. Sprouted seeds are planted in a container with soil, to a depth of no more than 1 cm.
3. Sowing seeds in the soil, which was previously calcined in the oven (relevant for soil taken from nature).
4. Seeds whose seedlings will dive into open ground should be treated with phytosporin, which will protect the root system and sprouts from infection by fungi and bacteria in the first months of growth.
5. It is better to use the seeds of hybrid species, since they are most focused on seed propagation.
6. Sow the germinated seeds, which will greatly increase their germination and significantly reduce the germination time.
7. Seeds can be stratified at will (not recommended for beginners).

Instruction for sowing in a container

Sprouted seeds are most often planted in containers or boxes.

For proper planting of seeds in these containers, adhere to the following points:

1. Take the desired container, the height of which will be at least 10 cm.
2. Treat the container with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, or wipe it with a cloth dampened with alcohol. Dry the container well.
3. Place a plastic bag on the bottom of the container, and punch holes through both the bag and the container itself. In general, if the container is plastic, you can do without cellophane, but if it is wooden, in order to avoid rotting of the bottom, we recommend using a film.
4. Pour the previously prepared soil mixture into the container, the layer thickness of which should be about 7-8 cm.
5. Lightly compact the soil layer and moisten it with a spray bottle.
6. Take the sprouted seeds with tweezers and place them in a container, on top of the moistened soil.
7. Lightly press the seeds against the soil, but do not deepen, and cover them with a layer of soil, the thickness of which should not exceed 5-10 mm. If you are planting seeds that have not sprouted, they should not be covered at all. Non-germinated seeds should be lightly pressed into the soil and left to germinate in a bright and warm place. Place seeds 2.4 cm apart.
8. Place the container in a bright and warm place, periodically spraying the soil with a spray bottle. If you sowed seeds that have not sprouted, you can cover the container with foil before the first sprouts appear. If the seeds were viable, just moisten the soil in time, keeping it moist.

Instructions for sowing in peat tablets

Sowing seeds in peat tablets should be carried out in accordance with the following points:

1. Purchase peat tablets at a flower shop that are approximately 2.4 cm in size.
2. Fill the peat tablets with melted or rain water and let them infuse for a period of 2 days.
3. After the peat tablets have grown in size, place them on a pallet or in a plastic box.
4. In each of the tablets, make a small indentation, and place one seed there, lightly pressing it into the tablet.
5. After all the seeds have settled on the peat tablets, the container is covered with a plastic bag and placed on the windowsill.
6. Spray the peat tablets with a spray bottle periodically to keep them from drying out.
7. After the shoots appear, the film must be removed.
8. Keep the seedlings on the tablets until the first roots appear through it.

Remember, sowing seeds in peat tablets can be done without first germinating them. Otherwise, the peat tablets will have to be left open, which will complicate the process of moistening them.

Picking

If you grow seedlings on peat tablets, after the first roots begin to appear through them, transplant them into a separate container (pots, boxes, cups), observing the distance between the shoots of 3-4 cm.In the case of growing in cups, for each cup plant 1 sprout. Seedlings are planted in a container with soil, the recipe for which we discussed in the middle of the article.

The picking of seedlings into open ground is carried out when it has at least 5 leaves. If you grow seedlings in the traditional way, initially using a container with soil, after the seedlings have 2-3 leaves, transplant them into larger and deeper containers, where they will grow until 5 leaves appear, and then also pick them open priming.

It is necessary to dive strawberry seedlings into prepared beds, located in 2 rows, and having a distance of 30 cm between them.The depth of the beds should be equal to the depth of the container in which the seedlings grew, for example, the glass has a depth of 15 cm, respectively, the bed should have a similar depth, + -1 cm.

Carefully transfer the sprout into the prepared beds, along with the earthen cake on the root system. Cover the planted seedling with earth so that the surface of the seedling soil is not covered with new soil.

After planting the seedlings, water each seedling with 0.5 liters of water diluted with an organic stimulant such as AgriTecno Fertilizantes. After fertilizing the seedlings, the soil around them should be mulched with humus. The mulch layer should not exceed 1 cm.

Remember, if your beds are in direct sunlight, the first few days they should be shaded in the middle of the day, so that the sprouts will smoothly adapt to the new growing area.

Follow-up care

Subsequent care for transplanted seedlings into open ground is reduced to observing the following points:

1. Water regularly, every 2-3 days, depending on weather conditions.
2. Slightly loosen the surface of the soil after watering, preventing it from compacting and settling.
3. Remove weeds.
4. Treat with insecticide if necessary.

As for fertilizers, they are applied only after the first harvest. The best fertilizer for strawberries is considered to be 2 tablespoons of chicken manure, diluted in 10 liters of water. Melon fertilizer is completely natural, and the berries processed with it will be absolutely safe for human consumption.

As the winter season approaches, at the end of September, the bushes are covered with a thin layer of humus, the thickness of which does not exceed 1 cm. The beds are insulated with straw, fallen leaves or sawdust.If there are strong autumn showers in your area, or there is a heavy wind, you can additionally cover the strawberry bushes with a plastic bag, with holes previously made in it for air circulation.

Conclusion

Based on the information in this article, it becomes clear that almost every beginner can germinate, grow and care for strawberry seeds at home, with the desire and hard work. Remember, you can sow and plant strawberries in almost any climatic zone of the CIS countries, which makes it an excellent purchase for any summer resident and gardener!