How to grow strawberries from seeds at home for seedlings for beginners

Usually, strawberries are propagated by seedling, acquiring it in a garden center or planting your own. Experienced gardeners have long learned to breed it with seeds. How to grow strawberries from seeds in order to get strong, he althy seedlings? More on this later.

Advantages and disadvantages

At first, it will seem to a beginner that propagating strawberries with seeds is a difficult task. But, having gained experience, the gardener will understand that this method has more positive aspects than negative ones. Benefits include:

• opportunity to grow a large number of seedlings;
• low seed cost;
• opportunity to choose any variety you like;
• no diseases (with proper seedling cultivation).

Disadvantages include:

• inability to propagate hybrid varieties grown by seedling method on their plot;
• Labor-intensive method.

Having mastered the technology of growing strawberries with seeds at home, the gardener will no longer be able to refuse this method of plant propagation.

Which varieties to choose

Strawberries vary in size, taste, ripening time. When choosing a variety for cultivation, the gardener focuses on these qualities, as well as on its resistance to pests and diseases. Most Popular Varieties:

• Sarian F1;
• Queen Elizabeth;
• Gigantella;
• Regina;
• Masha;
• Marshmallow;
• Diamond;
• Moscow delicacy F1.

Advice! In order not to be disappointed as a result of planting, seeds must be purchased from flower shops, and not from random people.

How to grow strawberries from seed

Having chosen the variety you like, start planting. It should be borne in mind that seeds cannot be collected from a berry purchased on the market or in a store, for the reason that if it turns out to be a hybrid, then the gardener will never wait for seedlings.

Sowing dates

In the northern regions, seeds are planted in March, in the southern regions, sowing can be done as early as late January or early February. The gardener regulates planting individually, depending on the climatic region, as well as on the precocity of the variety.It is impossible to be late with crops, as strawberries may not have time to take root in the area.

Capacity selection

You can plant strawberry seeds in any container, the most popular of them are as follows:

1. Plastic cassettes sold at garden centers. One seed is planted in each branch. They already have holes for draining water.
2. Small wooden boxes.
3. Plastic or paper cups. They are convenient for sowing, but they are put in large boxes during transportation.
4. Peat pots. Seedlings can be planted without taking them out. In the soil, they decompose, which serves as additional nutrition for strawberries.
5. Various packaging from pies, cakes, cookies. They need to make holes to drain excess water.

Gardener chooses containers depending on their capabilities. Whichever container is chosen, drainage holes must be made in it. Stagnation of moisture is detrimental to the root system: it can be affected by a fungus.

Soil preparation

The development of seedlings largely depends on the quality of the soil. If, for example, there are fungal spores in it, the seedlings will be subject to diseases. In poor-quality soil, seedlings will not be strong and friendly. For sowing seeds, you can take the soil from the garden, but you need to add soddy soil (2 parts), peat (1 part), sand (1 part) to it. All components are mixed, a little wood ash is added.

A ready-made substrate can be purchased at a flower shop. All-purpose soil is good because it contains all the nutrients that seeds need to grow.

Whatever substrate is chosen, it must be disinfected. There are several methods of the procedure: calcining in an oven at a low temperature, freezing, processing it with biological preparations.

General rules for sowing seeds

Regardless of the choice of capacity for planting, it is necessary to adhere to the general rules for sowing:

1. Seeds are pre-aged for 8-10 weeks at low temperatures (eg refrigerated).
2. Before sowing, the seeds are treated with antifungal drugs.
3. The soil is pre-disinfected.
4. The seed is planted to a depth of no more than 0.5 centimeters.
5. Containers with seeds are placed in a warm room with an air temperature of 23-25 ° C.

It is better to choose seeds of hybrid varieties for sowing, since they are intended for seed sowing. If they are sown pre-germinated, it will shorten the germination time.

How to sow in a container

Instructions on how to plant seeds step by step:

1. A container is selected, the optimal height of which is 10 centimeters.
2. The container is treated with a solution of potassium permanganate or alcohol, after which it is well dried.
3. If the container is cardboard or wooden, a film is laid on the bottom, on which holes are made with a sharp object to drain the water. The film will prevent soaking and rotting of the bottom.
4. Drainage from expanded clay or small pebbles is laid in a small layer.
5. The prepared substrate is poured on top.
6. Tamp the soil, irrigate with water from a spray bottle.
7. Place sprouted seeds on top.
8. Fill soil with a layer of 0.5 cm. If ungerminated seeds are planted, they do not fall asleep. They only need to be slightly pressed into the ground.
9. Cover the container with foil (sprouted seeds are not covered).

The container is placed in a warm place. It needs to be aired every day. The soil should be kept moist but not wet. Instructions for sowing seeds in a separate pot for beginners are similar. The only difference is that one seed fits into each cup. The sowing procedure is simple, it can be carried out even in an apartment, and in the spring, plant young seedlings in the country.

Peat tablet sowing technique

Sowing is done as follows:

• tablets are filled with warm, settled water;
• after swelling, excess moisture is squeezed out;
• a recess is made on top, a seed is placed in it, which is then slightly pressed;
• tablets are placed in a shallow container, which is covered with a film;
• the container is placed on a light, warm windowsill.

Just like in the previous case, the container is ventilated every day. As needed, the tablets are sprayed with water from a spray bottle. If the gardener will sow the seeds germinated, then the container should not be covered with foil.

Seedling care and picking

Without daily inspection and care, seedlings will not fully germinate and develop.

Temperature conditions

In the first days, containers with crops are kept at a temperature of 25 ° C on a bright windowsill. The film cannot be removed, since tender and small shoots can be scorched by the sun. After germination, the temperature can be slightly reduced, but the lighting should be increased, otherwise the sprouts will stretch.

Irrigation

Water the seeds carefully. If they are watered from dishes, they can go deep into the ground.Therefore, it is necessary to moisten the earth only from a spray gun with a fine spray. For grown seeds, you can use a medical syringe, from which young plants are sprayed to the very root. Water should be warm and settled.

Pay attention! Even a single drying of the soil is detrimental to seedlings.

Lighting

Lighting should be bright, but without direct sunlight on the delicate leaves. The midday sun can scorch the sprouts, so the seedling boxes are shaded during this period. If the windows are located in a poorly lit part of the room, then the seedlings must be illuminated with artificial lamps.

Protection from diseases and pests

It is more difficult to treat diseases than to prevent them. To prevent fungal diseases, plants must provide the following conditions:

• seeds are treated with antifungal drugs before planting;
• waterlogging of seedlings is not allowed: watering is done after the topsoil has dried;
• sufficient distance must be maintained between young plants for ventilation.

Biological and folk remedies are used for the prevention of diseases, including the treatment of plants with solutions of potassium permanganate, iodine, boric acid. If fungal diseases are detected, strawberry bushes are sprayed with Fitosporin solution. Heavily affected plants must be removed so that they do not infect the rest of the seedlings. When bushes are affected by pests, it is sprayed with insecticides.

Picking

After the appearance of 2-3 true leaves, the seedlings must be transplanted into a larger container or into separate pots or cups.Individually planted plants will experience less stress when they are planted in the ground, as they retain their root system. Holes are made in the cups to drain the water, soil is poured, seedlings are placed, watered.

When transplanting into boxes, seedlings are taken with tweezers and planted together with a clod of earth. Twisted roots must be carefully separated. The plants are still very tender, so picking is done very carefully. When the bushes have 5-6 leaves, they can be transplanted outdoors, provided that the threat of frost has disappeared.

Further care is no different from caring for seedling-grown strawberries. Timely watering, loosening and fertilizing the soil, protecting plants from diseases and pests will provide the gardener with a bountiful harvest. When growing several varieties of strawberries with different ripening periods, you can enjoy a delicious berry for a long time.

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