To engage in the cultivation of strawberry seedlings from seeds is a rather difficult, but fascinating affair. You can achieve the result only if you follow all the important rules. So you can get a fruiting flowering plant that will delight you with delicious berries.
Varieties of seeds of remontant strawberries
For many years, strawberries migrated from ordinary gardens to the windowsills and loggias of ordinary apartments. Often at home they are engaged in the cultivation of remontant strawberries, which are often called strawberries.
Reccentricity - This is the ability of a plant to bloom and bear fruit several times during the vegetative period. So you can harvest from the beginning of summer until late autumn (until the first frost).
Today, there are a large number of repairing varieties of strawberries on sale, so you can choose any, based on your taste preferences. It could be:
- large remontant strawberry hybrid (Scarlet Light, Sweet Tooth, Summer Droplet, etc.);
- “Beardless” early ripe variety (Marmalade, Alexandrina, Baron Solemacher, etc.);
- wild strawberries with berries of unusual color (hybrid - Golden dessert, varieties - Snow White, Pineapple, etc.).
It is believed that a white variety of strawberries does not cause allergies, therefore, this berry is given even to small children. Moreover, the vitamin composition is very similar to wild forest berries.
It is recommended to purchase seeds in proven agricultural companies. There is another option - collecting seeds from the fruits of their beds, but only after free pollination between several varieties will it be possible to obtain a hybrid plant with special qualities.
How to collect seeds and prepare the soil for seedlings?
It is possible to collect seeds of remontant strawberries exclusively from varietal bushes, and not from hybrid plants, since this is the only way to preserve the maternal qualities of strawberries. You should follow this pattern:
- Choose a ripe berry, removing it from a productive bush. It must be fully consistent with the variety.
- Remove the top layer of peel with seeds using a sharp knife. Arrange on a plate, waiting for complete drying.
- Putting a plate is best in a sunny place with good ventilation - this will allow the berry to dry quickly, not to rot.
- After a couple of days, you can collect the seeds, and leave the pulp lying in a bowl.
Seeds of large remontant strawberries on a saucer
Seedlings of remontant strawberries are grown at home, but in extremely rare cases they are done in the garden. Shoots appear very small and at the same time tender, because in the open ground they can easily die.
It is recommended to use ready-made universal soil with neutral pH for strawberry seedlings, which can be purchased at a specialized store. Usually it does not contain pathogenic microflora, and the composition of such soil is quite acceptable for growing berries.
For independent soil preparation, the following components should be mixed:
- 0.5 kg of turf land;
- 0.25 kg of sand;
- 0.25 kg of peat.
It’s good to add a little biohumus and wood ash to this composition. After mixing, the soil is sent to an oven preheated to 100 degrees and heated for 2-3 hours. This is necessary to destroy weed seeds and insect larvae. Such soil should then be left for 3 weeks, adding beneficial bacteria to it, using the Radiance or Baikal EM1 preparation.
Sowing seeds for seedlings and their germination
Strawberry seeds can be characterized by the fact that they sprout “tight”. On bags manufacturers indicate the germination period - up to 1 month. To accelerate this process, you can pre-soak, stratify or sparge the seeds. What to choose is up to you.
Seed stratification
Stratification It is a process of prolonged aging of seeds at low temperature in a humid environment. This helps to accelerate their germination, since in nature the seeds first go through a period of sleep, and only then they shoot. Stratification is carried out in February.
Seeds are sown on the surface of moist soil, and at the same time they are not sprinkled on top of the ground (you can not even sprinkle a little, otherwise the seeds will not sprout). After that, cover the container with film and put it on the shelf in the refrigerator.
Many gardeners prefer a different way of stratifying the seeds of remontant strawberries:
- They fill the container for seedlings with soil, slightly compact it and slightly moisturize.
- Top cover the soil with a centimeter layer of snow, crush it a little.
- Seeds are sown superficially (directly on the snow).
- Close the container with plastic wrap and send to the refrigerator shelf (temperature should be + 2 ÷ 3 degrees).
- When the snow begins to melt, the seeds will go deeper into the soil. Additionally, they do not need to be sprinkled with earth.
The container can be kept at a temperature of + 2 ÷ 5 degrees for a minimum of 14 days. Then you need to transfer the sowing to a warm place. Usually after this, shoots appear amicably.
Pre-soaking seeds
Seeds of repair strawberries collected or purchased at the store must be soaked in cold melt water for 72 hours. Be sure to change the water twice a day. During this period, the seeds swell, after which they need to be spread on a plate on wet paper towels, wrapped in a plastic bag or covered with glass, and sent to a warm place, not forgetting to ensure that the towels do not become dry. After the seeds hatch and the first true leaves appear, the plant should be planted in special peat pots.
Bubbling Seeds
Sparging is another way to increase seed germination. This is a process that requires seeds to be in warm water with air. To do this, lower the tube from the aquarium compressor into a liter jar of warm melt water. Place the seeds in a gauze bag or immediately pour them into a jar.
Then you need to turn on the compressor for 48 hours. It is very important that the water temperature is 25 degrees. After this procedure, you need to slightly dry the seeds and sow them.
How to sow seeds in boxes?
It is possible to sow strawberries both in peat tablets and in boxes. How is the sowing process:
- Take low boxes, fill them with prepared soil and compact.
- Sow seeds to the surface of the soil. Do not fill the seeds with soil!
- Spray the seeds with a spray gun.
- Cover the drawers with foil.
- If before this the seeds have not been stratified, you need to send the box to the refrigerator for 14-21 days. If the seeds have previously undergone "cold" processing, you need to put the boxes in a warm place.
When to plant remontant strawberries and how to care for them later?
Remontant strawberries grown from seeds need at least 5 months to bear fruit, therefore it must be sown in February. Strawberries love sunny places or partial shade. The optimum soil temperature for the cultivation of remontant strawberries is + 20-25 degrees. If there are no favorable conditions, then it is better to plant wild strawberries in March or April.
Boxes with planted plants are kept in a warm place. Seeds can sprout in the dark and in the light. It is necessary to check and ventilate the greenhouses at least once a day, eliminating drops of condensate from the film. Depending on the seed producer and pre-treatment, seedlings may appear in a month or a little earlier.
As for the care of seedlings, after the appearance of the first seedlings, the boxes should be moved to a well-lit place. It is undesirable to remove the film so far, because young shoots can die in a couple of hours due to too dry air in the room. Therefore, it is recommended to use trays with transparent covers. Water the seedlings with a spray gun, and you can already a little more abundantly.
How to pick a seedling?
For the first time, it is advisable to dive seedlings after the appearance of the first few real leaves. A week before this, it is necessary to make the seedlings accustomed to indoor conditions and life without shelter. To do this, slightly open the lid of the greenhouse first for several minutes, and then increase not only the time, but also the crack. So gradually you need to come to the removal of the cover. It is imperative to monitor the soil: it should not dry out, this will cause the death of plants.
When the seeds sprout, then the first two cotyledon leaves appear. As they develop, real leaves appear, and the cotyledons fall away. This period is called the “phase of 1-2 real leaves”. On seed packages it is often written that seedlings can be dived for the first time precisely in this phase.
Transplanted seedlings into individual pots with a volume of 200-250 ml. It is better to take universal soil, but be sure to add 500 ml of biohumus to it per 10 l of substrate.
What to do next:
- Before picking, you need to water the box with seedlings well.
- Pull out each seedling using a thin stick (e.g. a toothpick).
- Long roots need to be pinched so that the plant can form a powerful root system.
- Take a pot of prepared soil. In the soil, make a small deepening, after which place the roots of strawberries in it so that they do not bend up. The core of the plant should be above the ground.
- Pour the planted plants with 20 ml of water and put in a bright place, protected from the scorching rays of the sun.
The first days after a pick, you need to carefully monitor the seedlings. With dryness and intense heat in the room, it is important to spray the leaves using warm water.
2 weeks after the pick, you need to start feeding the plant. During this period, often seedlings are actively growing, therefore it is recommended to use fertilizers that include nitrogen. Liquid, dry and water-soluble mineral fertilizers are suitable for these purposes. It is necessary to fertilize the soil once a week.
How to plant seedlings in open ground?
90-120 days after germination (i.e. when the first 6 true leaves appear), seedlings can be planted in open ground. This must be done from mid-May or after the temperature reaches 20 degrees during the day and at least 15 degrees at night. Before planting, you must do hardening seedlings. Therefore, it is necessary to take it out into the fresh air daily for 7 days, gradually increasing the time - from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours, and more.
If there is absolutely no time for this, you can put strawberry seedlings in a greenhouse or greenhouse. It is important that the plants harden, especially those that grow without sunlight. When planting a pre-hardened plant on the garden, this can lead to the fact that the leaves are simply charred under the bright sun.
Seedling Transplant Technology:
- It is good to water the seedlings before planting in open ground.
- On the prepared bed, make holes, keeping a distance of 15-20 cm between plants and 25-30 cm in rows of honey.
- Remove the seedlings from the pot. When twisting the roots into a spiral, they should be carefully straightened, and too long - trimmed.
- Put an earth ball with roots in the hole so that the core is at ground level.
- To crush and water the earth around wild strawberries.
Mulch a garden plant with chopped straw - this is necessary in order to avoid the rapid evaporation of moisture and to preserve the crop from death.
In autumn, you can transfer the repair strawberries back to the house, replanting it in spacious boxes. But this type of wild strawberry is able to bear fruit right up to the first frosts, and then again next year to give a crop.
Proper care
The main care for wild strawberries before planting in open ground is the process of observing watering, fertilizing and spraying. You must adhere to certain rules:
- Occasionally, seedlings need to be sprayed with water from a spray bottle to maintain optimal humidity.
- It is undesirable to loosen seedlings, since strawberries have a superficial root system - so it can be damaged.
- It is necessary to water the plant carefully - the earthen lump should not be dry, but also too wet. It is necessary to pay attention to the condition of the soil. For example, seedlings that stand on the south window (under the sun) will dry much more often than the seedlings that stand under the phytolamps in the back of the room.
For the successful cultivation of remontant strawberries, one should not neglect the stratification of seeds and fertilizing seedlings. Only following all the above recommendations will you be able to get healthy seedlings, strong strawberry seedlings and a good harvest.