Planting strawberries with seeds: basic recommendations
When gardeners decide to plant strawberries in the garden, they often purchase seedlings. There is another way to grow this crop using seeds.
This growing process will be much more difficult. But planting strawberries with seeds makes it possible to try out new varieties, as well as monitor the process of crop development from the very beginning.
Content:
Basic principles of seed preparation
To get started grow strawberries, you need to go to special stores where you need to purchase seeds. Sellers can offer a variety of varieties, so everyone can choose the right raw material.
At first glance, it may seem that preparing seeds yourself is difficult, but this is a mistaken opinion. If you follow all the recommendations, you can safely grow full-fledged strawberries.
You can get seeds not only in the store. If strawberries are already growing in the garden, then you can independently collect the raw materials for planting. This procedure is simple. To begin with, large berries are selected. They produce seeds that are extracted from the middle or base of the strawberry.
These places are chosen because the largest seeds grow in them, the embryos of which are well developed. The plant concentrated most of its energy in these zones.
When choosing berries, you should also look at the bush, as it must be healthy and not damaged.After this you need to cut seeds, but a small layer of berries should remain near them. The resulting raw material is laid out on paper, where it will be dried.
After some time, the mass will dry out, then you can begin to separate the seeds. To do this, just rub the raw material with your fingers. All seeds are placed in a glass container for storage.
Growing strawberries
Before planting the seeds, you need to stratify them in moisture, the temperature should be +3 degrees. The duration of the procedure is 3-4 months.
Planting materials should be mixed every 2 weeks. This is done to prevent it from drying out. You can add water periodically, but there should not be an excess of moisture. When this time has passed, the seeds should be dried and then can be used for planting.
This process takes a lot of time, but not everyone has it. In this case, you can do it differently, following the following sequence:
- Combine 1 g of seeds with 10 ml of sulfuric acid.
- You should wait 10 minutes.
- For half an hour, you need to rinse the planting materials with water.
- Next you need to dry the seeds.
For landing strawberries the soil should be properly prepared. This is done in advance. All further development and growth of strawberries will depend on the soil. The following mixture is ideal for this plant:
- half of the component should be turf
- the fourth part consists of peat
- another fourth part is made of sand
Adding wood ash with manure will have a positive effect. Instead of manure, fertilizers are also suitable. Strawberries are a tasty berry, and at the same time they are very healthy. It nourishes the body with vitamins, improves mood, and fights stress.
It is believed that 200 g of berries can improve mood. The soil may contain a variety of pathogens that provoke disease of the rhizome. Larvae and weeds can affect this. Therefore, experts advise initially steaming the soil.
To do this, you can hold the soil in a preheated oven for half an hour, or use other steaming methods. Once the soil has cooled, you can plant seeds. By the way, such land preparation is suitable for planting a variety of plants.
Planting seeds
You can plant seeds in containers at the end of winter. To do this, the container is filled with soil, compacted, and seeds are sown on top. After this you need to sprinkle more soil. It needs to be moistened a little, but you should not pour water on the seeds that have just been planted. It's better to spray soil from a spray bottle. You need to cover the top of the containers with oilcloth.
This will allow the top layer of soil not to dry out quickly. Next, you need to harden the strawberries. She must learn to tolerate the cold. This procedure is not difficult.
To do this, it is enough to place containers with planted seeds in a room where the temperature does not exceed 1 degree. In such conditions, you need to keep the boxes with seedlings for about 3 weeks. Some people bury containers in snow to reduce the temperature. Do not worry, as stratification is an important procedure. If this is not done, the seedlings may not appear or may be weak and germinate unevenly.
Seedling care
Planted seeds need proper care. When April comes, the boxes with plantings are brought into the warmth. It could be greenhouse, under such conditions the seeds will germinate.Initially, seedlings appear slowly, for this reason a person is advised to be patient. After some time, the plant will develop faster.
When 2 weeks have passed after germination, you can start picking seedlings. The distance between seedlings should be about 2 cm. You need to remove the seedlings carefully, using a stick. It is tedious to pinch the tip of the rhizome, and then the seedling is planted in the prepared container.
Often at the end of April 4-5 leaves should grow. At this time, you need to dive again, but the distance between the seedlings should already be about 5 cm. At the beginning of summer, you can plant the seedlings in open ground.
If a person decides to propagate strawberries using seeds, then you should know that there will be no harvest in the first year. There are also some disadvantages to such cultivation. For example, the plant may not be of the same quality as the parent strawberry.
New seedling may not be as fruitful. For this reason, it is recommended to monitor the development of strawberries. It is necessary to eliminate those plants that produce poor harvests.
Video about proper planting of strawberries:
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