Strawberry from seeds

[goddess]

Hi,anybody tried growing strawberry from seeds?i bought a packet of sarian str.as recommended by monty don in a magazine but instructions say sow in oct-nov!!! i thought it needed sowing now to get established before winter.Help please.g

[Pottypotter]

Yes they take for ever to germinate in a propergator

[Pottypotter]

Sorry not much help I planted seeds in jan/feb they are now just about big enough to pot on.

[Sue]

Oh Goddess...

Yes, I've done it twice now, first year sowed seed in Feb and left them in their little pots as I never thought they'd get further than microscopic, eventually about April they were big enough to handle so I planted them on, by the end of the season and into October they were fruiting....was I amazed or not.
This year I planted them out earlier, not keeping them at home all tucked up and as soon as they were through took them straight up to the cold greenhouse. (I did cover with fleece on the two frost alert occassions)
They are lovely sturdy little plants now.
Don't remember being told to sow them in December though, I thought it was Feb/March.

However, the choice is very limited so will get some plants in as well next year.
best wishes
Sue

[muckdiva]

I bought a pack of Fresca strawberry seeds and planted them in March. Just three germinated, but I think they should be ok as they are looking more sturdy each day. I'm guessing they will throw out runners eventually?? so I can propagate more that way, the seed thingy is too fiddly - and I thought the seeds were expensive bearing in mind I've only ended up with 3 plants.

[goddess]

thanks for advice.will i still ned a propogter at this time of the year or will they just b ok in greenhouse?g

[Matt.]

No I doubt you'l need a propogator. I started some seed in march on windowsill and they were potted on just last week. Its only in the last month or so they have really started to put noticebale growth on. I think the earlier you sow the more likely you are to get fruit the same year but its far from guaranteed. By sowing now you should have plants that are mature enough to see though winter, especially if kept in pots in a greenhouse, amd should fruit next summer.

However, I'd also reitterate Muckdiva in saying they don't represent best value for money when grown from seed. I have six plants but thats still not very many from the packet. Next year I'll buy ready grown runners rather than try more seed now.

[leona]

i sowed 2 diff varieties of alpine strawb in april and they are pretty big plants now. i wouldnt be suprised if i get a bit of fruit this year. i sowed sarian a couple of months ago and only one came up but its still tiny. i dont really think its that worthwhile growing from seed but i bought all of my seeds in a garden centre in norway so i didnt really have the choice of plants vs seed but there was much more choice in seeds there