strawberries from seed

[tracy]

hi guys i have just recieved my £1 packs of seeds from t & m and am toatally happy with them,my question is do you have any special tips on growing strawberries from seed , of course the info on the packet is good as a refernce but i still prefer hands on advice from you guys also my friut book doesnt say anything about growing them from seed only about growing runners
please help cheers tracy

[quark1]

I've got recovered seeds from the skins of some El Santa - a supermarket variety that we enjoyed this year.

Just cut up the skins after drying into 20 pieces and so far some 7 cells have shown activity. I'm told they should be OK and form up little plantlets ready for potting into more spacious accommodation in the new year.

This was a trial on my part - but if you apply same principle - single seed per cell/pot - you should get similar results. I also had the 5 for a squid offer from T&M - so I'm guessing you've got the tasty little alpine? Must also get mine started and will follow along similar lines to by 'supermarket' ones.

Lost all my plants a couple of years back - so am hoping for a decent turn out next year - with better returns in the 2nd.

Just noticed your location - you may well get better results due to your more clement climate!

[tracy]

was it not you i was talking to the other day about the lido ????
i also lost my plants this year no idea why they just went kaput on me....i shall sow the in an egg box dont have any cell trays any idea how long before we get any fruit
cheers tracy

[quark1]

Yes it was - the Lido that is!

Reckon egg box will be fine - just watch they don't dry out.

[nerobot]

Do you plant the seeds this early for next years crop? If so, indoors or out? Got some seeds for first time this year, so hoping they go well.

Steven

[quark1]

nerobot - in my case its an experiment from recovered seed.

They're growing inside in my 'unheated' conservatory. I'm thinking that it would be more usual to wait until feb/mar time and grow then. They are quite hardy as plants but not so sure as seedlings. But this is their natural way to disperse - other than by runners - so what have I to lose?

[tracy]

do you sugest that i grow mine indoors maybe to hot now packet says 21cfor germination and is still quite hot out here

[Demeter]

I've got a variety of strawberry seeds to try (and some plants as well, runners off a friend, as my back-up plan...).

The wild strawberry I have already sown and the instructions say "requires stratification - germination slow and erratic - don't throw the seed tray away too early" !!! So after a week or two in the fridge, I've put the whole packet in a half-sized tray and stuck it at the back of the shelf in the mini-GH. I'm not really expecting to see anything until Spring.

Other seed packets I have, including from memory at least one alpine and at least one "normal" strawberry type give various sowing times from about now right through the winter months up until early-mid spring so I think when to sow will depend very much on the variety!

I hope this works, we really like strawberries