Growing strawberries all year round at home. Growing strawberries on a windowsill all year round

14.06.2019

Strawberries are the most long-awaited and sought-after berry in the middle lane for most consumers. Unfortunately, the season of its mass ripening is very short. Usually it is only 2-3 weeks at the end of May and beginning of June. But amateur gardeners often grow homemade strawberries at home, right on the windowsill at any time of the year, getting small yields of this beautiful berry.

Home cultivation of any crop is characterized by small areas due to the limited size of window sills and a number of difficulties in maintaining the required lighting and air humidity. However, those who are seriously interested in this usually build a small greenhouse for strawberries, or adapt a balcony for this.

Strawberries in pots in winter

The best option with this method is to dig up a strawberry bush in the fall and store it in the cold until mid-December. Next, the bush is awakened, forced to grow actively and produce crops in early spring.

The excavated bush is planted in a pot according to the size of its root system. The soil can be prepared from 1 part of humus, 1 part of earth from a coniferous forest, 1 part of sand. But also purchased soil for strawberries or universal is suitable.

The pot is placed on a balcony or in another cold room and stored at a temperature not higher than +10 degrees, watering infrequently. At the same time, you do not have to worry about the lack of lighting, since in this mode, the processes of photosynthesis in plants stop.

To awaken strawberries, they bring them into a room with room temperature (you can immediately on the windowsill) and wait for the first new leaves to appear. When this happens, it is necessary to illuminate the bushes. In December and January, on cloudy days, the duration of the backlight is usually 3-4 hours a day, on clear days, 2-3 hours is enough. In February, it can be reduced by 1 hour, and in early March, it can be turned on only in cloudy weather for 1-2 hours. Since mid-March, additional lighting is no longer required.

A more difficult way is strawberries from seeds. In this situation, the first harvest can be obtained only in May, and for this you will have to try.

Seeds are sown in January-February in shallow containers with sandy soil. Suitable mixture purchased soil for seedlings and coarse sand. Seeds do not need to be covered with a layer of soil, just spread over the surface. After that, the soil is sprayed from a spray gun, and the container is covered with a plastic bag or a mini-greenhouse.

Seedlings appear after 3 weeks. They are kept on the windowsill at room temperature and must be illuminated, preferably with phytolamps or DNAT or DNAZ lamps.

Important! The seedlings dive in 2-2.5 months, when it reaches a sufficient size, and for the grown seedlings, an already fertile soil mixture is introduced.

Use of ready-made automated systems

The easiest way for those who are willing to spend money is to purchase a ready-made automated system for growing strawberries. On the Russian market the Fazenda Green system is popular.

It is a wall-mounted bookcase with three shelves, each of which contains 7 pots. Each shelf is illuminated by a phytolamp with a perfectly matched emission spectrum. Also, a compact drip irrigation system is connected to each tank.

The system is equipped with sensors that monitor the level of illumination on the shelves, the humidity in the pots, and regulate the switching on and off of the lamps, as well as the water supply.

Growing in bags

Growing strawberries in bags is no different from growing them in pots. A feature of this technology is the possibility of planting bushes in several rows. This saves space in a cramped balcony or a small greenhouse.

To do this, a polyethylene or burlap bag is tightly stuffed with soil, sealed, and placed vertically. Then - holes are carefully cut in it with a knife for planting bushes. The distance between the holes is 10-15 cm. They can be cut into many rows along the entire height of the bag.

Seedlings (taken from the garden or grown from seeds) are planted in the cut cells. Further care for them is the same as when growing in pots.

Using hydroponics

Hydroponics is an advanced method of growing crops indoors. With this method, the yield is sometimes several times higher than with traditional cultivation in the ground.

This is achieved through a number of success factors:

the possibility of accurate dosing of applied top dressings;
saving water (the same water can be reused);
lack of weeds;
compact placement of plants in several levels.

The hydroponic method requires special equipment, which you can either purchase or make yourself.

To make a hydroponic setup, you will need pipes PVC diameter 10-15 cm. Holes are made in them at a distance of 10-12 cm for the size of the pots. The pipe system can be placed in several rows horizontally on top of each other. At the highest point is placed a container with a working nutrient solution.
Often such a system is equipped with a pump and an automated system that allows 2 times a day for 5-10 minutes to drive liquid through the pipes, pump it into the upper tank and start it around again. For home conditions, a tank is enough, and the solution can be run manually by opening the valve 2-3 times a day.

Important! It is preferable to use plastic pots with large drainage holes. Their size should correspond to the volume of the root system of grown strawberry bushes.

Strawberries are placed in pots and fixed either with a special hydroponic substrate, or thanks to pebbles, expanded clay.

The pots are inserted into the tubes and a liquid test run is carried out for 5 minutes. As a result, strawberry roots in all containers should be wetted to at least 2/3 of their height. If this condition is met, then the system is ready for use.

Varieties for year-round cultivation

For home conditions, only remontant ampelous strawberry varieties are suitable. This will ensure consistent berry harvests throughout the year, as these varieties are able to bloom and bear fruit regardless of the season. Also, the bushes of such strawberries are very decorative, so they will also serve for aesthetic purposes.

Remontant strawberries are represented by a great variety of varieties, and new ones appear every year. But the requirements for them home growing remain unchanged.

They have to:

be capable of self-pollination;
have a high immunity to fungal diseases, resistant to unfavorable factors external environment (primarily temperature);
have precocity;
form large berries (according to the principle: less, but better).

Here are just some of the possible options for growing at home: Pineapple, Selva, Crimean remontant, Queen Elizabeth, Garland, Geneva, Darselect, Moscow delicacy, Sakhalinskaya.

What to choose - seeds or seedlings?

All flower growers, summer residents, gardeners who are wondering what is preferable: to grow remontant strawberries from seeds or propagate with a mustache - you need to remember one thing once and for all important point. Remontant varieties reproduce only by seeds!

However, if we are talking about growing strawberries at home by forcing them, then, of course, it makes sense to dig out a bush from the garden in the fall, which at one time was obtained precisely from seeds. In other words, growing a bush from seeds at home is a longer and more laborious process, which, however, is also practiced.

Conditions for growing berries

The main factor that allows remontant strawberries to bear fruit throughout the year, and not just at the height of the season, is the timely application of fertilizers.

Lighting. It should be enough, especially in winter. At a minimum, you need to use 2-3 fluorescent lamps per 1 bush, but it is highly recommended to purchase phytolamps.
The soil. At home, strawberries are often affected by fungal diseases, so the soil is either purchased in a special store (where it is already disinfected) or disinfected on its own. The best ways disinfection is calcination, watering with phytosporin and a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Caring for strawberries at different times of the year

Strawberries at home often suffer from lack of light and drafts (in winter), dry air (at the height of summer), and fungal diseases.

Therefore, it is important to properly care for her at different times of the year.

At the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, while strawberries are on a winter "rest", they are watered infrequently. The main thing is not to overfill, thereby preventing the root system from rotting.
When it is brought into the room, the main factor is supplementary lighting, since in winter and early spring there is an acute shortage of sunlight.
The first feeding can be done only when the first flowers appear. If we are talking about the forcing method, then this happens in March, and if the plant is grown from seeds, in early May. For this, either complex organic fertilizers or a mixture of mineral fertilizers with an equal content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are used. If in the fall the plant was planted in new soil, then you can do without top dressing at all or bring the solution in a lower concentration than indicated on the package.
In summer, strawberries need moderate watering and top dressing. Regardless of whether the method of forcing or growing from seeds is used, strawberries are fed with complex fertilizers 2-3 times during the summer, and also 1 time in September (which will allow you to collect 1-2 more autumn crops).
In extreme heat, strawberries are either taken out to open air in a shady place, or furnished with water containers in order to increase air humidity. They do the same in winter if the heating batteries dry up the air too much.
In the first half of autumn, you can continue to care for the berry as if the summer had not yet ended. From the end of September, artificial lighting is turned on for 1-2 hours a day. When the strawberry finally ceases to bear fruit, the owner has the right to decide its fate: plant it in open ground, transfer it to the balcony for wintering, or get rid of it.

Practice shows that at home it is very difficult to keep a bush until the next season. Even if this succeeds, the strawberries no longer bear fruit as abundantly as in the past. Therefore, the best solution is to plant it in the garden, and on next year- take a bush from open ground or stock up on seeds.

Growing strawberries at home all year round is ensured not only by selecting a remontant variety, but also by other simple secrets:

With the forcing method, gardeners use one trick to stretch fruiting for all four seasons. To do this, dug up strawberries are stored in a conventional refrigerator. The bushes do not awaken at the same time, but in waves with a difference of a month. Thanks to this, you can even achieve year-round fruiting of strawberries! That is, the first bushes are removed in December, and the last - in May. With proper care, the latest of them can give the last harvest even in winter!
The second secret is hand pollination. Above, a recommendation was already made to purchase self-pollinating varieties, but additional manual pollination, as practice shows, increases productivity.

Reasons for the lack of fruiting

If strawberries do not bear fruit, then it is obvious that some mistakes were made in its cultivation. But what?

Consider the most common of them.

Overfeeding with nitrogen fertilizers. As mentioned above, strawberries are fed with complex fertilizers with approximately the same content of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. If the balance is disturbed in favor of nitrogen, then the strawberries will actively increase the green mass, preventing the fruits from forming.
Lack of lighting. This is especially true in winter period and up to the middle of March. In winter, this demanding culture of light is catastrophically lacking. Fluorescent lamps give a very weak luminous flux, and if strawberries were illuminated with them, then there is nothing surprising in the fact that it does not bear fruit. Those who seriously want to do this business should purchase either special phytolamps or a powerful DNAT or DNAZ lamp from 250 watts.
Lack of supplements. Starting from May, strawberries need phosphorus-potassium and complex top dressing. Do not neglect this.

Growing strawberries at home is not too easy, but not overly difficult task. It is a demanding and vulnerable culture that produces extraordinarily valuable fruits. Probably, everyone would dream of getting the long-awaited berries at a time when the strawberry season has long passed or has not yet begun. Well, everyone now has such a chance. Armed with knowledge and patience, anyone can succeed in this direction.

On the windowsill of the house, you can grow strawberries all year round. In winter, it is especially nice to eat homemade berries. About the features of growing strawberries on the windowsill, how to choose suitable varieties, not to miscalculate with the timing of planting, to plant and grow a healthy berry correctly, skillfully cutting and feeding, will be discussed in this article.

Features of growing on the windowsill

Having decided to grow strawberries on the windowsill, first of all you need choose the right planting material. The fact is that it is better to grow indoors varieties that are unpretentious to environmental conditions.

In addition, in the room where the containers will be located, you need to create special microclimate. To prevent strawberries from getting sick and growing quickly, it is required to install indoors comfortable temperature. It is equally important during the growing season to control lighting and humidity levels.

What varieties are suitable for growing on the windowsill

You need to choose planting material very carefully, because contrary to the general misconception greenhouse varieties strawberries are not suitable for growing in an apartment. The fact is that you are unlikely to be able to create "greenhouse" conditions, because in winter the apartment has enough dry air due to central heating.

Strawberry varieties for growing a house on a windowsill should be repairing, unpretentious to the length of daylight hours and temperature. Ampel bushes that hang from hanging containers look especially beautiful in the apartment.

For year-round growing strawberries on the windowsill at home, it is best to choose the following varieties:

Home delicacy F1;
Eternity S1;
Temptation;
Pink Dream;
Grandian F1;
Elan F1.

It is also believed that varieties such as Albion, Aisha, Selva, Queen Elizabeth, Geneva, Russian Giant, Supreme and Tristan can be grown in an apartment.

Video: how to grow strawberries (garden strawberries) from seeds on a windowsill

How to plant and grow on a windowsill - features, conditions and step-by-step instructions

In order to successfully plant and grow strawberries at home on the windowsill, certain rules and conditions must be observed. We will talk about them in more detail later.

Place

The best place for growing remontant strawberries - a window sill facing south or east. It is possible to grow a crop on the eastern and northern windowsills only under the condition of constant supplementary illumination.

Daylight hours

For rapid growth and ripening of garden strawberries, daylight hours should be 12-14 hours. If in summer the bushes have enough sunlight, then in autumn and winter, when the light part of the day is very short, strawberries need illuminate with fluorescent lamps. Lighting devices are switched on 2 times a day: from about 6 to 9 o'clock (in the morning) and from 16 to 20 (in the evening).

Temperature

When growing strawberries at home, it is important to keep the temperature within the range +18..+20 С. If the temperature is a few degrees lower, the plants start to get sick. To prevent such unpleasant consequences, in autumn and spring it will be necessary to turn on additional heating devices (heaters).

Humidity

Strawberries will do well if the air humidity is in the area. 70-80%. At it's peak heating season, in winter, when the air in the apartment is very dry, the bushes sprayed from a spray bottle with settled water at room temperature. However, even in this case, it is worth adhering to the measure: due to too much moisture, strawberries reduce resistance to fungal diseases.

What container to plant

Initially, the seeds are sown in small cups, and as soon as they release the first pair of leaves, they are transplanted (dive) into larger containers. When strawberry seedlings have already formed 5-6 leaves, they can be transplanted into a pot for further home cultivation.

For cultivation bush seedlings fit small pots. Ampel species(e.g. F1 Home Delicatessen) feel great in hanging pots.

You can also plant plants in long boxes with a volume of 10-15 liters. When landing in such containers the distance between the bushes should be at least 20 cm. Regardless of size, there should be drainage holes in the bottom of the planting container to drain excess water.

In what soil (substrate)

Soil mixture for planting can be bought at a specialized store or prepared independently. Suitable for room strawberries any substrate intended for growing vegetables and flowers.

To prepare the soil with your own hands, coniferous soil, sand and humus are mixed in a container in equal parts. Also, strawberries grow well in a substrate of peat and biohumus.

The main condition that should be met when preparing the substrate is the soil mixture should be loose, airy and slightly moist. At the end of the preparation of the substrate, potash-phosphorus fertilizers are added to it.

Important! It is highly undesirable to use land from the garden for planting strawberry seedlings at home: it can be infected with nematodes and other dangerous diseases. If there is no other option, then before using garden soil, it must be disinfected by spilling a pink solution of potassium permanganate, or steamed in the oven. You can start planting bushes a week after disinfection.

Planting material preparation

Experienced gardeners recommend growing strawberries at home on the windowsill with seedlings, since growing seedlings from seeds on your own is a rather long and troublesome business. Planting material can be purchased at nurseries or taken from your site if you have remontant varieties.

Preparation of strawberry seedlings for planting at home is carried out as follows:

By the way! Naturally, it is most convenient to plant strawberry seedlings for cultivation in room conditions conduct exactly autumn(after you propagate it with a mustache in the summer).

Of the available rooted sockets, you need to select only largest and healthiest.
planting material separated from the mother plant and planted in a pot, and before that, all leaves are removed from them, except for 1-2 of the youngest.
To provide strawberries with a dormant period, the container is placed for 14 days in a cool place,- basement or cellar.

Direct planting of seedlings

Note! Since strawberries do not like stagnant water and compacted soil, before planting, a drainage layer is laid on the bottom of the pot using crushed stone, pebbles, expanded clay, small pieces of slate or brick.

seedlings strawberries at home are planted like this:

A drainage layer and a little substrate are poured into the pot.
The rhizome is dipped in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for several minutes.
Seedlings are placed in a pot and straighten the roots. The root must be placed in a pot in full height. The rhizome needs to be shortened if, during planting, its tips have to be strongly bent (they must not be in a twisted state).
In order for the trimmed bushes to recover faster, they are immersed in a weak solution of heteroauxin (according to the instructions). To prepare the mixture, a crushed tablet of the drug is dissolved in 5 liters of water.
Fill up the missing soil to the growth point (heart), while it is important not to deepen it.
Next, gently compact the earth and water.

Advice! To improve the survival rate of a seedling in a new place, you can shed the plant with a special solution of one of the growth stimulants, for example, again "Heteroauxin" or "Kornevin".

Sowing seeds

You can grow strawberries at home on the windowsill using seeds. Despite the fact that the harvest will have to wait longer than when planting seedlings, this does not deter gardeners who do not see their life without their favorite work.

In order for the seeds to sprout together, they need to be hardened. Planting material is laid out on a damp cloth, then it is folded in half and placed in a bag. Next, the bookmark is sent to the top of the refrigerator for 30 days.

The sequence of planting strawberries at home on the windowsill seeds:

A shallow box is mostly covered with prepared soil and slightly moistened.
Keeping a distance, the seeds are laid out in rows.
Planting material is sprinkled with a thin layer of soil.
The seedling container is covered with polyethylene or glass and placed in a warm place.
As soon as the seedlings germinate, the shelters are gradually removed, and the container is placed on a light windowsill.
Plants with a pair of true leaves are transplanted into a spacious pot.

The optimal time for planting strawberry seedlings in an apartment is early spring or the period from August 15 to September 20.

Video: how to care for and grow strawberries at home in a pot

How to care after planting and before harvest

Caring for strawberries on the windowsill consists of the following basic steps: watering, fertilizing, pruning, pollination and pest control (if the last two activities are necessary).

Watering

For watering strawberries, like others indoor plants use only settled water at room temperature. In order not to wait until the chlorine settles to the bottom of the tank, water can be passed through a filter.

Advice! It will be very good if you regularly spray strawberry bushes with a spray bottle to increase the humidity in a dry room.

As a rule, it is enough to moisten the soil in containers with strawberries on the windowsill 2 times a week. It is best to moisten the soil in the afternoon. After watering, the soil in the planting container is loosened.

Important! Despite the fact that the growth of strawberries after the next moistening is activated, you should not get carried away with watering. Overwatering the plant is fraught with the appearance of rot on the roots and fungal diseases. Stagnant water is especially dangerous for bushes. However, the soil should not be allowed to dry out either.

top dressing

It is recommended to feed indoor strawberries 1 time in 2-3 weeks, after the 1st leaf appears on the bush. As a fertilizer, you can use the usual complex top dressing or special nutrient mixtures for strawberries. Top dressing is applied in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations (according to the instructions).

If you do not want to use mineral mixtures, dressing for room strawberries can be prepared independently, according to this recipe:

A 3-liter jar is filled with crushed egg shells by a third.
Then 1 cup of ash is poured and the jar is lightly filled to the top. warm water.
At the end of 5 days of infusion, the solution is filtered.
Before applying top dressing is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 3.

You can fertilize strawberries on the windowsill with weak solutions mullein (1 to 10), chicken manure(1 to 20).

Note! It is impossible to overfeed strawberries with nitrogen fertilizers: a large amount of nutrients stimulates the active growth of leaves and has a bad effect on the setting and formation of fruits.

During fruiting, bushes need in large numbers iron, because it is required for the formation of ovaries. According to seasoned gardeners, folk way in order to enrich the soil with this chemical element, a rusty nail must be driven into the pot a few centimeters. Of course, the use of special purchased mixtures and preparations, which include iron, will be more modern, and they need to spray plantings 1-2 times a month.

Already after harvesting, the bushes are occasionally fed or not fed at all.

pruning

Many will be surprised, but strawberries need pruning, the purpose of which is to increase yields. How to prune strawberries grown at home on the windowsill?

On seedlings grown from seeds, the first few flowers are plucked.

Important! But it is not necessary to cut off flower stalks on strawberries planted by seedlings.

If further expansion indoor plantings is not planned, and it is not necessary to replace adult bushes, mustaches must be removed regularly. As a result of shearing, the plants will not be wasted on the formation of unnecessary rosettes, but will direct all the nutrients to the fruits.

Pollination

In order for berries to set after flowering, it is recommended to pollinate strawberries. There are several ways to artificially pollinate at home:

Video: growing strawberries in winter

Diseases and pests

During the fruiting period, strawberries are very rare, but still sometimes, it strikes spider mite. To get rid of this worst enemy sweet berries, plantings are sprayed garlic tincture. To prepare a solution, crush 2 cloves and pour 100 ml of water. The mixture infused for 2-3 hours is filtered, poured into a spray bottle and the affected plants are treated.

Sowing and harvesting dates

Strawberry seeds planted in an apartment germinate for a rather long time: the first seedlings make their way to the surface 20-30 days after sowing.

Remontant strawberries, planted by seedlings, grown at home on the windowsill, bloom at about 30-35 days, and ripe berries begin to be harvested after about 30-35 days. a couple of months after landing.

Video: strawberries on the windowsill in winter

Year-round cultivation of remontant strawberries on the windowsill is an exciting activity that does not require much time and effort. To do this, you need to choose the right planting material, follow the rules and conditions for growing on the windowsill, skillfully care after planting and harvesting, and also deal with pests. And in the end, all the troubles and difficulties pay off a hundredfold with environmentally friendly and tasty fruits.

In contact with

To grow strawberries at home on the window, it is enough to allocate space on the windowsill, prepare a flower box, and know the basic rules of care. We will tell you about the choice of variety, top dressing and technology for growing strawberries at home. all year round.

To grow your favorite seasonal berries, it is not necessary to equip a greenhouse, it is enough to select a window sill on the sunny side and take care of the plants, providing conditions for full growth and fruiting. At the start, you need to decide on the variety of berries, on which the subsequent result depends.

Variety selection

For home growing strawberries, you need to choose remontant varieties. They bear fruit more than once a year, as usual, but two or more, moreover, abundantly. However, both nutrition and care must be relevant, that is, appropriate.

Remontant strawberries are divided into several categories, depending on the length of daylight hours. It is called just that, only in abbreviation: DSD - long daylight hours, and NSD - neutral daylight hours, which is more typical for most regions.

Varieties where flower buds are born during a long daylight hours bear fruit twice a year: in early summer and early autumn. Also, DSD varieties are characterized by predominant fruiting for the second harvest. Its share is 60-90% of the total mass of berries.

The second category of remontant strawberries is able to continuously bear fruit all year round. This species is not whimsical in care, resistant to variable humidity, lighting and unstable temperature conditions. These features are key when choosing a variety for home cultivation and regular fruiting.

To the light-loving remontant varieties strawberries include: "Inexhaustible", "Autumn Fun", "Crimean", "Garland". Unpretentious neutral species include: "Queen Elizabeth" I and II, "Brighton", "Roman F1", etc. It is worth noting that the variety "Queen Elizabeth" surpasses other varieties in the number and size of fruits, fruiting frequency.

Seeds or seedlings

If you decide to speed up or facilitate the process, and buy ready-made seedlings, pay attention to the development of the plant. A good sign of a healthy bush is the presence of 3-5 developed leaves and an embryo (buds for the ripening of a future berry). It is better to buy seedlings in a specialized store, then you can count on compliance with the declared variety and proper quality planting material. Ready seedlings can be planted in individual pots or long flower boxes at a distance of 15 cm.

Planting seeds

Seed preparation

The seeds need some work. To sow seeds and get healthy seedlings at home, you need:

Soaking the seeds will speed up the germination process. To do this, take a transparent plastic container with a lid and make holes in it with a sewing needle. This is necessary for air circulation.
Cover the bottom of the container with gauze or cotton pads. Moisten the material and spread the seeds. Top them with wet cotton pads.
Close the container with a lid and place in a warm place for 2-3 days. If you are soaking multiple strains, be sure to mark the containers accordingly.
Now proceed to the stratification (hardening) of the seeds. This is necessary to simulate winter weather conditions, in order to accelerate the awakening of seeds and get quick shoots. Place the container with cotton pads in the refrigerator.Remember to control the humidity level. Once every 1-2 days, open the lid of the container and moisten the cotton pads.

After two weeks, the seeds are ready for sowing in the ground.

Soil preparation

For growing strawberries at home, you can use garden soil or purchase an all-purpose mix at the store. The earth must be crumbly. The best option: mix forest soil, garden soil, and sand in equal proportions. Soil preparation should begin in conjunction with seed stratification.

Sowing seeds

For sowing seeds, you can use improvised containers: plastic boxes, flower pots, carton boxes. The height of the sides should be at least 10 cm. Fill the container with earth and start sowing the seeds:

With a pencil, make shallow furrows 0.7-1 cm with a distance of 3-4 cm.
Since the germination rate of seeds is about 40%, seeds should be sown frequently.
Gently crush the grooves with earth, no more than 0.5 cm.
Cover the container plastic wrap and put in a warm place for 4-5 days.

After the first leaves appear, remove the film and transfer the seedling container to a well-lit place. It is better if it is a window sill on the south side.

When the seeds have put out several pairs of leaves, the seedlings can dive into separate permanent containers.

Take a spacious wooden or plastic box, put a thin layer (1-2 cm) of expanded clay or fine gravel on the bottom for drainage. Sprinkle the second layer fertile soil. The depth of the earthen "cushion" should be 10-15 cm.

Make holes at a distance of 8-12 cm and plant seedlings. Moisten the soil regularly.

Knowing how to grow seedlings from seeds, you can choose any strawberry variety and gain invaluable experience and a plentiful year-round harvest. If the strawberries grow, transplant the newly formed bushes into separate containers.

A few tips:

Mature plants do not tolerate transplanting well. When planting seedlings, choose a spacious container in which the plant will live for a long time.
The container can be any, if its volume is at least three liters per bush. If we take, for example, long balcony boxes with a volume of about 15 liters, then 5-7 strawberry bushes can be planted at a distance of at least 15 cm. This need is associated with the active growth and development of the plant.
The bottom of the tank must be laid out with a layer of drainage (you can take expanded clay, pebbles or broken bricks).

Care and feeding

Strawberries are not whimsical in care. Growth stimulants should not be used - with a sufficient amount of ultraviolet radiation and optimal humidity, the plants will regularly bear fruit.

Microclimate

It is better to place pots with plants on windowsills facing the east or southeast side. The quality of fruits directly depends on the amount of sunlight. For circulation fresh air it is sufficient to leave the window sash in the ventilation position.

If the climate in your area is not often happy with sunny weather, then it makes sense to buy a simple ultraviolet lampthat will promote photosynthesis all year round. Remember to keep the soil moist.

So that the plants do not dry out during your absence, resort to the greenhouse effect method. To do this, moisten the soil well, and cover the container with the plant with a film or plastic bag. Do not forget about the "breathing" of plants: make holes for air circulation.

top dressing

Strawberries need to be nourished with useful substances. For this, you can use mineral and organic complexes: nitrophoska, potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, wood ash, etc. The first top dressing should be carried out during the growing season, with the formation of a couple of true leaves. Choose your favorite dressing recipes, and alternate their use 4 times a year, excluding the fruiting period:

1 tsp nitroammophoski for 5 liters of water;
1/2 tsp boric acid, 15 drops of iodine, 1/2 cup wood ash per 5 liters of water;
soak a liter jar of crusts and slices of rye bread in two liters warm water, withstand 7 days in a warm place. Add three parts of warm water to one part of the sourdough, and add plant nutrition;
1 part sour milk or whey diluted with 3 parts water;
mix a tablespoon of nitrophoska with a teaspoon of potassium sulfate in 5 liters of water;
1 st. l. dissolve potassium nitrate in 5 liters of water;
50 grams of wood ash per 5 liters of water.

Top dressing should be carried out during the growing season and flowering, as well as after picking berries. At this time, new roots are formed, buds are formed for the next fruiting season. It is important at this time to pay maximum attention to strawberries.

As a rule, strawberries at home are not susceptible to disease. The only feature is the lifespan of plants. Since strawberries of NSD varieties bear fruit more abundantly and more often, which means they age faster, their lifespan is 1 year. As for the DSD varieties, the fruiting of which is several times poorer than the NSD, then their life span will increase proportionally and is 2-3 years.

Remontant garden strawberries, or strawberries, on the windowsill can be grown all year round with minimal cost time and effort to care. Of course, growing a berry crop on a window, or rather on a windowsill, implies right choice varieties, as well as compliance with care technology not only in summer, but also in winter.

Variety Selection Criteria

Before at home, one should take into account the fact that not all varieties are suitable for indoor cultivation. In order to grow at home not only a beautiful and strong, but also the most productive plant, it is recommended to give preference to the most unpretentious and shade-tolerant remontant varieties of garden strawberries.

Variety name	Botanical description	Characteristics of the berry	Advantages	Varietal disadvantages
"Everest"	High-yielding and very promising French variety, forming medium-sized and compact plants	Medium and large sizes, light red color, pleasant sour-sweet taste	High level of winter hardiness, good yield and taste quality characteristics of the berry	Average level of resistance to pests and diseases
"Cardinal"	Very powerful bushes, with large glossy leaves	Large size, spindle-shaped, red with a shine, dessert flavor	Resistant to gray fruit rot and blotch. The crop is well transported and stored. Variety suitable for vertical cultivation	The risk of powdery mildew, the difficulty of propagation with rosettes at home
"Queen Elizabeth II"	Plants are powerful, compact type, quickly entering into flowering and fruiting.	Large or very large, bright red, with firm and tasty flesh, suitable for transportation	Possesses sufficient winter hardiness and high productivity	Needs proper care and uninterrupted application of nitrogen and potassium
"Forest fairy tale"	Plants of medium size, quite compact, with a significant number of peduncles	Small size, dark red color, conical shape, with juicy and pleasant pulp	High palatability of the berry and pronounced berry flavor	Almost completely absent
"World Debut"	Pink-colored variant of remontant garden strawberry with long peduncles	Large, with an attractive red color and excellent berry aroma	High yield and large-fruited, as well as decorative	Not enough high level resistance to certain diseases and pests

Rules for growing from seeds

To obtain high-quality seedlings of garden strawberries from seeds, you should prepare planting pots or boxes with drainage holes, as well as nutritious soil, and choose the right place for growing. The soil for sowing should be loose, and also well pass not only moisture, but also air to the root system of plants. You can make the soil mixture yourself by mixing turfy soil, peat and coarse sand in equal proportions. To disinfect the soil, it is calcined in an oven for 1/2 hour at a temperature of 150-160 ° C.

Strawberries: growing on the windowsill (video)

To obtain the highest quality seedlings, it is recommended to soak the seeds for 48 hours on a damp cloth before planting. Then the seeds should be spread over the surface of well-moistened soil, which is filled with seedling containers. Ready planting containers with crops must be covered with plastic wrap and placed in a warm and well-lit place, at a temperature of 20-22 ° C. Until the germination stage, it is necessary to keep the soil moist by regularly irrigating with warm water from a spray bottle.

Subject to the technology of sowing and temperature regime the first sprouts of garden strawberries appear in about two to three weeks. Before the appearance of five true leaves, daily airing and systematic watering should be carried out. After the formation of five or six true leaves, the seedlings are picked into separate containers, the volume of which should not be less than 2.5-3 liters.

Summer and winter care

To get the most out of your strawberry crop when growing on a windowsill, it is very important to create the most suitable conditions for full growth and normal development. Garden strawberries are recommended to be placed on windows facing south or southeast. In winter, plants need to be provided with artificial lighting in the form of additional illumination with fluorescent lamps. The full development and fruiting of a berry crop is impossible without creating lighting at the level of 12-14 hours a day.

It is important to adhere to the optimal temperature regime, which cannot be below 18-20 ° C throughout the entire growing season. If necessary, electric heaters and devices for humidifying the air are used. However, it should be remembered that excessive moisture often causes plants to be damaged by various fungal infections. For strawberries in home gardening, top dressing is very important, which is due to the limited feeding area of the berry crop. Fertilizers should be applied twice a month, using for this purpose universal complex fertilizers without a high nitrogen content.

When grown indoors, attention should be paid to the fact that strawberries need artificial pollination. For this purpose, you can use a regular watercolor brush with the softest bristle possible. Through such a brush, a simple pollination event is carried out, which consists in transferring pollen from one flower to another. The procedure is best done in the morning.

Reasons for the lack of fruiting

It is easy to guess that the home conditions for growing strawberries are far from ideal, and it will take the use of all agricultural practices to achieve decent fruiting. The complete absence of fruiting when growing a berry crop at home can be the result of the following violations of the technology and botanical characteristics of the plant:

untimely planting does not allow plants to lay full-fledged flower buds to form a crop;
the lack of full-fledged irrigation measures often negatively affects the fruiting capacity of garden strawberries;
insufficiently correct procedure for artificial pollination of plants;
violation of the temperature regime or humidity indicators in the room for growing garden strawberries.

How to plant strawberry seeds (video)

The reason for the lack of fruiting can also be the acquisition of low-quality planting material, represented by a weed variety of berry crops. Such plants form an abundant amount of barren flowers in the complete absence of the formation of ovaries.

Strawberries are a sought-after and long-awaited berry that most consumers love. The disadvantage of growing such a crop on personal plot is that its ripening season is rather short. It is only 2-3 weeks in late spring and early summer. To receive all year round delicious berries, gardeners grow crops on balconies or window sills.

Features of year-round cultivation

Not everyone has the opportunity to grow a lot of seedlings at home, since there is not enough space in an ordinary apartment for this. It is necessary to maintain the required humidity and temperature in the room, which can also cause certain difficulties. Those who want to grow strawberries at home use various devices and technologies, and also set aside entire rooms to grow strawberries there, for example, in bags.

The best option, according to experienced gardeners, is the process of digging bushes in the fall. Then they should be stored until December. After this, the bush must be awakened and forced to grow by placing it in the necessary conditions. In this case, you can get a harvest from it in early spring.

A bush dug out of the ground is recommended to be planted in a pot that will be the size of its roots. The soil is prepared using humus, earth and sand. If necessary, you can purchase ready-made soil in the store. It is recommended to put a pot with a seedling in a cold room where the temperature does not rise above + 10 ° C. The bush needs to be watered, but this is done infrequently. Special lighting for strawberries during this period is not required, since with insufficient heat, photosynthesis stops.

To awaken strawberries, place the pot in a room with a temperature of + 20 ° C and leave for a short time until fresh leaves appear. When this happens, you need to add heat and lighting. If in winter short and cloudy days the plants lack heat and light, this will become noticeable by their condition. It is recommended to give the bushes 3-4 hours of bright light per day. As the days get longer in winter, the number of lighting hours can be reduced. Already at the beginning of spring artificial lighting you can opt out entirely.

Another way to grow strawberries is to grow them from seeds. To get a crop in the spring, it is recommended to plant seeds in the ground at the end of autumn, but for this it is necessary to provide them with optimal conditions. Initially, the seeds must be placed in shallow boxes with sandy soil. From above, the seeds are covered with a fertile composition and periodically sprayed. It is also recommended to cover such a mini-greenhouse with a film so that there is a uniform temperature.

After 3 weeks, the first shoots will appear. Now the pots should be kept at room temperature and given extra light. When the sprouts get a little stronger, they can be planted in large boxes, and after a while you can get a harvest from them.

Some gardeners use automated systems. This system represents a structure on which there are shelves with pots of strawberries. Additional lighting is provided by an artificial lamp with a wide spectrum of radiation. A drip irrigation system runs along the shelves. Dutch technology equipped with sensors that automatically monitor humidity and air temperature, and can also regulate the amount of watering themselves.

You can also grow bushes in bags. This way of growing a crop is no different from when it grows in pots. But the peculiarity of the technique lies in the fact that you can get quite large yields in small room, since the bags are placed in several rows on the shelves. This makes it possible to use balconies or other small spaces where no one lives.

Growing in bags involves the use of bags made of different material, which are stuffed with soil and installed on a shelf in a vertical position. Holes are cut through them through which bushes are planted. Holes are cut along the height of the bag at a distance of 10 cm. Seedlings are then planted in the resulting cells and taken care of.

Variety selection

It is optimal to choose ampelous varieties. This will allow you to receive good harvest throughout the year, since it is precisely such plants that can constantly bear fruit. The bushes of remontant plants are small and beautiful, and therefore can be used in some cases to decorate a greenhouse or balcony. Repair strawberries have many varieties that are constantly updated. At the same time, the requirements for their cultivation remain the same. The most common varieties for home growing are:

Geneva;
Selva;
Supreme;
Tristan

When choosing a variety, you need to pay attention to such points:

precocity;
the ability to self-pollinate;
berry size;
immunity to fungi;
temperature requirements.

Those gardeners who grow strawberries professionally do not need to explain which variety will be optimal in a particular region. But beginners should know that it is preferable to grow and propagate remontant strawberries by seeds. If you need to grow strawberries by forcing them, then you can dig up the bushes from the garden in the fall and transfer them to a cold room, and revive and grow good fruits in the winter.

Growing bushes from seeds is a rather troublesome and lengthy business, and therefore a certain skill is needed here.

Preparatory work

Before planting, the seedlings must be prepared so that the root part has already been formed. Young sprouts are transplanted into boxes where they will undergo forcing. To enhance growth, it is recommended to constantly moisten and feed the top layer of soil.

The room must be prepared in advance. To do this, you can use a barn, a balcony. It is also necessary to prepare seedlings and containers for bushes. Bags or pots are placed indoors on shelves, between which the distance should be 90 cm, and the distance between the bags - 30 cm. And you also need to prepare:

containers for the preparation of top dressing;
droppers;
lamps;
water containers.

Creating the Right Conditions

The best option for planting strawberries at home would be a window sill or an insulated balcony. It is worth choosing rooms that face south or east. It is necessary to refuse cultivation in those rooms that face the north, as it will be quite cold there, and therefore it will be necessary to additionally heat the room.

In order for the culture to grow well, it must be illuminated for 12 hours a day. In summer, the culture will have enough daylight, and in winter it needs to be illuminated with artificial lighting.

It is necessary to grow strawberries at + 20 ° С. If the temperature drops, the plant will become sick. Therefore, in some cases, especially when the winter is cold, it is recommended to install a heater in the room, but you need to make sure that it does not dry out the air.

Strawberries feel good in a room with a humidity of 70%. It is recommended not to overdry the air and not to humidify it above the norm. If you do not follow these rules, strawberries can be affected by diseases.

planting material

For disembarkation, you can use various containers. You must adhere to the landing rules. Seedlings should be chosen only one on which 4-6 leaves have already been formed. Planting is carried out in a pot with a volume of at least 3 liters. If the culture is derived from seeds, then they must initially be placed in small cups, and after the leaves appear, they should be transplanted into more spacious containers. It is necessary to choose for planting only healthy seedlings that are not damaged.

The soil

Specialized primers can be purchased at the store or you can make them yourself. For strawberries, you can choose any substrate that is intended for flowers or vegetables.

To prepare the composition, it is necessary to mix sand, soil and humus in equal parts and add a little peat. The main point that must be observed when preparing such soil is that it be saturated with moisture and light. After preparing the composition, it is recommended to add a little phosphorus-based fertilizer to it.

Experts note that it is not recommended to use land from the garden for planting domestic strawberries, as it can be affected by various pathogenic microorganisms and pests.

If there is no other way out, it is necessary to choose only the soil previously treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.

Landing

Strawberries do not like dense soil and excess water, and therefore, before planting, it is necessary to cover the bottom of the container with expanded clay or pebbles. You can use pieces of brick. The disembarkation process is carried out in several stages.

The container is filled with substrate and drainage.
The root is dipped for a few seconds in a non-concentrated solution of potassium permanganate.
The plant is placed in a pot so that the root is well straightened. In some cases, it can be cut off.
For a quick recovery of the bushes, it is recommended to temporarily place them in a heteroauxin solution.
The earth is poured into a container and rammed.
After planting, it is recommended to evenly water the bushes.

Care

Careful care of houseplants is essential from planting to harvest. It is recommended to periodically water strawberries. You can use warm settled water. It must be ensured that there is no chlorine in it, and therefore it is recommended to pass through the filter.

The soil is moistened 2 times a week. It is better to do it in the evening. After watering, the soil must be loosened. After moistening, the culture begins to grow actively, and it can not be heavily watered: this can lead to the appearance of rot or fungus.

Top dressing is applied every 15 days. To do this, use the usual top dressing, which are intended for indoor flowers, or purchase special mixtures specifically for strawberries. It is necessary to add the drug according to the manufacturer's recommendations, and it is recommended to start the process after 4-5 leaves appear on the stems.

The fertilizer mixture is also prepared independently:

pour crushed egg shells into glassware;
fill the container with warm water;
insist 5 days;
strain;
dilute with water 1:3.

After that, the bushes are watered with the prepared solution in accordance with the rules and regulations. If necessary, you can add a little chicken manure. It is worth remembering that it is impossible to overfeed the culture, since a lot of nutrients increase leaf growth, which is bad for the condition of the berries.

When the first fruits begin to appear, strawberries require iron in large quantities. Experienced gardeners recommend sticking rusty nails into the soil with plants to increase the amount of this chemical element. You can spray the bushes with a solution containing iron. When the berries are harvested, the bushes are not fed at all, or this is done occasionally.

Strawberries also require pollination. For artificial pollination, several methods are used.

Swipe over blooming flowers with a brush. This procedure is recommended to be performed periodically during the entire flowering period.
Direct a fan at the plant, with the help of which the pollen will independently fly from flower to flower.

During the harvest of strawberries, bushes can be affected by mites or gray rot. To get rid of such pathologies, it is recommended to sprinkle the bushes with garlic tincture. To do this, prepare a solution of 2 cloves of garlic and 100 ml of water. This composition is treated with bushes from a spray gun.

See below for strawberry growing technology.