To grow strawberries well from seed in pots, you must master two main planting methods
There are many varieties of strawberries; they are not only delicious but also rich in nutrients and health benefits. Nowadays, more and more people have fallen in love with balcony container gardening, and strawberries are one of the best choices. They can serve not only as a beautiful sight but, most importantly, they can also be eaten! Below is an introduction to growing strawberries from seed in pots and their daily care.
I. Methods for growing strawberries from seed in pots
Method one
Select healthy seeds, mix them with plant ash or fine soil, scatter them on the surface of the potting soil, and then cover them with a thin layer of fine soil. Then water thoroughly. Be careful to water gently so the seeds are not washed out. Cover the pot with a piece of glass or wet newspaper, mainly to keep it warm and moist. Place it in a sunny spot, and in about 20 days it will sprout and grow.
Above we introduced when to sow strawberry seeds and how to sow them. When growing strawberries, they flower and bear fruit in the first year, but the yield is not high. The second year is the peak year for flowering and fruiting. By the third year the fruit yield declines again, so it is best to grow new plants to replace the old ones.
Method two
Generally, strawberry seeds can be stored for about 2 years at room temperature. To improve the germination rate, before sowing you can wrap the seeds in gauze, soak them damp for one day, and give them a low-temperature treatment of 0°C to 3°C in the refrigerator for about 15 days, then sow them; the germination rate will be higher.
Strawberry seeds are fairly small, so sowing must be done carefully. It is best to fill the flower pot with sifted fine sandy loam mixed with some finer humus soil, and sow in the pot.
Before sowing, spray the soil with water until thoroughly moist; after broadcasting the seeds, cover with about 0.5 cm of sifted fine soil, cover the pot with plastic film, and spray water daily with a fine-nozzle watering can to keep the soil moist. At a temperature of 25°C, seedlings will begin to emerge 15 days after sowing. When the seedlings grow 2 true leaves, divide them into separate pots; when they have 4 to 5 leaves, they can be planted in the ground.
II. Daily care of potted strawberries grown from seed
1. Light: Strawberries like plenty of light, preferably more than half a day of sunlight, and should normally be placed in a sunny, well-ventilated spot.
2. Fertilizing: Potted strawberries flower and fruit many times a year and consume a lot of nutrients, so nutrient supplementation must be strengthened. You can use animal hooves, fish bones, poultry innards, soybean cake, etc., add water and let them decompose and ferment, and make them into liquid fertilizer, or apply a compound fertilizer as a top dressing. Generally, apply fertilizer once a week.
3. Watering: Strawberries like moisture but fear waterlogging. Water when the surface soil is almost dry. You can use the soak-pot method; when water seeps up to the soil surface, take the pot out.
4. Pruning: For potted strawberries, promptly remove excess runners, old leaves and diseased leaves to reduce nutrient consumption; only in this way can the fruit quality of potted strawberries be improved.
5. Yellow leaves: Sometimes you may notice the plant has yellow leaves, but do not worry; just remove them. In winter you can leave the yellow leaves in place until new leaves grow out the following spring, then remove the dead yellow leaves.
6. Shaping: You can use wire or bamboo skewers to make fruit racks of different shapes, place them in the pot and prop up the fruit clusters; this promotes ventilation and light penetration for the fruit clusters, allows the fruit to color evenly, and also prevents soil from dirtying the fruit and reduces pest and disease damage. You can also use the runners to create shapes according to the principles of bonsai art, enhancing their ornamental value.