Not all hobby gardeners favor the propagation of strawberries by offshoots. Sowing also has a good chance of success. The focus here is on skilful pricking. You can find out here how to master the sensitive procedure perfectly.

Exemplary sowing creates vital seedlings

So that you are dealing with the best starting material when pricking out strawberries, the qualified sowing process plays a central role. If you take the following aspects into account, the tiny seeds will turn into vigorous seedlings.

  • fill a seed tray with nutrient-poor substrate in the first half of March
  • soak the seeds, mix with bird sand and sow
  • Sieve thinly with substrate or vermiculite, press and spray
  • Cover the seed pot with cling film or place in a greenhouse
  • the ideal germination temperature oscillates around 18 degrees Celsius in a semi-shady place

The time it takes to germinate depends on the strawberry variety you choose. Experience has shown that the tender seeds come to life within 2-6 weeks. Until then, keep seed and soil slightly moist and air the cover daily.

Strawberries with a steady hand

After germination, the seed pot quickly becomes crowded. At the latest when your pupils present 4-5 leaves, pricking is on the agenda. Here's how to do it:

  • Fill small pots halfway with commercially available pricking soil or a mixture of peat with 25 percent hummus
  • Make a small hollow in the ground with a pricking stick
  • Loosen the substrate around the strawberry seedling to lift it out without pulling
  • a teaspoon is sufficient for larger seedlings, and a pricking stick or tweezers for extra tender plants
  • plant in the pot, fill with soil and water

Experienced hobby gardeners take the explosiveness out of the process by not sowing the seeds in a seed tray. Instead, small pots are already used in this first phase. This has the advantage that later only the weakest specimens are sorted out.

tips and tricks

Clever hobby gardeners create an incentive for the strawberry seedlings to root even more diligently. At the bottom of the growing pot, they spread a thin layer of ripe compost under the meager substrate. The little plants try even harder to get to this set table. The result is a particularly strong root system.

Category:

Vegetable garden