You Grow Girl™

Plantlet Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 35

I have sucessfuly germinated lots of "Alpine Strawberry" seeds and the are really growing. I ave about 30 or so. Some of the seedlings have just acquired their first true leaves. I am also worried because the seedlings in one pot have about 1/2'' of soil. Should i wait till the outgrow their pot or can iI transplant them now. I do not want to damage the seedlings. If possible, what is the best way to transplant woth minimal damage? I tried to transplant a seedling with its first true leaves and it died so i don't know what i did wrong. I was wandering if anyone has ever raised strawberries from seed that has done so sucessfuly. I would really like to know your method.

Please help.

Thank you for your attention in this matter,

garden_nut90

Posted: 25-07-07 15:12

I transplanted a bunch of alpine strawberry seeds that were growing in silmilarly shallow soil about a month ago-- it had been just over a month since they had germinated, and the most vigorous of them had roots that were 2" or longer. They were already looking a little stunted on top at that point. I'd go ahead and transplant them very soon, but be careful to only bottom-water them until they get a bit larger (if your transplant container allows it).

My transplants are looking great now (in a strawberry pot). If you're interested, I'll upload and post a photo of them so you'll have an idea of what you'll be dealing with in a month or so Smile

Plantlet Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 35

that would be great thank you. will this have minimum root damage? about how soon?

Posted: 25-07-07 23:21

OK, now that I'm home and can post this, here's what they looked like on 6/13/07 (click to go to Flickr, use the "all sizes" button to enlarge):

And here's what they looked like a couple of days ago:

The first picture's probably not too far off from what you have now. I kind of regret having spaced them so closely in the pot now, because they've really taken off.

You can probably wait until the second set of true leaves appears-- but definitely no longer. If you have them in individual cells, waiting until then should be fine. Mine, on the other hand, were planted in a single shallow tray, and by the time I transplanted them, all the roots had grown into each other. To get them untangled, the roots had to be almost completely exposed. So if you've done something similar to that, get them out of that container as soon as you can. My plants seem to have done all right regardless, but if I'd known then what I know now, I would have done things differently.

This pot gets full sun for about 3 hours, and bright indirect light for another 8. It gets a good watering every other day now, but I watered it every day for the first week or two after transplanting to relieve the shock.

Plantlet Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 35

Satrina, Those look beautiful!
When i sowed, i did not know mcuh about strawberries from seed. and i did not think at the time about th shallow planting. would you like to see a picture of them? and do you think they will recover?

thank you very much,

pomme8916

Posted: 26-07-07 12:46

Believe me, we're in the same boat, just a couple of months apart. I think my seedlings were in about an inch of soil or less. Live and learn, right? Smile

Transplant them carefully now, keeping the roots as intact as possible (keeping as much soil around them intact as possible, too), and keep them well-watered-- they'll recover as long as you give them partial sun (but keep them out of too much heat), and bottom-water daily. Bottom-watering means putting water in a saucer beneath the pot so that the soil wicks up the moisture through the drainage holes. Strawberry seedlings start off really tiny, so you don't want to water from the top if you can avoid it-- a couple of stray splashes can bury them. When you bottom-water, though, make sure the water is making it up to the roots by lightly poking around in the soil to make sure the root area is moist (but not soggy).

I'm sure that your seedlings will recover. At the first pair of true leaves, the roots shouldn't be developed enough for the shallowness of the container to hurt them much... yet. Just get them transplanted, and everything should be fine.

Plantlet Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 35

thank you so much for your help!

Plantlet Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 35

thank you so much for your help!

Old Growth Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 55 Location: Toronto

Satrina,
Your strawberry plants are beautiful, did you buy or harvest your own seeds? When do you expect your plants to start producing fruit? How will you over-winter them? Your strawberry pot is lovely.

Posted: 29-07-07 0:43

Hi Cristine, thanks for the compliment on the pot-- it was a bargain find at a craft store, and I didn't even know I'd been growing strawberries at the time! The seeds were purchased a few months later on a whim, so when it came time to transplant them and I was scrounging around for a container, I put two and two together. I'm not sure when to expect fruit from them. The packet says that they flower in June (at which point these guys were just seedlings), so it may be a while. At least that will give the plants time to get established. It'll just be a pleasant surprise when they turn up!

Actually, I don't have any particular plans for overwintering, yet, either. I'll probably leave the pot on the porch but bring it closer to the house to give it a little insulation from extreme temperatures. That would be as much for the pot itself as the strawberries, since it's lightweight ceramic and seems as if it might be less hardy than the plants Wink

Plantlet Joined: 23 Jul 2007 Posts: 35

Once again, Love the pot. It is very pretty.

Posted: 31-07-07 12:00

Thank you, Pomme Smile

Posted: 06-09-07 22:53

For the record, the first strawberry from those plants ripened yesterday!

And here's what the pot looked like a couple of weeks ago:

Bugs got to the strawberry before I did, but the un-bitten side was tasty.

Posted: 07-09-07 5:11

Satrina, mulch your strawberry plants when old winter comes around, they should survive the winter. I have had my plants for two years and I am in zone 8a. Slugs ate most of mine growing in a squarefoot bed. Next year I will put them in pots handing from my backyard tree.

Posted: 08-09-07 12:54

Thanks for the tip, Lemongrass! When I mulch them, would I mulch the soil inside the pot? Or do I need to plant them in the ground and mulch the ground? (Or bury the pot in the ground? Very Happy

)

They're so crowded in that pot that I'll have to try to transplant some of them into the ground, anyway. I love the idea of putting them in hanging pots! If enough excess plants make it through the winter, I may have to borrow that idea from you.

Posted: 08-09-07 17:49

Both in-the-ground or potted plants can be mulched. I used the dried crumbled leaves to mulch my plants. My non-greenthumb friend gave me this great hanging basked fours years ago, and I've decided to put some strawberry plants in there; slugs eat most of my strawberries.

Posted: 10-09-07 11:23

My hubby gave me some hanging baskets for my birthday just so I could put strawberries in them in hopes of keeping the buggies off them...looks like next season is going to be the season of the hanging Strawberry!! Laughing