Strawberries can be self-propagated in different ways. In addition to the rapid propagation through offshoots, you can also sow the small nuts.
The tiny yellow-green seeds on the outside of the strawberry (Fragaria) are actually called nuts. Therefore, from a botanical point of view, the strawberry is not actually a berry, but an aggregate fruit. Especially with monthly strawberries, which rarely form runners, these nuts are used for propagation. But all other strawberry plants can theoretically be reproduced via their nuts. However, propagation via stolons is far easier and has another important advantage: the stolons are clones of the mother plant and thus ensure varietal identity. Below we will show you how to properly propagate strawberries using both nuts and runners.
Propagating strawberries: sowing nuts
To obtain the nuts, thinly peel off the fruit skin and dry it. If the entire fruit is crushed instead, there is a risk that it will start to rot. When the seeds have dried in June or July, they can then be sown directly. It is advisable to place a few seeds in a pot. This is ideally filled with a 1:1 mixture of sand and high-quality organic herb and seed soil. The seeds are only lightly covered with the soil mix.
The optimal germination temperature is between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius in a warm and humid climate. Especially in midsummer, germination is more likely to succeed if the pot is not in full sun and is therefore better protected from drying out. Germination takes two to four weeks. When the seedlings have developed about three leaves, they can be separated and planted out in nutrient-rich soil. Seeds should not be sown later than the end of July, as the young plants need a certain size to survive the winter well. Sowing in spring is also possible. Monthly strawberries that are sown in spring can bear fruit as early as July.
Summary of propagating strawberries with nuts:
- Strawberries that do not form runners, such as some monthly strawberries, can only be propagated in this way
- The skin of the ripe strawberries is separated and dried
- Seeds can be sown again until mid-July, otherwise not until next spring
- During germination, temperatures should be between 15 - 18 °C (shade if necessary)
Propagating strawberries via runners
The best time to propagate via runners is between late July and early August. All offshoots that are already rooted can be separated from the tendril to the mother plant, carefully lifted out and immediately replanted. Infants that have little or no roots are best planted in small pots, but still remain attached to the mother plant until the pots are fully rooted.
Tip: Strawberries have an increased need for potassium and should therefore be planted in nutrient-rich soil such as our Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil.
Most strawberry plants have more than one stolon. The offspring closest to the mother plant are usually the strongest and largest. These have a higher chance of flowering right next year. Marking good-tasting, he althy, high-yielding plants with sticks or labels at the time of strawberry harvest has proven beneficial, especially for early-ripening strawberry varieties.
Common mistake: Often, plants that bear few fruits produce the most children. After all, you have energy left over to generate these. If you haven't marked the high-yielding plants, you tend to propagate the poorly-yielding plants with their many children.
If you want to get a particularly large number of offshoots from a plant, you can break off all of the flowering shoots on this plant. In this way, the plant does not have to divide its forces between fruit and stolon formation and can produce more children. This procedure is practically only possible if a very good harvest was determined and marked on the corresponding plant the year before. Since the yield in the same bed decreases sharply from the third year, this procedure is recommended in the third or fourth year in order to start with the bestto plant offshoots in another bed. When choosing the new bed, you should make sure that there were no types of vegetables that could be attacked by Verticillium wilt (potatoes, cucumbers, cabbage plants, etc.). All runners should be in the new bed by mid-August at the latest. Later the plants only grow poorly.
What to look out for when propagating strawberries with stolons:
- Mark plants with good yields and tasty fruits with sticks or labels at harvest time
- Only select he althy plants
- Replant already rooted children directly (between the end of July and mid-August)
- Plant unrooted runners in a small pot (5 - 10 cm diameter) and leave them with the mother plant for a while; Separate from the mother plant in mid-August at the latest and plant in the bed or overwinter in the pot in the basement (don't forget to water!)
Here you will find all the information on how to overwinter your freshly propagated strawberries and get them through the cold season successfully.