Has anyone ever tried growing strawberries from seed? How hard is it?

i have got some growing, well i'm still waiting for them to germinate, i simply took the seeds of a strawberry, however i saw today a pack of seeds packaged by "unkins" or similar i've got a terrible memory but someone will correct me...

I've grown them from seed the last 2 years and they are producing quite nicely. i can't remember how quickly they germinated, though now that I'm thinking about it, i think it might have been a wee while - sure i started them off in the greenhouse.

this years have just gone into the (recently vacated) potato bed with some manure and extra compost and they are thriving....even started flowering again.

never had to bother ... I just take runners from my own or other people's plants

I bought 3 plants last year.. this year they produced moderately. however now these plants are beginning to produce long shoots/branches.. is this runner variety ?
But i m also going to sow some seed variety called alexandria. also if u sow from seeds u have to harden off the seeds by placing them in your refrigerator..

Originally Posted by falkon

But i m also going to sow some seed variety called alexandria. also if u sow from seeds u have to harden off the seeds by placing them in your refrigerator..

I already have lots of strawberries plants in the garden but I 'found a deal' on ebay for some strawberry seeds, so have about 1500! I'm sure they are alexandria too.

when do you have to put the seeds in the fridge? Before or after they start to grow?

Originally Posted by A Life Less Simple

when do you have to put the seeds in the fridge? Before or after they start to grow?

before u sow them... for atleast 2 weeks in a sealed airtight bag...
after 2 weeks take them out and sow them.

i planted some in april this year - they took ages to germinate, then seemed like they were gonna stay as 8mm plants forever but abut june they started growing.
Now they are decent plants and im expecting my first alpine strawberry soon!
I bought the seeds from ebay, some alpine variety.

looks very good but i will recommend to transplant them in bigger pots

Aren't runners clones of the mother plant with the same biological age? So they won't carry on forever?

I'm sure I read about about some plant dieing simultaneously everywhere as they'd all been propagated from one wild plant/it's clones.

I thought professionals grew Strawbs from seed to avoid this situation, but I'm not sure.

I was thinking of starting from scratch this year so I know what variety I have and so that I can get the widest possible fruiting season I know I could buy them ready, but with seeds being cheaper....

I read they were similar to peas, earliews and lates?

Just have to decide which varieties to go for!

I grew alpine strawberries from seed this year - were very slow to germinate and get past the seedling stage, but are now very bushy and have produced some fruit. Seemingly they will self spread very well

What do you mean by self spread? Runners? If so, they're wild strawberries, not alpines.

Alpines don't have runners.

Originally Posted by BFG

What do you mean by self spread? Runners? If so, they're wild strawberries, not alpines.

Alpines don't have runners.

no think they must reseed - no runners on them - just going by what I read on here before

I always grow them from seeds.

They don’t geminate very fast and wont produce fruit in the first year but they should produce fruit and runners in the second year. It is not difficult just following sowing instruction from the packet.

The advantage of growing from seeds is that you can try different varieties and it is economic.

Here is a picture of one of mine that grow from seeds, it has pink flowers and produce fruits on runners as well. They flower and fruit all summer until frost. They look really pretty in hanging basket as well. It is really rewarding to grow them from seeds.