Subject: alpine strawberries question

From: [email-masked] (Martin Zimmerman)
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 12:09:21 -0600

After getting zero germination last year, I decided to try growing
alpine strawberries from seeds again this spring (yes, I *did* buy the
seeds from a different supplier). Now I've got dozens of the little
seedlings :-). How soon should I plant these out? I'm in zone 5/6 (for
reference people here typically plant lettuce seedlings April 1st and
tomato seedlings June 1st). The seedlings mostly have 1 true leaf right
now. Can I realistically expect to get fruit this year or not (I've heard
its possible if the seeds are planted early enough and I planted around
March 1st)? The seedlings are in 2" squares so they can probably grow
quite a bit more before becoming root bound.

Thanks for your help

Marty
Cleveland, Ohio USDA Zone 5/6 (on the border)

-- 
Marty Zimmerman                           [email-masked]
Analex Corp - NASA Lewis Research Center
Cleveland, Ohio USA

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From: [email-masked] (Sherry Bailey)
Date: 31 Mar 1995 20:38:14 GMT

Oh, one tip -- allow one or two berries to dry on the vine, and plant the
seeds either as a berry or bravely separate them -- freshness of seed is
important to germination, it seems, and obviously these are FRESH! I did this
and got clumps of hundreds of tiny seedlings with I separated and planted in
my woodlands garden -- doing it over again, I'd plant them in containers until
they got bigger, I think my woods is too hostile for tiny baby plants, but
anyway you get a lot to experiment with this way. (Hard to forfeit the berry
though!)

Sherry

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From: [email-masked] (Sherry Bailey)
Date: 31 Mar 1995 20:34:52 GMT

I grew some from seed, planed the seedlings in a window box liner indoors, and
hardened them off in (I think) May (Zone 5).  They were on my deck in partial
sun and had to be watered frequently (although I used hydrogel crystals which
helped a lot) and they did produce berries the first year, but only a
few. Wonderful little things!!! If in more sun and with more room they might
have produced more, but I don't think you will get a bowlful, just a few
tastes! Then again, I guess it depends on how many plants you have!

Sherry