Maybe you have an abundance of store-bought strawberries and you want to find a way to use them up.
Either way, did you know that you can grow strawberries from store-bought ones? All you need is a pot or planter, some soil, and the strawberries themselves.
It’s easy to grow strawberry plants from store bought strawberries. Simply remove the seeds and sow them thinly onto some good quality seed compost and keep them in a warm place until they germinate.
How to grow strawberries from store bought strawberries?
To get started, take some store-bought strawberries and using a sharp knife, carefully cut the outer layer of the strawberry away so that you have a skin like strip that holds the seeds.
Once you have eaten the remainder of the strawberry, place the skin into a bowl of warm water and gently rub the seeds from the skin.
Take the seeds and scatter them thinly onto the surface of some good quality seed compost, in pots, pressing the seeds down lightly into the compost.
Place the pots in a warm spot and keep the compost moist.
Pot the seedlings on when the first proper leaves form.
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How quickly will plants grown from store bought strawberries grow?
Even though it isn’t necessary, you will see faster growth if you can provide bottom heat to the area where you are sowing your seeds.
Covering your seed compost with clear plastic or a propagation mat will help to keep the soil warm enough for germination.
Once ready, seedlings should be carefully lifted and planted into their permanent positions.
Keep them sheltered and they will grow strongly during their first year.
Your new strawberry plants will produce fruit from their second year onwards.
When is the best time to plant strawberry seeds?
You can sow strawberry seeds throughout the year but the best time is from late winter to early spring.
This will give the young plants the longest possible growing season and, will allow them time to mature before being planted outside after the last frosts.
Will plants grown from store bought strawberries produce fruit?
When you grow any fruit or vegetable from store bought produce there is no guarantee that they will fruit.
Many products found in shops and stores come from hybrid variants of plants, these have been bred to produce maximum yields and the seeds of their fruits often don’t resemble the parent plants.
So, your strawberry plants may produce fruit, and it’s likely that they will, however they may be different to the strawberry that you took the seeds from – they may be a different size, colour, have a different shape and even taste differently.
Can I plant a whole strawberry to grow strawberry plants?
There is little point in planting an entire strawberry.
The fruit will rot and develop mould which will affect the seeds, that is, if it manages to survive the attempts of birds and other creatures that will dig it up for food.
Even if some of the seeds did survive, they are so small that if they are buried too deeply into the ground they will struggle to germinate if at all.
So, the best way is to extract the seeds and to sow them in pots of compost, don’t bother planting the fruit.
Can I store the seeds from store bought strawberries to plant at a later date?
Yes, you can store the seeds but you must dry them out first so that they don’t rot.
The easiest way to do this is to put the seeds onto a sheet of kitchen roll which will absorb the moisture.
Leave the seeds in a warm place they should be totally dry within a few days.
You can then store them in an airtight jar or a paper bag.
When can you plant strawberries outside?
Wait until after the last frost has passed before planting them into their permanent positions.
Strawberries like a sunny spot to grow in, they also need moist soil which is well drained and fertile.
The plants will benefit from a dressing of well rotted manure or fertiliser before planting out at the start of the growing season.
Keep them well watered and regularly look over any weeds that might appear as they will take up valuable nutrients from your strawberries.
Can you plant strawberry plants in pots?
You can but they won’t produce as strong or as tasty fruit as those grown in the ground.
They will require support and regular feeding, since strawberry plants grown in containers lack the nutrients found within the soil.
If you do want to plant them in pots place them on a sunny patio near to a wall where they can benefit from the protection of the wall and the radiated heat that the bricks absorb.
Final Words
It’s easy to get started with growing strawberries from store bought fruit once you have extracted the seeds.
Strawberry plants are low maintenance and the fruit that they produce is delicious, both raw and cooked and tastes so much better than the ones that you buy at the shop
They are one of the first fruits to ripen in your garden so you can start harvesting them early in the season.
Even if you don’t get the same results as with the original fruit that you took the seeds from, there is no doubt that they will produce delicious fruit of their own.
