Alpine Strawberries, from seed - how to grow

I have loved alpine strawberries from childhood. My mother used to grow them and I would always be guzzling them before she could get any. They are deeply more delicious than any other strawberry with a strong vanilla undertone, and are somehow more luxurious than all the luxurious foods put together. That they should be so easy to grow from seed then is a huge bonus, and I am mystified that more people don’t have these in their gardens.

I use them as edging, but you could equally put them in a window box, or other container, including a hanging basket.

You need:

A packet of alpine strawberry seeds - I like the ‘Mignonette’ variety

A plug tray with lid, or you could use peat-free jiffy 7’s for this

Multi-purpose compost, sieved and mixed two thirds to one third with perlite

More perlite to cover

Here’s how to grow them:

Method:

Fill you plug tray with the compost mixture and soak it completely with water.

Take the TINIEST pinch of seed you can possibly manage and sprinkle it into each plug. They are miniscule so don’t waste your life trying to separate them out.

Cover with a thin layer of perlite, put the lid on and place the whole thing in a warm bright place.

Be very patient and you will notice tiny green leaves after a while. When there are leaves in most of the plugs, take the lid off and keep the babies watered by misting the surface of the compost every now and then.

Start hardening them off once the weather allows. Remember that these are alpine plants and therefore totally hardy - it’s just the transition from indoors to outdoors that needs managing so that the babies don’t go into shock.

Once they are a couple of cm tall, thin them out by snipping all but two or three seedlings at their base with a pair of nail scissors.

Thinned, grown on and ready to plant or pot on

Let them grow on for a couple of weeks, or more if you like, and then separate the tiny seedlings very carefully, planting two or three at opposite ends of a 5cm pot. Once they’ve filled this space, you can pot them into individual pots, or plant them straight out into the garden.

x Laetitia