Tasty strawberries

[Merking]

I've been looking for a delicious strawberry to cultivate as a lot of them are quite bland.

I was very impressed by a punnet I tried 6 months ago. They were bursting with flavour and very sweet. I carefully removed about 15 seeds and put them on a damp paper cloth in a freezer bag. After a week, the seeds had mold on them. 8 weeks had past and none of them sprouted, so I figured they were dead.
Last week, I found that freezer bag and noticed one had germinated after six months. The strawberry leaf is about 3mm wide

[Oldandintheway]

That is amazing! I wonder if it's normal for germination to take that long? Great photo BTW
I hope it survives for you & produces well. Keep us posted.

[sewmuchtosee]

That is amazing. Yes do keep us posted.

[meebo1]

I would never have thought of using strawberry seeds to get plants. The seeds are so tiny that I would loose them. If you get any fruit in the future, I might come round and help you eat

[johnwash1]

It makes sense that they don't germinate immediately. Else they'd be sticking their heads out in mid-winter?

Best of luck with the survivor.

[Shesawaya38485]

Awesome!! You said you put it in a "freezer bag" - did you keep them in the fridge or at room temperature?

[Merking]

Opps, I forgot about this thread. A freezer bag (AKA food bag) in the UK is one of those clear little bags for left over food etc. They were at room temperature. I put that seedling out in the sun in March, under a clear plastic pot, but it cooked within hours as it was too hot.

I have quite a few dried seeds left but they're 12 months old now. Last year, I shaved thin layers of the strawberry skin (containing the seeds) with a knife and let them dry out on top of some freezer bags. They've been fully dried out and exposed to air all this time. I tried to germinate some again inside a freezer bag with damp paper and all 10 have sprouted. The skin hydrates and mold eats it away, then the seeds eventually germinate.

[astral276]

I use the freezer bag + wet paper towel thing to grow plants from orange pips. Works well, but you do have to remove the hard outer case from the pips first or they won't sprout.

No sign of any oranges on my plants though.

[Shesawaya38485]

Opps, I forgot about this thread. A freezer bag (AKA food bag) in the UK is one of those clear little bags for left over food etc. They were at room temperature. I put that seedling out in the sun in March, under a clear plastic pot, but it cooked within hours as it was too hot.

I have quite a few dried seeds left but they're 12 months old now. Last year, I shaved thin layers of the strawberry skin (containing the seeds) with a knife and let them dry out on top of some freezer bags. They've been fully dried out and exposed to air all this time. I tried to germinate some again inside a freezer bag with damp paper and all 10 have sprouted. The skin hydrates and mold eats it away, then the seeds eventually germinate.

That's great!! I was curious about the temperature you kept them at because some seeds have to go through a cold or even a freeze before they will germinate (can't think of any examples right now) We have wild strawberries here but they are very small (pencil eraser size) hard and bitter tasting, but do contain all the essential nutrients of regular strawberries. I tried "thin slicing" some tomatoes to harvest the seeds but one of my stinkin' cats ate them!! I know, I could go buy already started plants, but what's the fun in that??

I use the freezer bag + wet paper towel thing to grow plants from orange pips. Works well, but you do have to remove the hard outer case from the pips first or they won't sprout.

No sign of any oranges on my plants though.

How long ago did you plant it? I've read that it takes an average of 10 years before an orange tree will produce when started from seed and unless the seed comes from a pure organic orange, it may never produce. We can't grow oranges here, but were going to put in a small orchard until a neighbor planted one on his property and told us we were welcome to harvest as soon as they started producing. We are already giving him fresh eggs, so it will be a good swap! I'd rather feed chickens than dig holes to plant in and have trees to prune every year.

[astral276]

No sign of any oranges on my plants though.

How long ago did you plant it? I've read that it takes an average of 10 years before an orange tree will produce when started from seed...

Only just over a year ago - plus I think they need repotting into larger pots as the roots are coming out of the holes in the bottom of the pots.

I probably dont have 10 years left in me.

I really only did it to see if I could get the pips to grow.