Growing strawberries on the balcony and windowsill: the secrets of a good harvest

Even if you live in an apartment, growing strawberries on the balcony is not a fantasy, but a completely feasible and common method. Given the right growing conditions, strawberries will grow year-round in almost any container, be it a pot, hanging planter, basket or stacked pyramid. Following the basic instructions for planting and caring for the berry itself throughout the year will provide you with a tasty harvest without leaving home.

Strawberries feel comfortable in boxes and hanging flowerpots

Which varieties are suitable

For growing on the balcony, varieties of ordinary garden strawberries are suitable, which are able to adapt to cramped growing conditions: limited soil area, lack of light.

It is worth paying attention not only to large-fruited, but also to small-fruited varieties.

Regina

Small-fruited remontant strawberries are decorative and well suited for creating various compositions. It is unpretentious and can be grown on a loggia or balcony in a flowerpot. It tolerates heat and drought well. Regina has the taste of wild strawberries.

Alexandria

The berries of this small-fruited strawberry are quite large, oblong-conical, pointed towards the top, and have an aroma like wild strawberries. The variety is excellent for growing in hanging boxes and flowerpots. During fruiting, the leaves are practically invisible. The fruits tolerate transportation well and are stored fresh for several days.

Yellow miracle

The main distinguishing feature is the yellowish-cream color of the berries. The variety is small-fruited and bearless, suitable for allergy sufferers who cannot eat red berries. The yellow miracle can be planted on the balcony next to red varieties for variety.

Seasons

This small-fruited variety with long stalks is highly decorative and looks very impressive in hanging boxes and flowerpots. The berries are elongated, red, bright, very aromatic, close in smell to forest ones.

Baron Solemacher

This small-fruited variety has spreading and quite powerful bushes, which, thanks to their original appearance, look very impressive in hanging containers for growing. Practically no mustache is formed. The variety is unpretentious and disease resistant. The berries are fragrant, with good taste.

Elsanta

This garden strawberry has large fruits and is well suited for growing in an apartment, including on a loggia/balcony. It tolerates lack of light quite well. The harvest is good, the fruits are quite large, tasty, and externally original.

Sweet Evi

This variety is well suited for growing on the balcony. Sweet Evi is a large-fruited strawberry with dark burgundy-colored berries, a sweet taste and the smell of wild strawberries. Tolerates lack of light and heat well.

Darselect

The large-fruited variety is resistant to drought and heat. The berries are red, with an orange tint, sweet, with good taste.

Variety	Ripening time	Weight	Harvest from the bush
Alexandria	June-October	8 g	up to 1 kg
Seasons	June-September	4-7 g	up to 0.3 kg
Baron Solemacher	May-July	3-5 g	up to 0.5 kg
Yellow miracle	June-September	3 g	up to 0.5 kg
Regina	June August	up to 2.5 g	up to 0.3 kg
Sweet Evi	May-September	up to 25 g	up to 2 kg
Elsanta	May June	45 g	up to 1.5 kg
Darselect	May June	30 g	0.7-0.8 kg

Ampelous strawberries, also called climbing strawberries, are well suited for growing on the balcony. It has compact bushes and a large number of long tendrils with fruiting rosettes. Such strawberries bear fruit abundantly and for a long time, look aesthetically pleasing, and are a real decoration. Particularly suitable for growing in hanging pots and vertical multi-tiered structures. It is more convenient to place it in flower pots on the walls. When growing in multi-tiered structures, bush varieties can be planted on the lower ones, and hanging varieties can be planted on the upper ones.

Ampelous strawberries are grown not only for practical purposes, but also for decorative purposes.

Strawberry varieties for growing on the balcony

Garden strawberry "Tarpan"

Let's look at four species that are easy to grow in an apartment:

1. Tuscany. Low plants, cone-shaped, red-pink berries. The length of the unusual pink peduncles is 30-40 cm. It produces many mustaches and the bushes are curly. Looks decorative in baskets.
2. Tarpan. The variety was bred for hanging flowerpots. An excellent choice for those who have little space. A distinctive feature is the bright red flowers that appear 85 days after sowing. Berries are formed every 4-5 weeks. The ripening period lasts up to two weeks.
3. Tristan. The pride of a balcony greenhouse. Has large crimson flowers. The berries grow downwards and have a sweet taste. Fruits all summer: from late May to early October. Practically not susceptible to infection by viruses and fungi.
4. Other species that bear fruit 2 or 3 times in the first year. Queen Elizabeth is popular. Festival grapes ripen in May and September. Desnyanka is a sweet berry for jam.

Growing remontant strawberries - harvesting berries on the balcony and windowsill

The advantages of remontant strawberries are obvious: continuous flowering, long-term fruiting and high yield. Its peculiarity is that the buds are laid in the spring, and then develop throughout the year.

There are two types:

• small-fruited - tastes like forest fruit;
• large-fruited - similar in appearance to strawberries.

Large-fruited strawberry

Many species do not produce whiskers, so propagation is carried out mainly using seeds. In February-March they are planted in containers with fertile soil. And then, when the sprouts get stronger, they are transplanted into a large container.

How to arrange a balcony

How to grow strawberries at home

A balcony facing south, southeast, east or southwest is best suited. But this does not mean that you cannot get a harvest on the north or west side. If there is insufficient lighting, it is necessary to install additional sources of artificial light.

It is advisable to grow strawberries on a glazed and insulated balcony. If you plan to grow strawberries all year round, you need to insulate the floor, ceiling and walls, and use at least double-glazed windows for glazing.

You can plant strawberries on an unglazed balcony. But then the cultivation will not be year-round, but seasonal, that is, in the warm season.

Blinds and protective screens must be provided to protect from the scorching sun.

It is necessary to ensure ventilation, so there should be windows or transoms on the balcony.

Important. You should think in advance about how to grow strawberries in a limited area, taking into account the size of the loggia or balcony and the location of the windows.

Fruitful windowsill: how to grow strawberries in the room and on the balcony

Strawberries are unpretentious. Gardeners claim that they plant any variety in a flowerpot that bears fruit in the ground.

For the loggia, young shoots with light green leaves are chosen. Reviews from housewives indicate that it is enough to buy universal soil in the store and a larger pot for the first fruits to appear within a month.

You should try planting seedlings for the first time in May, when the weather on the balcony is warm, day and night. If your climate does not allow exposing the plant to the air, hide it on a glassed-in loggia. You can use a windowsill that receives a lot of light. For example, on the east or south side.

Windows on the north side are additionally equipped with fluorescent lamps.

During the period of active growth, strawberries need moist soil. It's damp, not wet. Excess water will cause the roots to rot. Keep air humidity at 80-85%. At this rate, watering is carried out once every three days. At lower humidity - daily.

Requirements for growing containers

For growing, boxes, plastic buckets, pots, hanging flower pots, and cut-off 5-liter plastic bottles are used. They should be of such a size that there is 3 liters of substrate per bush. If more than one plant is planted in a container, there should be a distance between them. Strawberries should be planted at least 7 cm away from the wall of the box. One bush is usually planted in pots, and up to 5 roots in boxes with a volume of about 15 liters.

Growing containers should not be too deep to allow the soil to dry out. Optimal depth is about 20 cm

It is necessary to make holes in the bottoms to drain moisture and be sure to add a layer of drainage.

About climbing strawberries

This is how climbing strawberries grow.

You can also plant climbing strawberries on your balcony. This agricultural crop will give you tasty and aromatic fruits from the beginning of June until the onset of frost.

In addition, for example, the remontant variety Garland will decorate the balcony with waves of thin stems dotted with white flowers, green leaves, yellow ripening and red, already ripe berries.

Amateur gardeners usually cultivate climbing berries on trellis supports. They allow the “vines” to look great and reach a significant height. Now manufacturers have begun to produce special plastic support nets in various colors for climbing crops.

Having presented a modest harvest in early June, the climbing berry plant begins to actively grow shoots with tendrils until the second ten days of August. Additional rosettes soon form on the shoots (several on each antenna).

If you do not arrange trellises for the plants, these rosettes will take root in the soil and a new bush will develop from them. On a support, young shoots form in the air, receiving nourishment from the mother berry. In the first ten days of August, the shoots give color and begin to bear fruit.

Climbing berry tree on a trellis.

The trellis support not only allows climbing strawberries to fully express their decorative abilities, but also protects them from diseases that may arise from contact with the ground.

During the autumn cold period, wrap the trellis on the open balcony with covering material. Then you will be able to collect fruits until late autumn. Over the entire season, one plant can produce about half a kilo of fragrant berries.

Soil preparation

You can buy soil for growing at a specialty store or prepare it yourself. The soil should be nutritious and loose. pH level – 5.5-6.0.

You can prepare the substrate as follows:

• Turf soil, peat and humus in a ratio of 1:1:1.
• Turf soil, peat, sand – 3:6:1.
• Peat and perlite – 1:2.
• Peat, humus and vermicompost – 2:1:1.

After filling containers for growing strawberries with it, the nutrient mixture must be disinfected by spilling it with a solution of fungicide or potassium permanganate.

Is it possible to grow strawberries on the balcony and harvest all year round?

The secret to a year-round harvest is in the soil. Strawberries need fertile soil. The more air gets in, the more moisture the root will receive. Specialized ones are bought in garden stores.

To prepare the mixture yourself, you need:

• turf soil - 1 part;
• peat - 1 part;
• humus - 1 part;
• sawdust - 1/3 part;
• river sand - 1/5 part.

Preparation of nutrient solution:

• 1 tsp copper sulfate;
• 6 liters of water;
• 350-400 grams of mullein.

Care

After landing

Strawberries on the balcony need to be watered, fed and ventilated.

For irrigation, you need to prepare settled warm water. Water 1-2 times a week, spending from 0.5 liters to 1 liter per bush. The frequency of watering is affected by air temperature and the size of the box. The soil should always be moistened, but not too moist, otherwise the soil will turn sour. In rainy and cool weather, less watering is required, as is the amount of water. In dry and hot weather, you need to water more abundantly and more often. Approximately every five days, strawberries need to be sprayed with a spray bottle.

During the summer heat on the balcony, you must open the windows or transoms for ventilation. Drafts should be avoided, since strawberries do not like them, so ventilation should be carried out in calm and clear weather.

Strawberries need to be fed every two weeks. For this purpose, complex fertilizers containing microelements, superphosphate solution, and ash infusion are used. You can use ready-made fertilizers for strawberries such as Kemira Lux or Fertika. Fertilizing is carried out according to the instructions on the package.

During fruiting, strawberries need to be tied up or stands installed that will hold the bunches of berries.

Plants must be protected from diseases and pests. To do this, the bushes are treated every ten days before fruiting with a decoction of capsicum, red elderberry or horse sorrel. Affected parts of strawberries must be cut off immediately.

After harvest

Strawberry bushes need to be looked after even after harvesting. They should be watered as they dry out. You also need to cut off old leaves and remove the tendrils.

If harvesting is not planned in winter, strawberries must be properly preserved. It can be moved to cool times in the apartment or left on the balcony if it is sufficiently insulated.

On a note. Strawberries are insulated only when the temperature drops below 4 degrees. During the thaw, it is recommended to ventilate it so that it does not get too warm.

Containers with plants should be placed in cardboard boxes. Then put them in larger boxes, placing 5 cm thick foam on the bottom on the sides. Cover the top of the box with paper or sawdust.

It is necessary to monitor the soil and water it periodically. This needs to be done when there is no severe frost, otherwise the ground may freeze, resulting in damage to the roots.

Growing strawberries from rooted shoots

In the garden plot, strawberries are grown by rooting young plants grown on the internodes of the tendrils. Young bushes send out roots without yet contacting the ground; you just need to press them to the soil, and they will immediately begin to grow. This is the natural and simplest method of propagating a crop, and if it is possible to obtain high-quality planting material, you can use it.

Advantages of growing strawberries with rooted rosettes:

• A fully developed plant is planted;
• The complex process of collecting, stratifying and germination of seeds is eliminated;
• The picking and transplanting procedure is avoided;
• The harvest is harvested in the year the strawberries are planted.

You can plant strawberry bushes all summer long, as soon as you can obtain planting material. Many gardeners cut the runners without allowing them to take root in order to thin out their strawberry plantings. You can take advantage of this and take young shoots for cultivation on your balcony.

Growing in PVC pipes

There are two ways to grow strawberries in pipes: horizontal and vertical. This method has many advantages:

• compactness and space saving;
• cleanliness during harvesting;
• design mobility;
• convenient care (weeding and watering);
• lack of weeding;
• protection from diseases with proper soil preparation;
• well-groomed appearance.

Most often there is no need to purchase pipes - materials left over from repairs are used.

In horizontal pipes

This option is especially good if there is a free wall on the balcony. The manufacture of such a design is quite simple. For strawberries, cut many holes in the pipe or make one the entire length. Plugs are installed at the ends. It is necessary to drill holes in the lower part to drain moisture and cover them with a layer of drainage so that the earth is not washed away during watering. A drainage layer is placed at the bottom through the drainage holes, then the pipe is filled with a mixture of soil with compost, peat and sand, then strawberry bushes are planted. You can organize watering by gravity by installing a watering pipe in one of the holes on the drainage layer and securing a bottle of water above it.

Important. Filling the pipe with soil is a rather lengthy process. This should be done carefully, without haste, pouring in small portions, compacting and moistening. If it is not compacted properly, the earth will sag and voids will form in the pipe, which will negatively affect the growth of bushes.

The design is attached to the wall and practically takes up little space on the balcony

Growing in vertical pipes

Making a vertical bed is a more complex process. You will need two pipes - one with a large diameter, the other with a small one. The first – up to 60 cm, the second – up to 6 cm.

You need to retreat 10 cm from the upper and lower edges of the large pipe. Every 15-20 cm horizontally and vertically, drill holes for bushes with a diameter of 3-5 cm. You need to start making holes from the bottom. Having made the first row, block the pipe from below with cement.

Make vertical rows of holes in a thin pipe for irrigation - the more, the better. Wrap it in fine mesh or burlap to prevent the holes from becoming clogged with soil. Fill the lower part with cement, and make a funnel in the upper part for ease of watering.

Place a small diameter pipe into a wide one and secure it. Place a layer of drainage at the bottom, then fill with fertile soil. Plant strawberries in the holes. Fill a thin pipe with water. Liquid fertilizer will also be applied through it.

A thick pipe will serve as the basis of the bed, a thin pipe is used for watering

A few recommendations

• To save space on the balcony, there is no need to plant plants in bunches in pots;
• To reap a really good harvest, the pot must be for one bush;
• The volume of the pot is at least three liters, and preferably five;
• The best place for strawberries is the south side.
• Since this culture does not like stagnant water, a two to three centimeter layer of drainage should be placed at the bottom of the pot. And there must be holes in the bottom of the pot;
• In order for strawberries to develop well and bear fruit, they must be fed once every two weeks with complex fertilizer for strawberries;
• Follow the concentration indicated on the package. After all, with an overdose, strawberries can grow gorgeous leaves and not even think about flowering;
• You need to water the strawberries with settled water so that the earthen lump does not dry out and is not too wet. When overwatered, fungal diseases can develop. For prevention, you need to add a little fertilizer every ten days when watering;
• In stores you can buy pots of different sizes that have convenient watering from below.

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Growing in pyramids

You can grow strawberries on a balcony in pyramids even in a very small area. The design is compact, the plant looks very decorative.

At the base of the pyramid there is a basic round or square level, with several smaller levels on top. Thanks to the multi-tier structure, the balcony space is used to the maximum - several plants grow in a small area at once. One of the important advantages is that the bushes practically do not come into contact with the soil, which reduces the risk of developing diseases and rotting.

This structure needs to be rotated every three days so that all plants are evenly illuminated by the sun.

Strawberries in pyramids need to be watered more often, since the soil dries out faster in vertical structures. Since the amount of land is limited, it is quickly depleted and therefore needs additional feeding.

Moscow delicacy: strawberry variety on the balcony

The variety is interesting because the buds form regardless of the time of day. If you provide the plant with warmth and moisture, the harvest can be harvested twice: in May and August. The balcony variety differs from the garden variety in the size of the berries.

Peculiarities:

• practically does not produce whiskers, reproduces by seeds;
• leaf color is deep green;
• the fruits are large;
• does not like excess moisture during the growth period;
• sweet berries of bright red color with pronounced yellow seeds;
• for the winter it requires shelter, even on the balcony.

Strawberry variety Moscow delicacy

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are used as fertilizer. To enrich the soil, irrigation once every 7-8 days is sufficient.

Useful tips

Tip #1

If possible, self-pollinating strawberry varieties should be planted on the balcony so that the fruits set without the help of wind and insects. If strawberries are pollinated, you need to take care of fertilization options. This can be done manually using a drawing brush (wet the brush in the morning and brush over the stamens and pistils). Another way is to create a little air movement using a fan.

Tip #2

When watering strawberries, you must try to prevent water from getting on the leaves and flowers.

Tip #3

If there are no standard plugs for PVC pipes, you can make them yourself. To do this, you will need a thick plastic film, which needs to be wrapped around the pipe on both sides and secured with electrical tape or twine.

Wintering remontant strawberries

As already mentioned, remontant strawberries do not die after the first year of life. If optimal conditions for wintering are created for it, it will begin to bear fruit next spring.

Leaving strawberries to winter in an apartment is not the best option. On a dry, warm windowsill, the plant will begin to hurt, and there is a high probability that it will catch spider mites. Wintering strawberries should be cool! It is optimal if you take the bushes out to a glazed balcony (insulated, where the temperature in winter does not drop below 0°C) or to a window in the entrance as early as November. Water it moderately, only after the soil has dried out two phalanges of your finger; there is no need to feed it. In the spring, strawberries will produce new shoots, begin to develop intensively and produce new leaves. The first berries after a cold winter appear in May-June.

Growing berries vertically

The vertical method for growing strawberry bushes seems to be the most rational than the classical one, because it is possible to sharply increase the number of berry bushes on the planting area, and at the same time, as a rule, the yield increases. Anyone can prepare vertical beds.

Pipe columns

Using a pipe makes the process of growing berries easier.
For the construction of vertical columns, sections of plastic pipes with a diameter of 110 mm are used. The height of the column for planting strawberries is set in accordance with personal desires, but very long sections must be further strengthened, since the vertical column is unstable.

For ease of watering, you should not prepare planting columns for strawberries higher than 1.5 meters. A piece of pipe is cut off, on one side of which a plug is placed (the bottom of the column). Holes with a diameter of 50 mm are drilled along the surface of the pipe, and it is important to comply with the following requirements:

• The holes are drilled in a staggered pattern.
• Adjacent holes should not be located at a distance of less than 30 cm.
• In a horizontal section, there should not be more than 2 holes at the same level.

Then a piece of pipe with a diameter of 40 to 50 mm is cut, the length is 20 cm longer than the first piece. This is a pipe for drip irrigation. One end of the plastic pipe is closed with a plug, small holes are drilled along all walls, sufficient for liquid to leak out (hole diameter no more than 3 mm).

A perforated pipe is inserted into a larger diameter pipe, filling the space between the walls with nutrient soil.

Plants are planted in holes drilled along the outer surface of the column; they are watered through small holes in the inner pipe, into which irrigation water and dissolved fertilizers are periodically poured.

Growing strawberries in plastic bags

Surprisingly, you can organize a small strawberry plantation at home! To do this, you will need a separate room and several thick plastic bags with a diameter of 15-10 cm.

Fill the bags with substrate (humus, sand, earth in a 1:1:1 ratio), tying them tightly at the top. Place on racks, stand, or hang as you see fit. Make small holes in the polyethylene and plant the seedlings.

It is important to take care of the room in which the strawberries will be located. It should be well ventilated. If it does not have a window, equip it with ventilation. You also need to maintain the temperature and the required humidity level. Lighting is an essential element that cannot be neglected. The best option is to purchase phytolamps.

For such bags it is best to organize an irrigation system . Hang a two-liter bottle, remove thin tubes from it (extremely convenient to use from under a dropper), and pierce the bag with them, placing each at a distance of 50 cm from each other.

Tip: To ensure that the vacuum does not linger in the bottle, make several holes at the very top.

Every two weeks the bushes need feeding, and during the flowering period - artificial pollination. You can do the latter manually, or you can use the fan at the lowest speed.

In this simple way you can organize a real strawberry garden at home.

Agricultural technology

It is possible to grow strawberries on the balcony that give a good harvest only by creating certain conditions.

Priming

Balcony strawberries (strawberries) are demanding in terms of soil volume. Each bush needs 3-5 liters of soil, respectively, the diameter of a single pot should be from 25 cm.

An earth mixture of high-rotted peat, river sand, perlite or vermiculite with the addition of vermicompost and mineral fertilizers is recommended.

Strawberries on the balcony love sunlight. Therefore, it is worth choosing south windows.

Lighting

The best results are obtained when grown on southern balconies. When placed on the north side, it is recommended to use additional lighting with phytolamps.

The minimum duration of daylight is 6 hours, recommended - 12-17.

Temperature

During the daytime, 25 degrees is recommended, at night – 17.

Flowering and fruiting stop at temperatures below 14 degrees.

Temperatures above 35 lead to a decrease in immunity.

To grow strawberries, you can use a drip irrigation system.

Humidity and watering

Strawberries are moisture-loving. Drainage and holes in the bottom will prevent soil acidification and root rotting.

During fruiting, the intensity of watering is increased.

Harvest

To improve the quality and quantity of your harvest, the following tips will help you.

Artificial pollination

Most varieties are dioecious plants. In open ground, pollination of strawberries occurs due to insects, which is unacceptable on a loggia or balcony.

You can create conditions for cross-pollination with the help of wind. To do this, create a draft or use fans. During the flowering season, the devices are turned on for several hours every 2-3 days and direct the air flow tangentially to the racks or slides with strawberries.

You can pollinate strawberries at home using a damp brush.

At the beginning of flowering, pollination by irrigation with water is acceptable. The pollen drips down onto the flowers below.

The most effective method of pollination in the house is manual pollination. Use a soft, moistened brush to touch the pollen on each flower.

Fertilizer application

Chemical complex fertilizers are not recommended. It is better to prepare compost, add slurry, diluting it with water 1 to 20.

Care to increase productivity

It is recommended to remove the mustache in a timely manner. In young bushes with two pairs of developed leaves, mustaches can form as early as the third week after transplantation.

Abundantly flowering, self-pollinating varieties tend to produce large numbers of small berries. To increase the weight of each berry, it is recommended to remove some of the buds.

The largest yield is produced by bushes of the 2nd-3rd year. In the fourth year they are replaced with new young plants.

Wintering

For the winter, containers with strawberries should not be moved into the apartment. If the balcony or loggia is glazed and the temperature does not drop below 5 degrees, it is enough to sprinkle the bushes with sawdust.

When the temperature drops below zero, containers should be insulated with covering materials to prevent through freezing of the soil.

To grow strawberries in a greenhouse or at home, you can use ultraviolet lamps, which can replace sunlight.

Moisten the soil a little when it dries out. Excessive watering in winter leads to rotting or freezing of the roots.

Pests and diseases

If agricultural practices are followed, plants have good immunity and are less likely to suffer from pests.

Strawberries can be damaged by:

• mites;
• weevils;
• nematodes;
• fusarium;
• late blight;
• gray rot;
• powdery mildew;
• brown and white spots.

Prevention and treatment of diseases is carried out during the growing season before flowering or after harvesting.

Main stages of cultivation

Garden strawberries grow well on balconies and windowsills, provided they have good regular care. In this way, it is no different from its garden relatives, which also need to be planted on the ridges in time, and as the bushes grow, weeding, watering and timely harvesting are carried out.

Preparing containers

You need to start by preparing containers in which the strawberry bushes will feel comfortable and free. If there is not enough space for the roots to develop, the harvest may not wait.

Strawberries in a regular flower pot

Depending on the root system of the selected variety, traditional containers for home cultivation are selected for growing the crop:

• flower pots installed on shelves and in wall planters;
• special narrow boxes for balconies, up to 1 m long;
• wide boxes reminiscent of containers for food or bottles;
• baskets with a liner made of dense material;
• special multi-tiered structures made of several pots or boxes.

Sometimes simple plastic bags are used, filled tightly with soil and placed on a secure base or hung along the railing.

Good harvest in an alternative growing container

The minimum size of pots for plants with a compact root system is 0.15 m in diameter, the width of the balcony box is from 0.2 m. The depth should also be at least 0.15 m, however, these are the minimum values, many varieties require a larger volume of soil.

Which soil is better

There are several schemes for creating fertile soil specifically for growing garden strawberries. The first popular option is a universal mixture from the supermarket for gardeners, for which you will have to pay a small amount. However, a similar composition can be selected independently, using peat as a basis. 3 parts of peat account for 1 part of river sand and 1 part of vermicompost (humus).

The soil for strawberries should be loose and nutritious.

The second option is collected according to the same principle, but approximately 20% of chernozem and the same amount of sawdust are added to the total volume. The function of sawdust is to create loose, slightly moist soil, allowing the roots to breathe. To prevent the wood from turning sour, before mixing, the sawdust is treated with urea and a little chalk is added to it.

For protection, a vitriol solution is added to the soil, and natural fertilizers are added for fertility. However, the latter should be introduced with caution so that the specific smell does not spread to the entire home.

How to grow strawberries from seeds

Many people believe that the richest harvest on the balcony comes from strawberries grown from seeds, when the entire agricultural process is done with your own hands “from scratch.” For ease of care, the seeds are sown in long boxes, but not sprinkled with soil on top. Having thoroughly moistened the soil, they are covered with glass or thick plastic film for insulation and protection from the wind.

As soon as the sprouts hatch, the film is removed, and the containers with the plants are moved to a lighted place, closer to the sun.

The appearance of the first leaves on the sprouts

The first leaves indicate the time for transplantation.

Planting seedlings

The sprouts are planted in pots, preferably 1 at a time, so that the root system develops fully and the growing process proceeds according to plan. If the roots of the selected variety are not large in size, then standard pots of 15 cm x 15 cm are quite sufficient. But in each of them it is necessary to arrange drainage: pour a layer of pebbles, small crushed stone or gravel onto the bottom, in which holes have been made in advance.

The transplanted bushes bloomed

After planting in a permanent place of growth, the soil can be fertilized with universal growth stimulants or fertilizers recommended for growing garden strawberries. If the seedlings are purchased and not your own, they can be further processed - cut off dried roots, remove limp leaves.

Rules of care

To achieve maximum effect, each bush requires careful and regular care, which includes the following procedures:

• Pruning - removing the lower three leaves before replanting (5-6 pieces should remain), as well as cutting off the top after the plant has risen by about 10 cm. In the future, you will have to cut off the mustache, and in some cases, excess flowers, so that the plant’s energy flows for eating berries.
• Fertilize with natural or complex fertilizers once every 2 weeks. An infusion of eggshells and ash, aged for a week, is suitable (for 3 liters of water - 1 liter of ground shells and a couple of spoons of wood ash). Many speak well of the mineral supplement Kemir Lux.
• Watering is carried out regularly, depending on the demandingness and moisture-loving nature of the variety. It is also necessary to monitor the temperature and rate of evaporation of moisture in the pots - it is advisable that the soil does not dry out, but is always slightly moist.

If the bushes are planted in a common box, then the distance between them should be maintained at least 20 cm. In addition to watering, spraying is necessary, which should be carried out every 3-4 days.

Secrets of Pollination

Not all varieties are self-pollinating, so you will have to learn how to pollinate yourself. This is a responsible and scrupulous process, you have to act very carefully. The pollination tool is usually a cotton swab soaked in clean water or a thin art brush with soft bristles.

Brush pollination process

It is necessary to wait until the flowers have fully bloomed and are ready for the procedure. Then take a brush and carefully, trying not to damage the petals, brush it over the stamens and pistils. It is advisable to remember or mark which flowers have already been processed, otherwise the process may take a long time.

When the first berries appear, you will have to check the containers for their ability to withstand the heavy load of the harvest. Stands for especially prolific plants may be needed so that the berries are placed more freely and continue to fill.

Choosing a place for the plant

Strawberries need sunlight. Therefore, it is important to arrange the plantings so that they receive the maximum heat and lighting they need. Balconies that face south will be a suitable place for growing berries. Sometimes it is enough to provide good lighting in the afternoon. If you follow these simple rules, strawberry bushes can bear fruit until late autumn. It is advisable to hang flowerpots with plants inside the balcony rather than outside. Excessive drafts and strong winds are destructive for them.

First ripe berries

Choosing the right soil

The key to the success of any event is adequate preparation of the necessary conditions for its implementation. In our case, we need to pay special attention to the selection of soil. Since strawberries are not a typical plant for home cultivation, the approach to the matter must be special. Special fertile soil for growing remontant strawberry crops must necessarily consist of the following elements:

1. Biologically active humus.
2. Peat.
3. Sand. It's better to take a river one. It, unlike quarry, contains more nutrients.
4. Perlite or vermiculite.
5. Mineral fertilizers. It should be remembered that the most environmentally friendly of them is ash.

If you have not previously had gardening experience, then the right decision would be to purchase a ready-made mixture along with the seeds of the desired crop.

Planting seeds in prepared soil

Many people are interested in how to grow strawberries on the balcony from seeds.

When you have decided on the choice of planting material and purchased soil, you can proceed directly to planting. To do this, you need to mix the seeds with pre-disinfected sand (it is enough to calcine it in the oven). Seeds can also be stratified if desired. This is done as follows: a few days before planting, place the seed material in the refrigerator for three days. In this case, it is necessary to maintain a stable temperature, but no more than three and no less than five degrees Celsius below zero. The soil should not be dry before planting. We plant the grains shallowly, only lightly dusting them with soil on top. To protect the crop, it is better to cover the planting with plastic film or any other material that retains moisture inside.

It is better to cover the strawberries with film

A mini-greenhouse is also ideal for such purposes.