I have some bare-root Albion strawberries I am going to try growing but I acquired some alpine strawberry seeds and was wondering the best way to grow these two varieties of strawberries
2 Likes
Most strawberries are pretty easy unless you have high disease pressure. Albion doesn’t have too many disease problems. They have shallow roots so just make sure they don’t dry out, especially if in containers.
5 Likes
I recommend spreading the seeds on the surface of a pot of soil now. They should sprout readily in spring and can be separated and potted on individually after a couple months of growth.
4 Likes
Do strawberries do better in pots and containers or in a garden bed? I have some of my Albion roots in a pot for now.
If you keep them watered a pot should be fine with the proper nutrients and soil type. I struggle maintaining moisture for mine and in ground is easier for me.
3 Likes
What is the right soil type? Mine are currently in a mix of top soil, regular garden soil, and flower and vegetable soil.
Mine like the sphagnum moss I grabbed from work and runner like crazy in it. It dries on the surface and seems to retain moisture like mulch which is good for limiting rotten berries but also good for the roots.
Good to know!! thank you
If it’s in a pot, you don’t need top soil. I would just use potting soil and avoid garden soil for all potted plants. Garden soil is too heavy for most plants in pots.
3 Likes
most alpines don’t runner so they are easier to control but don’t produce as heavily as commercial strawberries do. they can be a pain to control as the runners will overpopulate a bed. i cover my beds with commercial fabric with the strawberries planted in cuts every 12in. in the 2nd year or as i get runners i plant 1 in new cuts every 6 in. in between the older plants, this way i control the amount of plants in my bed. just cut off the excess runners or use them to start a new bed. use fabric, not plastic as you want rain / air to permeate. i also like to put a rig of mulch around the plants for the berries to sit on and it holds more moisture around the plants better. every spring i remove the fabric and fertilize. then replace it back. for a bed of alpines, i just put heavy mulch around them to keep the weeds out.
2 Likes
For now, they are in pots until I can make a portable raised bed for them because we plan on moving soon and I don’t want to disturb plants once they are rooted in the local microbiome.
1 Like
do you happen to know how they commercially propagate bare roots? is it mother plant division or by runners? would love to see how they manage the propagation of runners at scale 
I don’t. i would guess they take/ plant runners in late summer, into seedling cell trays to grow out the roots, until they go dormant. then rinse the media off, bunch and refrigerate until spring. they would need to divide alpines from a mature mother plant, which is tricky and labor intensive. why they usually grow from seed. i planted mine indoors in early May. planted them outside in early June. had berries by late July till’ frost. most of my alpines are under trees and shrubs and have fallen into disrepair. i plan to transplant them to their own bed this spring.
1 Like
@kinghat
@steveb4
For bare roots (frigo), the runners are not planted into trays, they develop freely in strawberry nurseries and in late autumn they are dug out and stored in refrigerators.
2 Likes
that makes more sense.
do you know of a video or pictures of this process?
If you’re eager to start indoors then you can take those crowns and plant them in small pots or solo cups in soil mix, I’ve done it many times, they’ll wake up in under a week. They’ll wilt over and look dead when you plant them outside, but they’ll survive. Planting from seed is really tough, I don’t have any advice on that, I’ve tried and forget what the process was. We have two 4’x4’ raised beds with a chicken wire lid and walls to protect from animals and it works great. We also have another patch on the ground and it’s easier but birds peck every berry. Either way, just cover them with leaves and wood chips in late fall and weeds are no problem and strawberry plants push right through in spring.
Do you know if it works that well in pots too? We don’t have much land and plan to move this year so I don’t have anywhere to grow them other then pots
3 Likes
