How to Grow Strawberries Indoors

Strawberries are juicy fruit that is rich in antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber. This low-calorie food is sodium-free, cholesterol-free, and fat-free, alongside being rich in manganese and potassium. Learning how to grow strawberries indoors is much easier than most people assume.

We provide you the best tips and tricks to develop and correctly maintain ripe strawberries indoors. If you want delicious strawberries available in your house at all times, this article shows you how to grow a strawberry plant.

There are many benefits to growing strawberry plants inside compared to outdoors in a garden. When you grow strawberries indoors, controlling factors like light and temperature is much more feasible.

Different Types of Strawberries

It is simpler to avoid pests and insects on indoor plants than fruits and vegetables in the garden. If you do not have a garden in your backyard, you might have thought it was impossible to grow your own strawberries.

However, these DIY methods allow you to turn strawberry seeds into ripe strawberries ready to eat or include a strawberry shortcake recipe.

There are more than 600 strawberry varieties found around the world. Among the cultivars, certain types of strawberries are more manageable to grow indoors compared to others.

The kind of strawberry we recommend planting indoors is the Alpine strawberry. Alpine strawberries have no problem growing indoors, and they bear yummy fruits. You can grow strawberries from existing plants or crowns or take care of planting strawberries from seed. Either works well.

With the gardening advice we show you, growers of all experiences can produce fruit from their strawberry plant.

Learning How to Grow Strawberries

Before you grow strawberries at home, you must first decide what type of strawberry you want to plant. June-bearing strawberries only produce fruit one time in June.

Ever-bearing strawberries have fruit available two times a year. Sometimes, ever-bearing plants continue fruiting year-round if you maintain ideal conditions.

The type of strawberry best suited to grow indoors is the Alpine strawberry, which grows better in a condensed space and does not need to spread its roots as much as other strawberry varieties.

Because Alpine strawberries grow better in smaller areas, planting them in hanging baskets, a pot, or on a windowsill is also a viable option. When to plant strawberries indoors is usually spring, but since they are inside, other times of year are also feasible.

Preparation for Growing Strawberries Indoors

Can you grow strawberries indoors? Yes, however, specific steps are required for growing strawberries in a pot, so your strawberry houseplants are as prepared as possible. Remove the runners, trim old or dead leaves, and trim the root system to four inches before planting.

After removing all unnecessary parts, soak the roots for one hour, so they spread out. A shallow root system allows the plant not to take up a lot of space in the pot.

Another important note to remember when planting strawberries indoors is to clip the blossoms for the first six weeks after growing the fruit.

When you cut the blooms, it allows the strawberry enough time to establish before using significant energy to produce fruit.

Can You Grow Strawberries Indoors Easily?

You must have the correct potting soil in your strawberry pots, so your plant produces an excellent yield during harvest season. The potting mix gives the strawberries much-coveted nutrition to grow.

Because strawberry plants have a shallow root system, many soils effectively nourish the plant. Soils with a pH between 5.6 and 6.3 nourish a strawberry plant most efficiently.

Potting mix and fertilizer are critical parts of planting strawberries indoors. Implement peat moss and a slow-release organic strawberry plant fertilizer rich in potassium every ten days after the plant begins flowering.

Fertilizer adds more nutrients for your strawberry plant to thrive. Learning how to grow strawberries indoors starts with planting in the right kind of potting soil and fertilizer.

Ensuring Your Strawberry Plants have Light Exposure

One of the most challenging aspects to consider when growing strawberries indoors is making sure the plants have enough sun exposure.

Plants require light for photosynthesis to convert oxygen, light, and water to carbohydrates. Without photosynthesis, your strawberry plant cannot grow and produce fruit.

Compared to other fruits and vegetables, strawberries call for more full sun exposure than usual. A strawberry demands between 12 to 16 hours of direct sunlight each day.

One benefit of growing strawberries indoors is that controlling light exposure is effortless. Because you are growing your plant indoors, use a grow light to ensure your strawberries receive plenty of nutrients during the growing season.

How to Grow Strawberries Indoors

Another way to ensure that your strawberry plants receive the right amount of nutrients is to water them regularly. Water provides the strawberries with nutrients to grow and produce fruit. It is critical not to overwater your plant, as it leads to root rot and other diseases.

Water Your Plants Correctly

During the fruit-bearing season, water your strawberry plant up to two inches every day. Since strawberries require a lot of water, ensure that the soil moist levels in the growing medium are consistent.

Can you grow strawberries indoors? Of course, although you must consistently check that your plant is getting plenty of hydration.

Harvesting Strawberries at the Right Time

It is simple to tell when strawberries are ready to harvest and keep strawberries from going bad. Picking the fruit at the right time helps you avoid any rotten or mushy strawberries.

Strawberries are ripe when 75 percent of the fruit’s exterior surface is a deep red color. The tops of the fruit may be white when you harvest. Squeeze the strawberry gently to check for ripeness. A ripe strawberry has a little give to it and feels soft.

Green strawberries are not yet ready for harvest and require more time to develop. Red mushy strawberries have stayed on the vine too long and are no longer good to eat.

Eating spoiled strawberries leads to foodborne illness. Check your strawberries each day during the growing season to be sure you are harvesting strawberries at the right time.

Identifying and Getting Rid of Slugs

Even when growing strawberries indoors, slugs find and destroy your plants. Slugs dig holes about four inches wide in your potting mix and eat the roots of your strawberry plants, killing them instantly.

Preventing slugs from crawling into your strawberry pot is a quick fix. Spray the outside of your pots with WD-40 to protect your strawberries from a slug infestation.

The consistency of WD-40 makes the pot’s surface too slippery for a slug to crawl up and dig a hole in your plant’s soil. If you do not take preventative measures to guard your strawberry plants against slugs, the unwanted creatures eat and kill your plants.

Whether you are planting day-neutral or Alpine Strawberries, growing strawberries indoors is feasible when you follow the steps to protect your plant.

Professional growers produce hydroponic strawberries, and growing your own strawberries indoors is a fantastic way to protect the environment and have fresh berries all year long.

Planting strawberries with the right kind of soil and fertilizer, plenty of watering, and enough light exposure are the best ways to produce an ample harvest.

If you learned how to grow strawberries indoors, share these tips about growing strawberries indoors with your family and neighbors on Pinterest and Facebook.