2 Ways to Start Strawberry Plants Ahead of Time for Spring Transplanting

A lot of vegetables, plants, flowers, and annuals are started ahead of time indoors. This is a way of extending a growing season and getting a jump on things. It also makes it possible to grow things in areas where the growing season would not otherwise be long enough.

The growing season aspect is not much of an issue for perennial strawberries, but there could be reasons you’d want to start your strawberries ahead as you do for other plants.

But does it work for strawberries? Is it worth it? And what are the options for starting strawberry plants indoors?

Yes, Potted Strawberry Transplants Are a Thing

Strawberry plants can be started indoors and grown into growing transplants that can be transplanted into the ground. These are much the same as vegetable transplants and other fruits and berries that are planted from potted plants.

They would essentially be the same thing that you would buy as live potted strawberry plants from a nursery or garden center.

If you start them early enough and you have runner growth, you could even propagate those plants into even more potted transplants.

Two Options for Starting Strawberry Plants Early

For spring planting, there are basically two ways that strawberry plants can be started indoors. You can start them from seed, or you can start them from bare root, dormant plants.

1. Starting Strawberries from Seed

Typically, strawberries are not started from seed. Even the large commercial growers and nurseries do not usually start strawberries from seed. Instead, they are propagated from runners of known parent/hybrid plants.

The reason that strawberries are not usually grown from seed is that

• Strawberry seeds are more expensive
• Large bedding strawberry plants are almost exclusively hybrids, and seeds from hybrids are not reliable in reproduction

Some heirloom varieties of strawberries can be worth growing from seed. Most of what you will find, though, are alpine varieties. Typically, this is not what most home growers are looking for for transplanting into a strawberry bed.

Alpines and other unique strawberry varieties can be worth growing from seed for things like containers or hanging baskets and perhaps as shady ground covers, but not usually for bedding plants to fill up a patch for production.

One other thing to know about growing strawberries from seed is that they take a long time to grow to transplant size, so you’ll want to start early.

2. Starting Strawberries from Bare Root Stock

Bare-root plants are the most popular way to grow strawberries. Often, they are planted directly in the ground. This can be done in the spring or in the fall, or even mid to late summer for a patch that will produce in the following year.

If you missed the fall strawberry planting window and you want to get a jump start on your spring planting, you can pot up bare root plants indoors. This will allow them to break dormancy and begin growing into large potted plants for transplanting.

Planting is much the same as it would be if you were to plant bare-root plants directly in the ground. Use a four to six-inch pot for each bare root so there is plenty of room for the roots and the plant to grow.

Which Way is Best?

The best option for starting strawberry plants ahead is to grow bare roots into potted transplants.

Why is it Better to Start Strawberry Transplants from Bare Roots?

There are several reasons why bare-root strawberry plants are best, even for potted transplants:

• They do not need to be started as early as strawberries from seed
• This means you won’t need to dedicate space or use grow lights and utilities for as long a time
• Bare roots grow more reliably than strawberry seeds
• You will still have a wide range of productive varieties of bare roots available to you, whereas seeds will be quite limited in terms of available varieties
• It is cheaper to grow strawberry transplants from bare root plugs
• Bare roots awaken and grow quickly (within one week)

What You’ll Need to Start Potted Strawberry Transplants Ahead of Time

If you are growing strawberries to transplant, you will need a light and heat source.

• Light can come from natural sunlight in a greenhouse
• Light can be from a full-spectrum grow light setup
• Heat can be from your home if you are setting up your station inside
• If in a greenhouse, you should keep the temperatures at all times at least above freezing, preferably 40+ degrees Fahrenheit (4.44 C), which may require supplemental heat, especially at night when you don’t have the benefit of the sun and the greenhouse effect

Of course, you will also need space to grow your transplants. As larger potted plants, the space requirement can be significant for growing potted strawberries for transplanting.

Here is a list of equipment and supplies you will need for growing strawberry transplants:

• Strawberry seeds or bare-root plants
• Potting soil
• Pots or cell packs (2-inch cell packs for strawberry seeds, four-inch pots for bare roots)
• Space/shelving to house plants
• Grow lights if indoors
• Heat source to keep plants above 32 to 40 F (0 to 4.44 C)
• Fertilizer for plants after they have true leaves/about 3 to 4 weeks old

Should You Bother to Start Strawberry Transplants Ahead?

Starting strawberry plants for transplanting can be a good idea, depending on your growing situation. However, do consider the fact that bare root plants can be planted directly in the ground in early spring as soon as the soil is workable.

Potted transplants should wait to be planted out until after the last frost. While they will be larger, they need to wait until later for planting, since they are not still in a dormant state. That said if it will be difficult for you to get bare root plants in the ground early, at around the ideal planting time, then potting and transplanting potted plants is a better idea.

Another advantage of transplants is that you know which seeds, plants, or bare roots are viable and which have grown into strong plants. You will not end up with many (if any) blank spots in your planting, which can happen if some of the bare roots (or seeds) fail.

If you are growing strawberries from seed, they most certainly should be planted indoors and grown into transplants. Germination in the ground can take quite a while and can be unreliable. It is also easy to accidentally weed out strawberries that are grown from seed in the ground.

Clearly, there are pros and cons of growing strawberry plants to transplant later on, but depending on your goals, preferences, time, and circumstances, there is a good argument to be made for planting out strong, thriving potted transplants.