Last Updated on April 11, 2022 by Marco C.
If you don’t live in a house with a garden, you might be asking can strawberry plants grow indoors because everyone would rather eat their own fruit than eat store-bought fruit. The strawberry is one of the most popular fruits in the world, and growing one on your own can be very rewarding, but can you grow them indoors?
Can Strawberry Plants Grow Indoors?
Yes, you can grow your own strawberries indoors, but it will definitely be difficult. There are certain obligatory requirements that you have to fulfill if you want to grow strawberries, and fulfilling them indoors can be much more difficult that fulfilling them outdoors.
So, if possible – grow your strawberries outdoors. It will be much easier, not to mention that you won’t have as much of a mess as you certainly will if you grow them indoors.
However, what if you don’t have a yard large enough to grow strawberries. What if you have a yard, but the climate in your area is non-relenting and there’s no way strawberries can grow in such a climate? Then, you’ll have to plant and grow your strawberries indoors – and here’s how to do it.
Setting Up and Planting Your Strawberries
As we already explained – there are requirements you’re going to have to fulfill to grow strawberries. These requirements are non-negotiable and if you fail to fulfill just one of them, your strawberries won’t grow.
The first of those requirements is lighting – strawberries need plenty of direct sunlight every single day. At least six, but preferably ten hours of direct sunlight. So, if your apartment or your house can’t provide that – you’re going to have to buy LED plant lights.
These are usually available at every hardware store, but also agricultural stores.
Then, you’re going to have to choose a spot for them. The first thing you should look out for is the size of the container you’re using to plant your strawberries – you don’t want to place a container full of soil somewhere your kids or dogs will knock it over.
Make sure that it’s in a safe spot and that it can’t be knocked over easily. It would be smart to build a wooden container that can be pinned to the ground with weights, or even use screws to tighten it to the floor.
Then, you should also consider humidity and temperature requirements. Obviously, strawberries can’t grow in the basement, since basements are usually cooler than the rest of the house. This is another thing to consider when planting your strawberries.
Then, when you’re finally ready to plant your strawberries, buy strawberry seeds – most seeds you find in stores are ready to plant out of the bag. Just add them into the potting soil in the container after watering the soil thoroughly.
Learn more about: How to Grow Beautyberry from Seed?
Most seeds will have planting instructions printed on the bag, so make sure to follow them – different variations have different planting needs.
After planting, make sure to water the seeds twice a day – the soil can’t become dry at any point.
Strawberry Plant Care Indoors
It can take up to two months for a strawberry plant to establish itself, so you should keep with the twice-a-week watering for as long as it takes. However, once your plant is essentially an adult, you can slow down with the watering – you can finally let the soil dry out.
Depending on the temperature and level of humidity in the room, you might need to water your plant only once a week.
What’s really important about indoor strawberry care is pollinating. Since you’re not about to let bees into your home to do their job, you’re going to have to use a cotton swab to pollinate the strawberries. Push the pollen from the ring outside the flower’s center to the center of the flower itself. Colloquially, these are known as the male and female parts of the flower.
When it comes to fertilization – follow the same rule you’d be following if you were growing them outside – fertilize them regularly.
It will take about five or six months for the first fruits of your labor to appear, and you can pick them as soon as they turn red. Depending on the variety of strawberries and the conditions of growth, the number and quality of fruits can differ.
Does It Pay Off?
The big question! This entirely depends on how well you grow your strawberries – some people achieve perfect conditions and their strawberries are no worse than the ones grown in outdoor gardens. Other people try for years but always grow bad strawberries and a few of them at that.
Therefore – this depends on you entirely. If you can’t fulfill those requirements for strawberries, then it’s best to just buy them at the store.
Read more about: How to Protect Strawberries from Squirrels?
FAQ
Can you grow strawberries indoors all year round?
Yes, you can grow strawberries indoors all year round. However, this can be difficult as you need to keep them under lights for at least 6 (but preferably more) hours a day, keep a constant temperature and level of humidity. The consistency of these requirements is difficult even for experienced indoor gardeners.
How to pollinate strawberries indoors?
There's a ring of pollen around the center of the leaves - we call this the male part of the plant. You need to push that pollen into the center of the leaf itself (the female part) with a q-tip. Do this gently and make sure not to hurt the plant.
To Summarize
Growing strawberries indoors under lights is definitely possible, but it can be difficult. Firstly, you’ll need plenty of space, and you’ll need to keep a regular temperature, and level of moisture and constantly keep them under LED lights!
Planting them isn’t that difficult, but caring for them on a long-term basis can prove to be a difficult task, which is why simply buying your strawberries might be the smarter thing to do. However, if you have plenty of space and you can easily manipulate lighting and temperature, then you’ll definitely be able to grow your own strawberries.