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Joined: Aug 2013
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Hello everyone, this is my very first post here and I hope that more will come!
I want to grow strawberries inside of my home, or perhaps on my covered back porchy thing because it has a 4x4 sunroof.
I want to grow them all year around so that I can have tasty fresh strawberries instead of having to purchase soggie mushy strawberries from my local grocery store for about a million bucks a package whenever they decide to have them. Or worse yet, frozen strawberries. :(

Anyway, I live in the Antarctic of northern USA. Or Vermont. I don't know how to tell the difference between these two places during the winter. Even though I've never been to Antarctica.

Here are a few of my concerns and questions:
I heat my house during the winter with a wood burning stove, so sometimes in the morning I wake up in a freezer(around 45-60 F). The house will occasionally gets pretty toasty. Could this pose a problem?
Will I need any sort of heated light fixture? How long would I need to have it on?
What should I do to get the plants started growing?
Will the plants produce berries indoors?
I'm looking to have about 3 or 4 plants grown about a month apart of each other. Do strawberries require separation from each other? I don't want them planning murder against each other in the event that they survive.

I will have to build this setup myself, and I would really like to keep it as inexpensive as possible. My main concern is lighting and heat. I don't know what kind of light bulb to use.
Another thing is, there are soooo many different kinds of strawberries. I don't know what kind of seeds to pick up.

Any tips, hints or perhaps guidance from members are greatly appreciated!

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I don't know anything about growing strawberries inside...have Googled it and found several different types of answers, but one thing sticks out in about everything I read. For indoor growing "Alpine" strawberries are good for space because they are compact and grow upright, instead of sending all the runners off in different directions.

Welcome to the forum! wavy Hope someone here has more knowledge on this subject than I do.


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You'll likely find grow lights helpful as well; not quite sure the proper amount of light for indoor growth of strawberries though, just isn't something I've had to try yet lol


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I dont have any more knowledge than what Cindy just said but I might know someone who does--I'll get back to you as soon as I can with what I found out.

In the mean time, welcome to the forum


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Thank you! I'm looking forward to it.

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Hello : I am sorry it took so long for me to get back to you.

an everbearing strawberry, that does not trail such as Red Alpine is a good berry to begin with.

make sure the regular pot you use has a 1 inch drain hole in the bottom. You can use regular organic potting soil amended with coarse sand for good drainage, only filling the pot to 2 inches from the top. The soil should be kept moist but not soggy.

I have read to fertilize your berries with a 1/2 strength
10-10-10 fertilizer once every 10 days. If you see more greenery than you do berries back off the fertilizing a bit.

My SIL uses a regular 9 inch pot for his berries, putting 3 to 4 plants per pot. He places them to the outside of the pot.

I assume you are buying plants?? If so, it is good to soak the plants roots in water for 1 hour before potting them up.

if using a strawberry pot use the layering method( a little dirt up to the first hole, then a plant in thru the hole, laying the roots straight & spread out--cover with soil & repeat).... When watering a strawberry pot you will have to use some kind of irrigation system to make sure you water the bottom plants the same as the uppermost ones. a pipe with small holes drilled near the bottom would work well. You would fill the pipe half way with water & it would drain out to the lower plants. You then water the top of the pot as usual.


Strawberries require 6-8 hrs of sunlight per day. Preferably from a south facing window. You should turn the pots every couple of days so all the plants get the same amount of sunlight. If your plants are not doing well, using this method, or if your plants are not able to recieve that much light per day (ie dreary winter days) then you should supplement with an atrificial light source as mentioned above.

you should get smaller but sweet tasting berries.

Good luck & keep us posted on your progress.






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