When you learn about growing strawberries indoors, the possibilities are endless. You are no longer stuck worrying about climate and temperature concerns, you don’t need to worry about animals or birds eating your crops, and best of all, it’s pretty easy to do! We’ll show you everything you need to know about how to grow strawberries indoors inside your very own home in this quick step by step tutorial.
How Much Space Do I Need?
The answer to this is entirely up to you and the method you choose, as well as how many strawberry plants you wish to grow. Obviously, the more berries you try to grow, the more space you will need. But there are many easy and space saving options to choose from, such as growing them in strawberry pots.
I have seen some people dedicate an entire room in their house to strawberry growing, others just have a window sill. The plants need at least 6 hours of sunlight each day, so be sure where ever you choose to grow them it has a window that allows direct sun to come onto the plants. Another option you can try which will ensure that you berries do well is to invest in some indoor plant lighting. You can get portable lights or even just hardwire install lights with the proper bulbs.
What type of containers should I use?
Here is the great thing about strawberries – they have very shallow roots so they can do well in just about anything as long as you have the right type of soil, keep them well watered, and naturally give them the sunlight they need. Hanging baskets are always popular if you have a place to hang them, some people looking for a larger crop may choose to grow them in trays and place them on shelves. You will want to avoid overcrowding the plants, since this will make them more likely to pick up diseases and mold, but other than that feel free to use anything that works for your own individual needs the best.
What Kind of Berries Should I Plant?
There are two main types of strawberry plants – June bearing, which only produce in June, ever-bearing, which will give you a crop twice a year (though some varieties flower and produce fruit more often than that). Our pick for inside berries is a variety of the ever-bearing kind, called Alpine Strawberries. You can get Alpine Strawberry Seeds Here
Other Indoor Growing Tips
Use the Right Soil: Strawberries do the best in a slightly sandy soil with a pH between 5.6 and 6.3. See best soil for strawberry plants for more help on making sure you give your plants a good start!
Freeze Your Seeds: If you are starting with full plants, you can skip this step – but if you are growing from seed then you will want to freeze the seeds for at least 2 weeks, with some people recommending 4 weeks for better results. The reason for this is because it makes the seeds germinate more successfully, since they need the cold temperature to go out of dormancy. Read our full guide on germinating seeds.
Water The Right Amount: It can seem very difficult to know how much to water your plants. A lot of people ask how often to water their plants, but unfortunately there is no set amount of times or how much to give your plant. You can either consider getting a moisture meter, or you can simply check your plants each and every day to make sure the soil is moist but not too wet – they like water, but not too much water!
Take Good Care of Your Plants: Taking care of indoor plants is not much different than taking care of one outside. Our article on Caring for Strawberry Plants has everything else you might need to know!
It’s not hard to grown a strawberry plant indoors, in fact I think just about anyone can do it! It may even be easier for many people, as you have far more control on things like temperature, lighting, and other factors you may not be able to change outside.
Have any tips for growing strawberries indoors we might have missed? Share them in the comments section below!
I AM TRYING TO GROW THE WORLDS LARGEST STRABERRY! (: IT SHOULD BE EAZY . I GOT TO BET 5INCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That is great Samantha! You should send us some photos, I would like to see the world’s largest strawberry
Thank you this was very useful.Strawberries are my favorite fruit.:)
You are welcome Ana!
hi i am wondering if strawberries can be planted in smaller pots
i have also heard about hydro something
Can you grow strawberries hydroponically indoors with artificial lighting? Do you know where I could get information/training about this? Thanks and great site.
I’ve grown them indoors many times.
They seem to do better indoors, I put them in a window in a room which is usually between 20 and 25c.
They do well in the mild conditions, free of pests. They grow very vigorously, probably as a result of the slight increase in CO2 and temperature.
But often indoors the plants put on a lot of growth with few berries. I think this may be because I’m not propagating them right and because they’re in a normal soil.
I brought them in recently from outside, the soil in the pots was freezing solid and they were suffering from it.
I may add rabbit poo to the soil to help them along a bit.
They are VERY Hardy plants. I’ve taken old plants of compost heaps 2 months latter before and replanted them and they’ve still thrived. That explains why they are often sold bare roots in bags.
They’re amazing plants and even if they don’t give you any strawberries, the flowers are still great to look at.
I am wondering how much light strawberries like to grow best. I can give them as much light as they want but i dont want to give too much that i am just waisting electricity. If you can help i would appreciate it.
I was wondering if I could grow strawberries, as well as raspberries (even though raspberries are off this topic) in a small garden shed with windows on a shelf. I would grow both the strawberries and raspberries in individual pots. I was just wondering whether the plants would have a sufficient amount of sunlight/space to grow. Thanks.