05/28/2026
Do you want to grow strawberries from seed? Had trouble getting them to germinate? Too expensive to buy packets? Let me show you how to do it for FREE *and* get a great success rate! 🍓 It's not as hard as you may think!
To save seeds, you'll need:
- a baking tray
- parchment paper
- strawberry tops you cut off from berries you ate
Step 1: pull the red part of the strawberry tops away from the green leafy tops. Try to keep it as one big ring if possible - it will make pulling seeds off later easier.
Step 2: put those red top strawberry pieces on a piece of parchment paper laid on a baking sheet for support. The parchment paper makes it easy to remove them later (kind of like a fruit roll up and the paper they come on - peels off easy!)
Step 3: let them sit in an open area with good airflow for at least a week, or until they look dry and clinging to the paper (like in my picture). There may be a little mold, but that's okay. If there's a bunch of mold covering a piece, remove it and do not use those seeds. The thinner the piece, the easier to dry and less mold you'll see. You can smush pieces just a little to flatten them and help them dry better.
Step 4: grab a bowl and peel off a piece of dried strawberry tops. Hold it over the bowl and rub that piece between your fingers until you feel the seeds start to fall off into the bowl. Rub off as many seeds as you can from each piece.
Step 5: store them in paper. NOT plastic. Plastic retains moisture and your seeds WILL mold and rot. You can use a paper seed packet, an envelope, or a paper lunch bag.
Step 6: put them in your fridge until the next season. I'm not kidding - they need months at a cold temperature to germinate. It's called "stratification". If you skip this part, your seeds will barely germinate, if at all. I put mine in our lunchmeat drawer since it stays dry and I don't have to worry about spills getting to them.
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TO GROW YOUR SEEDS:
You will need:
- seed starting tray ($5 at home depot)
- potting mix (small bag is about $8-9 at home depot)
- your saved seeds
- a spray bottle
- water
Step 1: get a seed starting tray and fill it with potting mix, NOT garden soil. You cannot use biodegradable items for this (no egg cartons) as it needs to be kept wet from underneath.
Step 2: sprinkle your seeds on top of the soil and gently pat them down to secure them and flatten the soil top a bit. Don't push super hard, just gently to lightly compact only the surface of the potting mix.
Step 3: Fill the tray underneath the seed cells halfway up with water. Gently spray the tops of the seed cells until they are saturated and wet. Do not spray hard or your seeds will go flying off!
Step 4: maintain the water level in the tray at least at 1/3 full of water at all times to make sure potting mix stays wet. If it dries out, it will make a big difference! You do NOT need the plastic top cover that comes with the tray. Strawberries take a long time to germinate and using this will cause green algae to accumulate and choke out your seeds. Leave the top off and just keep water in the tray under the cells. You can gently spray the top with water if you'd like as well to keep the seeds moistened.
Step 5: BE PATIENT! For real though. Strawberries take a long time to germinate, especially if you're not using a heat mat under them to speed it up. It can take weeks. If you don't see any sprouts after a month, then you can give up on them.
Step 6: Once the baby sprouts get big enough that they are making "true leaves" (ones that look like regular strawberry leaves), you can start hardening them off right in the tray! Set them in the shade, somewhere the sun doesn't reach at any time during the day and leave them there for a few days before planting somewhere in your garden in the sunshine.
CONGRATS! YOU MADE STRAWBERRY PLANTS! 🍓🍓🍓
