[mumofstig]

Any tips for growing successfully from seed?
None germinated last year, so I've got a new packet of Baron Solemacher to try again 

[New shoot]

I grew them from a mixed pack of red and white fruited ones bought in a 50p seed sale.  Can't remember doing anything special other than I sowed them almost straight away and overwintered them before planting out in the spring.

Just a thought but a lot of woodland plants have to be germinated from fresh seed, or it enters a period of dormancy until the next spring.  Maybe try a few weeks of putting the seeds in the bottom of the fridge so they think they have done a winter   

[mumofstig]

ok - I'll bing them in there right now 

[stompy]

Are Alpines the same as perpetual, and do they fruit all through the year Spring/Summer Autum?

[Jamrock]

Germination will benefit from good drainage in your compost mix

I have plants dotted around the garden and they fruit most of the year I've even got a green fruit on a plant outside my back door right now! It fruited around Christmas, whether it will ripen or not is a different story

[mumofstig]

Are Alpines the same as perpetual, and do they fruit all through the year Spring/Summer Autum?

The RHS says

There are three kinds of strawberries:

Alpine strawberries are usually grown in shade in ornamental gardens. They need no special care and can be left to fend for themselves after planting
 
Large fruited ‘summer bearers’ flower in the short days of late spring for crops in summer, and to a much lesser extent in autumn

Large fruited ‘perpetual’ strawberries form flower buds in summer to crop from late summer into autumn over a long period. Perpetuals bear fruit in regular flushes from July until the first autumn frosts. To ensure a good late summer crop, remove the first flowers of the season produced in May. Fruit size and yield reduces in the second year and they are best replanted annually

[stompy]

Thanks Mos, i might see about getting some of these as the kids love strawbs and they're not cheap when out of main season. 

[Jamrock]

Thanks Mos, i might see about getting some of these as the kids love strawbs and they're not cheap when out of main season. 

They are a lot smaller than normal strawberries in case you were planning some sort of banquet!

[stompy]

Thanks Mos, i might see about getting some of these as the kids love strawbs and they're not cheap when out of main season. 

They are a lot smaller than normal strawberries in case you were planning some sort of banquet!

No im not after a banquet, just so the kids have got some to have so we don't have to buy sub standard punnets for as long.

[lazza]

Wild/Alpine strawberries have crept under the fence from next door, and now take up three quarters of a shrubbery bed! As said, they are tiny - probably mostly between pea and cherry size, and the yields are not great. But they taste lovely!

[Annen]

Once you've got them you never seem to get rid of them either, so make sure you really do want them.  Anybody I give seedlings to out of the garden always gets a free alpine strawberry plant, even if I didn't mean it.

[Willow_Warren]

I'm glad this thread has popped up, I had totally fogotten I had bought a packet of seeds in the 50p sale, best hunt them out and then work out what to do with them 

Hannah