Infinite Gardening

On April 14, I started growing Elan strawberries from seed for the second time. I kept three plants indoors under grow lights and moved the rest into containers on my sunny, south-facing balcony.

I expected the balcony plants to move ahead once summer arrived. Instead, they still have not flowered. Indoors, two small plants have already flowered and started forming strawberries.

This is not proof that strawberries always grow better indoors. It is a small, real-life comparison—and the result was the opposite of what I expected.

Starting Again from Seed

Last year, I compared cold-treated Elan seeds with seeds sown directly under warm grow lights. The cold-treated seeds reached 100% germination, while the second group reached about 80%.

Germination was not the problem. Spider mites found the seedlings indoors, and I eventually had to discard every plant.

This April, I started again from seed. This time, I kept only three plants indoors and moved the rest outside once they were ready.

Only the Indoor Plants Flowered

The three indoor plants remained in surprisingly small nursery pots under grow lights. Two of them flowered first, and I hand-pollinated every flower.

The petals have now dropped, and small green strawberries are developing. Meanwhile, the plants on the sunny balcony are growing leaves but have not produced a single flower.

Why Might the Indoor Plants Be Ahead?

I cannot identify one definite reason from such a small comparison.

The indoor plants receive a long and consistent period of light every day. Their temperature and moisture also remain more stable. Balcony containers experience stronger heat, wind and drying, even in a sunny position.

Individual plants grown from seed can also develop at different speeds. For now, I can only say that the protected indoor conditions appear to have suited these two plants better.

Two Plants Made Fruit—One Made Runners

The third indoor plant behaved differently. It did not flower, but it produced two runners instead.

Runners use energy that could otherwise go into flowering and fruit. Normally, I might remove them. This time, I am keeping them because I want to root the young plants and grow more strawberries indoors during winter.

Bigger Pots and the Next Stage

Today, I moved all three indoor plants into larger pots. I used five parts potting soil, two parts perlite and one part vermicompost from my indoor worm bin.

I added smooth stones to the soil surface and now water the pots from below. A GoPro is positioned beside the developing fruit to record the next stage.

The indoor plants are ahead for now, but the experiment is not finished. I want to see whether the balcony plants eventually catch up—and whether the indoor berries ripen successfully under grow lights.

Have you ever seen strawberries flower earlier indoors than outside?