How to Care for Strawberry Seeds

Select a few of the best strawberries in your garden that also seem to have resistance to disease. You may continue to grow strawberries with these ideal qualities in future crops.

Allow your selected strawberries to over-ripen. You want the strawberries extra soft and wet.

Place the over-ripe strawberries into a strainer that has a fine sieve -- a fine enough mesh to separate the strawberry pulp from the seeds. Press the strawberry pulp through the sieve carefully and slowly until you have strawberry seeds only. If you push the strawberries too hard, you will crush the seeds.

Run cool tap water over the seeds carefully while they sit inside of the sieve. Clean the seeds well to remove all the strawberry pulp and juice.

Put the strawberry seeds on a plate to air-dry. Place the plate in an area where you will not accidentally bump and spill the seeds. Allow the seeds to dry by stirring the seeds occasionally with a spoon. Strawberry seeds take a few days to completely dry. When dry, they separate from each other and slide across the plate when you push them.

Store your strawberry seeds in resealable plastic bags or paper envelopes to keep them dry, label them with the date and place the seed packets in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Place the jar in the refrigerator, which helps prolong the life of the seeds.

Keep your stored strawberry seeds for at least two years. The older your seeds, the fewer seeds will germinate.