Growing Strawberries Indoors in Canada
Fresh strawberries in January are possible in a Canadian home. It takes the right type of plant, more light than a window gives, and a paintbrush.
Growing strawberries indoors is about replacing the three things a summer garden gives for free: long days, steady warmth and bees. A heated Canadian home already supplies the warmth. This guide covers the plants, the light and the pollination for strawberries in pots of soil. If you want a water-culture system instead, our hydroponic strawberries guide covers that setup; this page does not repeat it.
Set your expectations first. A few pots under a light give a handful of berries at a time through the winter, not the bowlfuls of a June bed. For most growers the point is the novelty and the flavour of a ripe berry in February.
Indoor winter strawberries, in short: grow a day-neutral variety (Albion, Seascape) or alpine strawberries in pots of potting mix, under a grow light for 14 to 16 hours a day, at ordinary room temperature away from heaters. Hand-pollinate every open flower with a soft brush every day or two. Pot up plants from the garden in late summer, before the first hard frost.
Why a Canadian Window Is Not Enough
Strawberries fruit on light. In a Canadian winter the sun is low, the day is short and much of it is cloudy. Here is how long the day is, from sunrise to sunset, in some Canadian cities at the start, middle and end of the indoor season. The figures are calculated from each city's latitude.
| City | Nov 1 | Dec 21 | Feb 15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria | 9h57 | 8h16 | 10h10 |
| Toronto | 10h18 | 8h55 | 10h28 |
| Montréal | 10h11 | 8h42 | 10h22 |
| Halifax | 10h14 | 8h48 | 10h25 |
| Winnipeg | 9h52 | 8h05 | 10h04 |
| Calgary | 9h46 | 7h54 | 9h59 |
| Edmonton | 9h32 | 7h27 | 9h47 |
Even a south window loses most of that light through the glass and only catches direct sun for part of the day. Plants on a winter windowsill grow long, pale leaves and few flowers. A grow light is not optional for winter fruit; the window is a bonus.
Which Strawberries to Grow Indoors
Day-neutral: the right type
The University of Minnesota Extension describes day-neutrals as producing “fruit throughout most of the growing season” and notes that they keep flowering through the summer. They do not wait for the long days of June, which is exactly why they work under a light in January. Albion and Seascape are the common choices; the Extension calls both good in containers.
Alpine strawberries: easy and compact
Small, aromatic berries on tidy plants that make few runners. They tolerate lower light better than garden strawberries and are simple to start from seed indoors.
June-bearing: skip them indoors
June-bearers set their flower buds in the short, cool days of fall and need a cold winter rest before they bloom. Under a light in a warm house they grow leaves and runners and rarely flower. Keep them in the garden.
Where to Get Plants in the Fall
Canadian garden centres stock strawberry plants in spring, not in October. The practical sources for a winter crop are:
- Rooted runners from your own day-neutral plants. In late summer, pin a few runners into small pots of potting mix and cut them once they have rooted. The runner steps are on our main strawberry guide.
- A young plant from the garden or a balcony pot, moved into a clean pot before the first hard frost. Check it carefully for aphids, slugs and spider mites before it comes inside.
- Alpine seed started indoors under a light. The slowest route, but it needs nothing from the garden.
Plants that have already fruited all summer are tired. Young runner plants with three or four good leaves settle in faster and flower sooner.
Pots and Mix
Use a pot at least 15 to 20 cm deep with drainage holes, one plant per pot, and a good bagged potting mix. Set the crown, where the leaves meet the roots, exactly at the surface of the mix. Water when the top 2 to 3 cm is dry; indoor air in a heated Canadian home is dry, but pots under a light dry more slowly than on a July balcony, so check rather than water by the calendar. The pot sizes and mixes in growing strawberries in pots apply indoors too.
Light: The Part That Decides the Crop
Run a full-spectrum LED grow light 14 to 16 hours a day on a plug-in timer. That matches the figure in our grow light guide, which also sizes the light at about 40 to 60 W of LED (true draw) per plant. Hang the light close enough that the plants stay compact; if they stretch, lower it. A small clip-on light suits one or two pots; a shelf of plants needs a larger panel.
If you want to check whether your light is strong enough, our PPFD calculator and grow light calculator work out light intensity and coverage, and the grow light guide compares the main types.
Winter strawberries live or die on light, and a Canadian December gives seven to nine hours of weak daylight at best. A full-spectrum LED panel on a timer replaces the long summer day the plants need to flower. Pick one sized to the number of pots: a single clip-on lamp covers one or two plants, a shelf needs a panel. Hang it close and run it 14 to 16 hours.
Affiliate link — GrowersGuide.ca may earn a commission on qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure.
Temperature and Air
Ordinary room temperature suits strawberries, and a slightly cooler spot at night is better than a warm one. Keep them away from heat registers, baseboard heaters and the top of the fridge. Hot, dry air stops flowering and is where spider mites thrive: tiny pale speckles on the leaves and fine webbing underneath. Rinse the undersides of the leaves in the shower every couple of weeks and a small fan keeps the air moving.
Hand Pollination
Indoors there are no bees, and a strawberry flower that is not pollinated gives a small, lumpy berry or none at all. Each tiny seed on a strawberry needs its own pollinated ovule, so poor pollination shows as misshapen fruit with bare patches.
The RHS advice for strawberries grown under cover is to hand-pollinate “with a soft paintbrush.” Every day or two, brush gently around the yellow centre of each open flower, moving from flower to flower so pollen travels between them. Our hydroponic strawberries guide has a quick daily pollination routine that works the same for plants in soil.
Feeding, Flowers and Runners
Feed every two weeks with a liquid fertilizer at the label rate, switching to a high-potassium feed such as a tomato fertilizer when flower buds form, as the RHS recommends for container strawberries. Pinch off the first few flowers on newly potted plants so they root in first.
Cut off runners as they appear. Indoors they take energy from flowering and you rarely need new plants until spring. In spring, harden the plants off and move them outdoors after your last frost, or start the next winter's plants from their runners in late summer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you grow strawberries indoors in winter in Canada?
Yes, with a day-neutral variety, a pot of good mix, a grow light and hand pollination. A Canadian windowsill alone does not give enough light from November to February, when the day is about 7 to 9 hours long in most cities. Expect a modest picking of berries, not a garden harvest.
Which strawberries grow well indoors?
Day-neutral varieties such as Albion and Seascape, because they flower whenever conditions allow instead of waiting for the long days of June. Alpine strawberries also do well indoors and are easy to start from seed. June-bearing varieties are a poor choice: they need short days and a cold rest before they flower.
How many hours of light do indoor strawberries need?
Run a grow light 14 to 16 hours a day, with the plants a short distance under it. Size the light at about 40 to 60 W of LED (true draw) per plant, the figure used in our grow light guide. A sunny south window helps but is not enough by itself in a Canadian winter.
Do indoor strawberries need to be pollinated?
Yes. Indoors there are no bees, and unpollinated flowers give small, lumpy berries or none. Brush the centre of each open flower with a small soft paintbrush every day or two, as the RHS recommends for strawberries grown under cover.
What temperature do indoor strawberries need?
Normal room temperature suits them. Cooler nights help, and very hot conditions near a heater or under a hot light stop flowering. Keep plants away from heat registers, which also dry the air and invite spider mites.
Where do I get strawberry plants for indoor growing in the fall?
Garden centres rarely sell them in fall, so the easiest source is your own garden: pot up rooted runners of a day-neutral variety in late summer, or dig a young plant and pot it before the first hard frost. You can also start alpine strawberries from seed indoors.
Should I grow strawberries indoors in soil or hydroponically?
Either works. Pots of potting mix are the simplest start and need no special equipment beyond a light. A hydroponic setup gives faster growth and more control but needs a reservoir, pump and nutrient solution; see our hydroponic strawberries guide.
Sources
- University of Minnesota Extension, Growing strawberries in the home garden
- Royal Horticultural Society, How to grow strawberries (growing under cover and hand pollination)
- Day lengths calculated from city latitude with the CBM model (Forsythe et al., 1995)