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# Growing fruit from seed

Not all fruit grows from seed — tree and bush fruit is bought as plants. But a whole group does beautifully from a packet: strawberries, melons, watermelons, cape gooseberries, tomatillos and rhubarb. Many of them crop in their very first summer.

## Tender or hardy?

| Type | Character | Examples |
| ---- | ---- | ---- |
| Tender, warm-season | Start indoors, plant out only after frost, wants a warm sunny spot | Melon, watermelon, cape gooseberry, tomatillo |
| Hardy, perennial | Sow once, crop for years | Strawberry, alpine strawberry, rhubarb |

## Sowing

Fruit wants it warmer than vegetables or flowers: **20–24 °C**. Sow melon (*Cucumis melo*), watermelon (*Citrullus lanatus*) and cape gooseberry (*Physalis peruviana*) indoors from March, in a heated propagator or on a warm windowsill.

Strawberries (*Fragaria*) are sown indoors from February. Their seed is very fine: press it onto the surface and barely cover it, since a little light aids germination.

Germination takes 1 to 4 weeks and is more variable than with vegetables. **Strawberries and cape gooseberries in particular may take three to four weeks** — give them that long before concluding something is wrong.

## Easy to begin with

- **Alpine strawberry** — compact, pretty and quick to fruit, often in its first summer
- **Cape gooseberry** — easy, prolific and wrapped in papery lanterns
- **Melon** — surprisingly simple in a warm, sunny spot or greenhouse
- **Watermelon** — give it heat and space and it rewards you generously
- **Tomatillo** — vigorous and productive, with a tangy, salsa-ready fruit

## Where

Fruit needs **at least six hours of sun** plus rich, free-draining soil. Sun is what builds the sweetness.

In pots on a sunny balcony or patio, strawberries and cape gooseberries crop happily. Melons and watermelons want a warm bed or a greenhouse, with room to ramble and a long, sunny season to ripen.

## Care

| Factor | What to do |
| ---- | ---- |
| Light | six hours of sun or more to ripen |
| Water | deep and regular as the fruits swell |
| Feed | high-potash feed once flowering starts |
| Protect | net ripening fruit against birds |

Uneven watering causes splitting. Switch to a high-potash feed — the kind used for tomatoes — once plants start flowering, to encourage plenty of fruit.

## Harvesting

Let fruit ripen fully on the plant for the best flavour. A melon is ready when it smells fragrant and slips from the vine. Strawberries and cape gooseberries are best picked when fully coloured — with cape gooseberry, the lantern turns straw-coloured.

Pick little and often once they start, and keep watering to the end of the season.

## Common mistakes

- Sowing tender fruit too early. Melons need real warmth.
- Burying fine seed. Strawberry seed needs light and barely any covering.
- Giving up too soon. Some kinds take three to four weeks.
- Too little sun. Without heat and light fruit will not ripen sweet.

**Rhubarb** is the odd one out: hardy, perennial, and best harvested from its second year.

See *Sowing calendar: flowers, herbs and fruit* for the month table, and [all fruit seeds](https://seedschoice.com/collections/fruits) for the range.

The full version of this guide is on [seedschoice.com](https://seedschoice.com/blogs/news/cultivating-fruit-from-seed-a-complete-guide-for-gardeners).
## Ready to sow? Shop fruit seeds
* [Fruit you can sow this month](https://seedschoice.com/collections/fruit-sow-now)
* [Strawberry seeds](https://seedschoice.com/collections/strawberry)
* [Fruit for pots](https://seedschoice.com/collections/container-friendly-fruits)
* [Rare and exotic fruit](https://seedschoice.com/collections/rare-exotic-fruits)
* [All fruit seeds A–Z](https://seedschoice.com/collections/fruits)
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