White Soul Strawberry Seeds
Heirloom Alpine, Pest Resistant
A white-skinned alpine strawberry with a distinct pineapple note, and the pale skin is not a novelty, it hides the fruit from birds.
- Pest resistant by colour, never red
- Alpine variety, small and sweet
- Heirloom, so you can save seed
- About 70 seeds per packet
For Christmas, order by 16 December, or 18 December in WA. All dates
A white-skinned alpine strawberry, small, sweet and carrying a distinct pineapple note. The pale skin is not just a novelty: it makes the fruit much harder to spot for the plethora of pests sitting in your garden waiting for a strawberry to turn red. Roughly 70 seeds in a packet.
Key Features
- Pest resistant by colour. The fruit never turns red, so it never announces itself.
- An alpine variety. Small, sweet fruit with a pineapple-like flavour.
- Heirloom variety. So you can save seed from mature plants.
- Approximately 70 seeds per packet. Enough for a decent patch.
- Good companions. It grows well alongside onions, leek and chives.
Pūrē Standard
- The cleverest pest control is not a spray. Birds and other pests hunt ripe strawberries by colour. A fruit that stays cream-coloured when ripe simply does not read as food, so you keep more of the crop without netting or baiting anything. That is the sort of solution we like: it is designed in, not sprayed on.
- Alpine strawberries are a different proposition to supermarket ones. Small, intensely flavoured, and they crop steadily rather than all at once. They are also the sort of thing you genuinely cannot buy, which is the best argument for growing anything.
- Heirloom means it keeps going. Save seed from a mature plant and you never buy this packet again.
- Paper packet, nothing else. Close to the smallest packaging footprint of anything we sell.
- On seed treatment. Little Veggie Patch Co disclose chemical seed treatment where it applies, and carry a Thiram note on the handful of imported lines it affects. This packet carries no such note. They do not publish a germination rate or packing date.
Overall score:
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Low-Tox & Material Safety | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4.5/5) |
| Sustainability | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4.5/5) |
| Manufacturing Transparency | ⭐⭐⭐☆☆ (3.5/5) |
| Packaging | ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4.5/5) |
How to Use
- Start in trays early. Then once it is properly warm, sow directly into the garden.
- Two seeds per hole. Water them in, and keep the soil moist, not wet, until they germinate.
- Spacing and depth. 20 to 25cm apart, 0 to 1cm deep.
- Position and soil. Full sun, in free draining soil with plenty of compost.
- Be patient. Strawberry from seed is slow, and a tray can sit doing nothing for weeks before anything appears.
- Our tip, not the brand's. Alpine strawberry seed is often given a fortnight of cold first, in a sealed jar in the freezer, then brought back to room temperature before sowing. Many gardeners find it lifts germination. Little Veggie Patch Co do not ask you to do it, so treat it as optional.
When to Plant
- Zone 1, cool. September to January.
- Zone 2, temperate. September to February.
- Zone 3, subtropical. Anytime.
- Zone 4, tropical. Anytime.
- Perth and the south-west are Zone 2. So September to February. Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide and most of the southern half of the country are Zone 2 as well.
Product Details
- Variety. "White Soul", a white-skinned alpine strawberry, heirloom. Alpine strawberries are Fragaria vesca; Little Veggie Patch Co's own listing gives the botanical name as Fragaria x ananassa, which is the garden hybrid.
- Seed count. Approximately 70 per packet.
- Companion plants. Onions, leek and chives.
- Packaging. Plain paper seed packet.
- Sourcing. Little Veggie Patch Co source their seed locally and in small batches.
- Interstate customers. Some states restrict the entry of seed and plant material. Check your own state's plant biosecurity rules if you are unsure.
Choose options
For Christmas, order by 16 December, or 18 December in WA. All dates
Our Take
Tiny white alpine strawberries that taste faintly of pineapple and rarely make it as far as the kitchen. The pale skin is the clever part: pests waiting for red never work out that this one is ready.
Pūrēly Organic
Good to know
Frequently asked
Why grow a white strawberry?
Two reasons. The flavour is distinctly different, sweet with a pineapple note, and the pale skin makes the fruit far harder for pests to spot, because most of them are waiting for a strawberry to turn red before they take an interest.
When should I sow them in Perth?
Perth and the south-west are in Little Veggie Patch Co's Zone 2, temperate, so September to February. Zone 1 (cool) is September to January, and Zones 3 and 4 (subtropical and tropical) can sow anytime.
How do I sow them?
Early in the season, sow in trays. Once it is properly warm, sow directly into the garden. Plant two seeds in each hole and water them in, then keep the soil moist, not wet, until they germinate. Space 20 to 25cm apart at 0 to 1cm deep, in full sun and free-draining soil with plenty of compost.
Do the seeds need chilling first?
Little Veggie Patch Co do not ask you to. Alpine strawberry seed is often given a couple of weeks of cold in a sealed jar in the freezer, brought back to room temperature before sowing, and many gardeners find it lifts germination. That is a general gardening technique rather than the brand's instruction, so treat it as optional.
How long do they take to come up?
Be patient. Strawberry from seed is slow compared with most things in the patch, and it is normal for a tray to sit doing nothing for weeks.
How many seeds are in a packet?
Approximately 70.
What grows well nearby?
Little Veggie Patch Co recommend onions, leek and chives.
