Strawberry seedlings?

I love strawberries, not really eating them but the smell and the way the berries look on the plant. Red berries hanging from the long stem and the white flowers with yellow centers makes every effort to grow and having them bearing fruit in the lowland truly worthy. They are really gorgeous small plants. I love the spreading strawberry plants, which sends out stolons from the mother plant (crown). I had bought several matured strawberry plants being cultured in Cameron Highland but sold in local nurseries. None actually grew as fruiting next generation plants. Most of the off-shoots (runners) grew to some size and eventually died due to heat, high humidity and very wet soil.

Strawberry seedlings with second set of true leaves (perished!)

I bought some strawberries and had the fruit after scraping off the seeds on the outside. I dried the seeds and a few weeks later (after leaving the seeds in the fridge) I planted the seeds in potting soil (mixture of burnt soil, red soil and a lot of humus). The seeds started germinating after a few days but the seeds actually germinated over four months of period, and I was surprised to see new seedlings after a few months when the earlier seedlings have already died due to damping off. I transferred some seedlings to different soil types, but almost all died after getting second set of leaves. The seedlings are so small, and they took months to develop the second set of true leaves. But they are adorable seedlings, and surely coming from imported strawberries, I was not even sure if they would really sprout.

The remaining seedlings have been transferred to another pot, and have since been sharing the space with Cinnamon Basil and Kesom leaf (Persicaria odorata) plant. They seem to be growing but I am more worried about the frequent rain that has been keeping the soil too wet. Anyway, I think the seedlings look healthier than their earlier siblings that perished in the wet weather. I have sprayed fish emulsion and topped some Azomite dust. Hopefully they would have some strength to pull through this wet weather and high humidity.

Seedlings (and weeds) applied with Azomite dust

In order to prevent rain water from constantly wetting the soil, I recently added a clear plastic cover over the pot and placed it in a wooden box under the Gardenia bush. The seedlings get dappled sunlight and at the same time being protected from excessive rain water. I hope they would give a good fight to grow into mature plants!

Mini Greenhouse!

Slightly drier soil (with Kesom plant visible)