Seed preparation
The tiny seeds (achenes) sit on the surface of the red fruit. To collect your own, mash ripe fruit in water, let the pulp float off, and dry the seeds that sink.
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Ground cover growing guide
Mock strawberry (Indian strawberry) is a low perennial ground cover with yellow flowers and bright red, strawberry-like fruit. Sow the fine seed shallowly, then let the runners fill sun or shade, and keep it contained.
The tiny seeds (achenes) sit on the surface of the red fruit. To collect your own, mash ripe fruit in water, let the pulp float off, and dry the seeds that sink.
Not needed.
Optional. Seed germinated well without treatment in a 2026 study (about 60% on average), but the highest result, over 90%, came from autumn-collected seed that was cold stratified and primed. If germination is poor, keep sown trays or moist seed in the refrigerator for a few weeks before warming.
Not needed. The seed is too small to benefit.
Germinate at ordinary room temperature, avoiding very hot places. In India sow in the cooler months or in hill gardens in spring.
Scatter thinly on fine, moist seed mix, press it in and cover with no more than a dusting of mix.
Fine, well-drained seed compost; garden soil of average fertility suits the plants.
Keep evenly moist but not waterlogged; water from below or with a fine spray so the seed is not washed away.
Keep trays bright but out of hot direct sun.
Not well documented. Seed lots differ, and emergence can be irregular, so keep the tray moist for several weeks.
Prick seedlings out into small pots when they have a few true leaves. Plant them out in spring or autumn, as the old guide advised, with the crown at soil level, and water in well.
Once established, plants send out runners that root at the tips and nodes and quickly cover the ground. Fill gaps by pinning runners down or by potting rooted plantlets.
It grows only about 10 cm (4 in) tall, tolerates mowing and covers banks, under shrubs and shady corners. It is hardy in USDA zones 5-9.
Flowers appear from spring through summer, followed by bright red fruit. The fruit is edible but bland and dry; it is not poisonous.
Water in dry spells, especially in sun; routine feeding is not needed. Pests and diseases are rarely a problem.
Containers show off the trailing runners and fruit and keep the plant from invading lawns.
Pick fruits when they are fully red, separate the seeds from the pulp in water, dry them in shade and store them in a paper envelope in a cool, dry place.
Grow a low, red-fruited ground cover for sun or shade from seed.
Yes, it is edible and not poisonous, but it is bland and dry. It is grown mainly as an ornamental.
No. True strawberries are Fragaria with white flowers; mock strawberry has yellow flowers and belongs with the cinquefoils (Potentilla).
It can. The runners root wherever they touch the ground and it tolerates mowing, so grow it in an edged bed or container.
Yes. It is native to India and the Himalaya and grows in lawns, woodland edges and moist, shady corners. On the hot plains give it partial shade and water in dry spells; in hill gardens it grows easily in sun or shade.