Strawberries like shade or not. How, when and where to plant strawberries. Immediate boarding process
It has long been garden strawberries (or, as summer residents also call it, Strawberry) is the favorite. After all, her berries are so fragrant, and growing it is not at all difficult. First, let's choose a place to land. We will abandon the lowland, since strawberries do not tolerate excess moisture. Best of all, these are light soils with a low content of calcium, sandy or loamy soils of light composition. For high yields, properly prepare the soil before planting. First, it should be dug deep, destroy all weeds and fertilize. But if you have high-fertility soil, you should not do this, because strawberries will become fat from excessive nutrition and grow vigorously, and fruiting will suffer. Usually strawberries are planted in August, but if planting is planned in the spring, the soil must be dug up in the fall in September. For summer planting in August (or early September), we prepare the soil two weeks before planting. If necessary, we make compost, rotted manure.
Seedling
Now we need seedlings. It can be bought at a nursery or borrowed from neighbors. In the future, you can learn how to grow your own. We carefully examine the seedlings, choose only from healthy plants. The planting rosette should have three healthy and developed leaves, a well-developed root system. An important condition is: do not grow strawberries of different varieties nearby. There is a degeneration of varieties.
planting strawberries
Planting garden strawberries (strawberries). Strawberries can be planted in a garden bed or on a plantation, providing paths for care and harvesting. You can’t trample on the garden bed, it’s better to put, for example, boards and walk on them. By flipping the boards, you can collect strawberry pests such as slugs.
When planting seedlings with the aim of growing only berries, we lay the distance between the rows of 30-40 cm, with between plants - 20 cm. Each plant should be well ventilated so that gray rot does not form on the berries, and have enough space for nutrition, so do not plant closer reasonable.
If you plan to receive new seedlings in the future, as well as to improve ventilation and lighting of strawberries, use a wide-row planting method, where the distance between rows is 60-90 cm, and between plants is 20-25 cm. Such a planting for many years, because it gives the ability, if necessary, to renew the strawberry plantation without transplanting it to a new place. When planting seedlings, it is necessary to ensure that the apical bud is at the level of the soil, and the roots must be carefully covered with earth. Moisten the soil well and compact well around the roots. After planting, the aisles should be well loosened. It is always necessary to have a reserve of seedlings in case something does not take root.
Care for garden strawberries (strawberries). It is necessary to loosen the earth around the strawberries often and carefully. As the whiskers appear, they should be removed immediately, because the plant takes a lot of effort to grow seedlings and fruiting suffers. Watering is important for strawberries, because its roots are located close to the surface and quickly lose moisture. Therefore, watering should always be timely. In the spring, when the soil dries out and warms up a little, it is necessary to lightly spud the exposed strawberry roots. Row spacings are sprinkled with ash in the spring and dug up. Plants are watered in the evening with warm water.
After fruiting is over active growth leaves and mustaches, horses and flower buds next year. Strawberries need additional nutrition. We make top dressing, cut out the mustache and remove weeds.
To renew strawberry bushes that have been growing in one place for many years in order to get a high yield in the future, the following method is used: after harvesting, the entire ground part is cut off, except for the core, from which new and healthy leaves will grow in the future.
It should be remembered: garden strawberries grow in one place for 5 years, then it needs to be updated. The maximum harvest occurs in the third or fourth year.
When I was young, I loved black. And walking under the moon. And the lights big city. In general, she was not original, like many other teenagers - probably an excess of vitality pushed and pushes them to paint their lips with shoe polish. Previously, all such infernal went, fatal ... It seems to me that very few of the women after thirty are total black, unless she gathered at the cemetery. Georgians do not count - I think they are swaddling girls in black diapers from birth.
It’s not that I don’t like the night, even my favorite twilight “rift between worlds” has ceased to appeal to me. And in general overcast weather. I love the noon, when the shadows disappear, when everything is visible to the smallest spider mite ... True, our Moscow region loves to cast a shadow on the wattle fence, from leapfrog with governors to gardens that new investors like to plant in the sad forests near Moscow ...
A shady garden is not a garden, but a mockery. People sometimes turn to our company with a request to turn some part of the garden into a vegetable garden. Only this garden they bought in the forest. In a spruce forest, for example ... - thoughtfully shrugged Irina Alexandrovna Sakharova, landscape designer, author of more than 30 gardens, teacher and landscape writer. She was the one who gave the last lecture on ornamental garden which I will break down into several parts.
In the Shadow of Opportunity landscape designer are limited, and its garden is generally better to break in bright sunny places. But you have to go to various tricks so as not to lose a client ... Most vegetable crops are photophilous, and in the shade, many vegetables stretch out, lie down, but somehow do not die ... But some cultures put up with a shadow ...
I wrote down her list for Sakharov. Decorated with photos of their bags and comments.
1. Celery - I think that the lecturer had in mind the petiole celery, because the leaf celery is not at all popular with us, but the root one still needs the sun ... petiole celery I will sow in the winter and in the spring for seedlings. I have big plans for him...
2. Lovage - I grew lovage about ten years ago, but then, when building a house, the bush disappeared, and I did not renew it, because there are so many celery leaves - why else lovage? Although my neighbor told me that the lovage is still different, and besides, for many years. Maybe I'll take him...
3. Ramson - according to Irina Alexandrovna, wild garlic looks very decorative in trunk circles but she has short term decorative, very quickly nothing remains of it until next spring ...
4. Rhubarb - rhubarb is my shame, I haven't been able to grow it from seed for two years now. I will try a third time. Already bought two packs.
5. Leek - it’s for sure that leeks are quite shade-tolerant, the season before last it grew next to apple trees, nothing really survived and gave full legs in white hussar leggings ... And onion does not grow in the shade - falls apart ...
6. Beans (bush) - that beans (bush) even bear fruit in the shade for me, to be honest - a revelation. I will try to sow a bag of seeds under the apple tree, but I have very big doubts ...
7. All salads - and about salads (lettuces), I think the lecturer who gave us a lecture on salads before Sakharov would have doubts. The teacher from timiryazevka clearly told us that salads do not like shading ... But I think that the truth is somewhere in the middle.
8. Spinach - I don't have spinach seeds. Because it's stupid to grow spinach when there are so many nettles and chard in the spring. And lettuce ... Therefore, I give a photo of my attempt number two - strawberry spinach, which last year I did not grow to the state of berries - was weeded by guests under the pretext of helping me in the fight against quinoa ...
9. Radish - if the sun falls for at least two hours ... I know from my own experience that a radish will not put up with a shadow. It will just pull out quietly and that's it ...
10. Parsley - curly parsley is especially decorative. But I don't have one, so this is it. In general, you can sow all the near-stem circles with parsley - score a dream.
11. Mint and other spicy herbs - In general, Sakharova spoke very warmly about herbs. She even dictated the recipe for her energy drink. A bunch of mint + pear or kiwi, break everything in a blender and drink every day in the morning. But at the expense of "other herbs- I am very skeptical about this. Mint, yes, but basil, hyssop, tarragon, marjoram… Well, I don’t know…
12. Chard - I don’t know how red-leafed, but the green chard in the photo of the lecturer’s shady garden grew just fine. At the expense of the red-leaf is not clear.
13. Mustard and other green herbs - in fact, Sakharova spoke only about mustard, "other green herbs" - this is my addition. But I can say for sure that both arugula and watercress will quite easily put up with shading. And borago.- the taste will be worse, but strawberries generally like shade. So next year I would like to plant one of the near-stem circles with remontant strawberries - to see what happens ...
In general, so many different shady vegetables. There simply aren’t enough trees on the site to fill their near-trunk circles. Here's the problem again...
(garden strawberry), Everyone thinks they know how to grow it, because getting its berries and transplanting a mustache is easy.
On the other hand, it is extremely rare to find an ordinary family garden with stable, exemplary yielding strawberry plots. On the contrary, I heard the same phrase a hundred times: “Our strawberries were crushed, degenerated, and there was such good variety, berries - how big, we bought it at the exhibition! .. ”So, the approach to it needs to be changed. Indeed, in the cultivation of this plant, subtleties are revealed on which more careful care must be built.
It will be about garden strawberries, which gives a harvest in the summer, and about a remontant, which gives two harvests: one in the summer (weaker), and the second in the fall (stronger). The people have long called them club-nick, so I will also call it that here. I noticed that when you say “strawberries” to people, they involuntarily, at the subconscious level, begin to mean small berries of beardless strawberries, similar to wild strawberries, even if they know that scientifically it’s more correct to say not “strawberries”, but “ strawberries." Therefore, for the sake of complete clarity of the images that arise in my books, I have said and say “strawberries”.
Strawberries are a strange culture in many ways, there are many hidden things in it. So, this is the only one of our berries that is not wormy. Why? .. Or take its origin: if, according to your ideas, modern strawberries are obtained “by selecting large berries of wild strawberries”, then this is far from being the case. Modern varieties are obtained by crossing Virginian, Chilean and then European strawberries. Can you imagine what geographical “throws”: three continents participated in the creation of such large berries! Strong berry.
Strawberries have their own character. As far as I could see, she appreciates your presence on the site: strawberries like you to water them, albeit a little, but often, and to fertilize them in the same way and remove weeds. Responds poorly to rush care: can not stand a long drought, abundant fertilizers, continuous weed overgrowth. In this respect, she is closer to vegetable crops than to raspberries and apples.
WHO WILL BE THE “STRAWBERRY KING”?
Let's start with the fact that if you are going to continue to grow strawberries in one place for 5-8 years, then you will not become a "king". "Strawberry king" is the one with extremely large berries. And there are many. And a tired long-term plot is capable of giving only small ones. Then, to become a "strawberry king", you need to have only high-yielding bushes in the planting. Let's start with agricultural technology.
WHERE TO PLANT
With numerous plantings, you should try to place rows with strawberries on a perfectly level place without any beds - it will be easier to work with a chopper. If only there was no bending on landing ~s places where puddles form after rain, where strawberries will get wet.
Plots with strawberries come-:: every now and then to transfer from place to place throughout the site. Having a lot of sorts, you begin to experience difficulty in finding a suitable piece of land. Each variety needs a separate place where tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, many-petal rhizomatous flowers (to avoid root nematodes) would not grow before, and the previous strawberry would not grow earlier than 2-3 years ago. From hopelessness, you start to climb into trunk circles fruit trees and bushes - and here it turns out that the club-nick is successfully combined with them. This plant tolerates moderate partial shade well, so it can be placed with south side under apple and pear trees, and with gooseberries and currants - from all sides.
Those who believe that the strawberry harvest completely depends on “what kind of mustache, when and how you planted are mistaken.
WHEN TO PLANT
Mustaches from their plots are best planted in late July and early August. There at this time there are already quite strong sockets. Choose the largest mustache, because they will give the largest berries (usually they take the first plant on the garland, but this is not strictly: the subsequent ones also give strong bushes, if they are given time to gain growth). Do not take priuski (this is when branches come from the main mustache), the berries are smaller.
Rosettes planted in July have a lot of time to create dense roots in a permanent place, they will blow in the spring good harvest. The September transplant gives the next crop a weaker one, although the next one will be full-fledged.
When taking a plant out of the soil in July, remember that you are carrying flower buds in your hand - a guarantee of a future harvest. So that they "do not notice" the transplant and continue development, take out the mustache with a large amount of land.
HOW TO PLANT
Under this culture, no digging is needed: strawberries are the same plantain! You can make a hole in a trodden place, plant a mustache - and it will begin to grow so well, just like for strawberries, the harder the soil, the better. If only the earth was fresh. It is no coincidence that the juiciest mustaches are always obtained in the rammed aisle. It is enough for the mustache that the earth becomes wet from the dew at night - and he drills his roots into it. In addition, strawberries freely tolerate acidic soil (pH 5-6). Therefore, the preparation of the seat consists only in early loosening to kill weeds and impregnation with a small amount of organic fertilizer solution. When placing it in the near-stem fruit circles, you can use a slight digging.
IS PLANTING STRAWBERRY ON BLACK FILM ADVANTAGES?
Yes and no. Landing on a black film or black lutrasil is for busy people who have very little time left for landings. The film keeps weeds well, retains moisture. In general, this method is purely farmer's, it came from Europe as the most effective for high-speed strawberry care: a roll of film is loaded into a special machine, it rolls it out over a hectare - and the farmer has no more worries, except for picking berries. Ordinary Europeans in their gardens also often plant strawberries on black film. But the specialists - the botanists whom I visited, that is, those who "know the trick" - they keep the strawberries under the straw, in old-fashioned ways!
Our goal is to create large bushes. But you probably know from your own experience that there are such strawberries that give small berries. Yes, this happens if strawberries are fertilized with manure: the leaves grow huge, and the inflorescences are tiny. It is called, all the power went into the tops. We are focused on large bushes that will give the corresponding large berries. To do this, you need to change the type of fertilizer: apply liquid nitrogen organic dressings in small doses every 10-14 days: start planting mustaches until September. Moreover, it is also necessary to start feeding the mother bushes when they are forming a mustache, since the power of the bush is laid not after it is transplanted to a permanent place, but on the mother plant. Do not forget about the effect of the juvenile period. In this regard, the mother plants from which you take whiskers to create new plots in your strawberry kingdom should be in great health. Do not take mustaches from old plantings poisoned by their own root secretions: well, what good can they lay ?! The younger the parent plot, the better. In addition, direct the mustache to take root on fresh soil in the aisle, and not deep into the plot.
Adult plants are fed with the same small doses of nutrient solution every 10-14 days throughout May. In bright sun, you can feed once every 7 days. Then, after harvesting, the same top dressing is carried out until the beginning of August, and this is enough.
The bushes will be large if you cut off the old ones in time lower leaves, which began to turn red or turn yellow, as harmful substances drain from them into the soil. Don't wait until the leaves are completely dead: picking off or cutting half green leaves is necessary - this activates the rest of the bush. Plantings also need to be regularly pulled and weeds should not be allowed to grow.
During the growth of the ovaries and the filling of berries, daily light watering from the hose is desirable. After fruiting, watering should not be abruptly stopped, as flower buds are being laid. Watering is carried out, but less often.
Strawberries have the strongest bushes when planted in one row. The reason for this is obvious: fresh earth on either side of each plant. If you have few strawberries, then you should plant them in one long row - get the maximum number of berries that your variety is capable of. Well, if there are hundreds of strawberries, then switch to a two-row planting and so on. Advantages of a single-row landing:
- the berries are formed noticeably larger;
- plants are much less affected by diseases, including rot;
- planting is easier to clean with tools from weeds;
- it is convenient to lay poles or hay to separate the berries from the ground;
- if necessary, you can get more strong mustaches;
- single-row planting allows you to rejuvenate the roots by digging, which enhances fruiting in the 3rd year.
Try planting strawberries in one row and compare with a regular planting.
WHAT IS THE YIELD
AT middle lane a good harvest is 1-1.5 kg of berries from one square meter (early varieties, as usual, give a smaller harvest than later ones). At the same time, in most modern varieties, the average yield from one bush is approximately 450 g (as indicated in the varietal characteristics). Having placed on the I quarter. m 6 selected boron plants, it would be possible to get 2.7 kg of berries from it! But that's not all. We take into account that 450 g is an average value, which means that there are less productive bushes, and there are more productive ones, giving 600 grams per bush. They can produce 3.6 kg of berries per square meter. Therefore, let us conclude: by selecting the most productive plants, it is possible to achieve such an increase in yield, which no agricultural technology will give!
For the sake of justice, let's say that the average yield (450 g per bush, 1-1.5 kg per square meter) was measured in an open sunny place. Undoubtedly, a plot in semi-lure will give a more modest weight, and in the shade - none at all. In addition, the yield is highly dependent on the weather: every few years there is a “strawberry year”, when there are an incredible amount of berries on the plots, and there are simply “failed” years for this crop, for example, the summer of 2007.
Having a strawberry cycle on a homestead plot, you should not forget about the pattern: in strawberries, high-yielding bushes give little whiskers, but low-yielding bushes quickly form juicy large mustaches inside the planting. Therefore, when you take everything in a row, the harvest will fall over and over again. This is how strawberries degenerate among summer residents. I was once very impressed by the story of how Charles Darwin visited a well-known dog kennel owner and asked how he managed to get such thoroughbred dogs: “Do you cross them often?” To which he replied: “I hang them often!” In other words, if you want to succeed, leave only the very best for divorce. Unfortunately, the rule “everything that is not the elite should be screened out” is almost not observed by any of the plant growers. And in vain. The owner of a small plot should be like a coach who selects a national team: keep only exclusively crop plants. Wherever you take a mustache - from a breeder or in your own ranks, out of 10 plants, only 1 or 2 are worthy of continuing the line for a future plantation.
How to recognize them? It is desirable to see the fruiting of mother plants. Or, having received several new plants, wait for their fruiting and select the best.
On your landings, evaluate the bushes while the berries are still green (which means that family members have not yet torn them!), And immediately mark them with pegs. I have a rule: those bushes that did not bloom in the first year are removed immediately. As they mature, we continue to observe, and if the promising berries have rotted, then we take out the “elite” peg.
The marked plants should produce as many whiskers as possible. Don't leave on next year getting mustaches from them, since the older the bushes, the less mustache they form.
ON WHAT SIGNS TO SELECT PLANTS?
Yield selection. We start, of course, with the size of the berries, but this is not enough: there should be many flower stalks on the bush, the overall yield from the bush should be clearly evident.
Selection according to taste. A remontant strawberry is far from always being sweet, so select its varieties especially passionately for a sweet taste. Usually, a remontant strawberry loses to ordinary strawberries in terms of berry size and taste. Therefore, remontant most often goes as an addition to ordinary strawberries.
Selection for the ability to give a mustache.
Increasingly, hybrids and varieties that do not form a mustache (or plants with a small number of berries give mustaches) come across - for personal plot they are of little use. How will you multiply them? Not by dividing the bush! (Kus-tiki remontant strawberries already weak, and if they are still divided into horns, half will be bent.) And not by rooting flower stalks!
Selection for disease resistance. This feature is generally acquired by itself in those plantings where their owner does not use pesticides: as they say, whoever is preserved is stable. And where “chemistry” is used, the planting material is very unstable, it will hurt a lot until a stable generation is created by selection.
I had to put the plants in harsh conditions: I planted strawberries along with tomatoes and potatoes in the hope that proper care all three cultures will be left healthy, will not allow diseases to develop. It did not materialize, the losses were huge - verticillium wilt, the mustache dried up with whole "garlands". However, some plants withstood and gave rise to disease-resistant plantings. Therefore, I am not afraid of any strawberry diseases: everything never dies.
Selection for winter hardiness. It will also happen to you by itself. The problem is usually created by remontant varieties, which overwinter worse. They can be lightly covered in November with hay. Ordinary strawberries do not need any shelter, although theoretically they should die when the soil freezes below -10 ° C in a snowless winter.
We made sure that not only there are no obstacles on the way to strawberry abundance, but also that strawberries are exactly the berry with which it is easiest to take your estate into the “star orbit”. A carpet of red berries, freshly picked fragrant strawberries - this is a real country holiday!
Some gardeners use black film when growing strawberries. Underneath, the soil warms up well, 
mustaches do not take root, there are no weeds, and the soil remains loose and moist. At the same time, the berries are always clean and dry.
Continuing the theme of planting strawberries, we want to offer you an instructional video on how to plant strawberries correctly.
Propagation of strawberries
Continuing the topic of how to grow strawberries, it is important to reveal the issue of its reproduction. Strawberries propagate in several ways: by dividing bushes, by seeds, or by seedlings from mustaches.
To get the latest high-yielding varieties, for growing remontant strawberries without a mustache, seeds are used.
Varieties that do not have mustache growth are propagated by seedlings obtained by dividing the bush. The bush is dug out of the ground, divided into bunches with roots, which are then planted.
The main method of reproduction, the fastest and most reliable, is mustache seedlings. Ready rooted shoots are dug up, separated from the mother plant, the roots are cut to 6-7 cm, extra leaves leaving 3-4 leaves. Seedlings should have a well-developed bud (core), an overgrown root system. The dug seedlings are dipped into an earthen mash for a while so that the roots do not dry out. It is better to plant it on the same day.
How to care for strawberries?
Soil for strawberries and fertilizer
In early spring, it is necessary to clean the strawberry plantation with a rake. All dry leaves, dead mustaches, dried bushes are raked out, they are carriers of pests and diseases.
After that, the soil should be well fertilized with mineral fertilizers, humus should be applied and loosened well. Throughout the growing season, the soil should not contain weeds, be always loosened and well, but moderately watered. When the ovaries begin to form, the soil must be moist, the yield will depend on this. For 1 sq.m. up to 30 liters of water are consumed, after each harvest a refreshing watering is carried out - up to 10 liters per 1 sq. m.
Mulching strawberries
When ovaries begin to form, it is recommended to stop loosening the soil and mulch. The best material for this is rye or wheat straw. So that the weed seeds and grains in it do not sprout, the material must be prepared in advance: shake the straw, moisten with water and leave in the sun, the seeds will germinate. After the straw dries well, you can use it as a mulch. For the same purposes, hay is suitable, cut before the formation of seeds in the grass.
On the market, especially for mulching, you can buy Agril black covering material.
Soil mulching allows you to grow large and sweet strawberries: retain moisture, prevent the growth of weeds, help ripe berries not to rot, better color, stay dry, facilitate their collection.
If strawberries are watered by rain, mulching is carried out to a thickness of up to 7 cm in a continuous layer. When irrigating along the grooves, mulching is carried out only under the bushes, leaving aisles for irrigation.
After fruiting ends, all the straw, and with it dry shoots, leaves, are raked and burned. At the same time, all pests and foci of diseases are destroyed
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Further watering and fertilizing strawberries
After fruiting is completed, the plant begins to grow new roots, whiskers, leaves. At this time, you need to feed the bushes with organic and mineral fertilizers, water and loosen the soil. This will ensure the normal growth of new shoots. For 1 sq.m. up to 3 kg of humus, up to 30 g of superphosphates, up to 15 g of saltpeter, 20 g of potassium salt are added.
In summer, the soil should be maintained in a loose, moderately moist, weed-free state. This will allow future color buds to form correctly. However, it should be noted that excessive nutrition can affect the excessive growth of the vegetative mass, this can lead to stretching, thickening of plants, and the formation of gray rot. So irrigation and fertilization during this period should be optimal.
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Frost - how to save strawberries?
During the flowering of strawberries in the middle regions of Russia, frosts are often observed. How to protect the future harvest from them? To combat frost, smoke piles are made around the area with strawberries, they should not burn much, but emit a lot of smoke. How to make a smoke pile? A stake is driven into the ground, around which dry combustible material (needles, straw, brushwood, shavings) is laid down. On top of it - straw manure, tops, raw leaves. All this is covered with an earthen layer up to 6 cm.
If the soil temperature drops to zero, a stake is removed from the pile, and a torch is inserted in its place. Smoke should continue for two hours after sunrise.
Strawberry flowers can be protected by sprinkling, it starts before the temperature drops, and continues after sunrise until all the ice is gone from the plants.
Is it possible to grow strawberries all year round?
Is it possible to grow strawberries not only in spring and summer, but also in winter, autumn, that is all year round? This question interests many amateur gardeners. Yes, you can grow strawberries throughout the year, not only in greenhouses, but even in an apartment. For this, special remontant varieties of strawberries were bred.
Such strawberries do not like multiple transplants, so for it you need to immediately choose a convenient container for growing. In it, it will grow and winter. Most unpretentious variety remontant strawberry is called "Elizabeth II".
Each individual plant will need 3 liters of soil. If strawberries will be planted in a pot or jar, choose a larger container. In boxes and containers, bushes should grow at a distance of up to 20 cm from each other. A popular method of growing is in bags, in this case more than five crops per year can be harvested.
The main condition for growing a remontant variety is good lighting, lamps are used for this. daylight. It is also necessary to ensure comfortable temperature and ventilation. A balcony or a heated greenhouse is best.
How to grow strawberry seeds?
Strawberry seeds can be grown and planted both in the garden and in pots.
It is not difficult to do this if you follow the following rules:
- To collect seeds, you need to select a strawberry variety that has not been grafted, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve the desired results. Often the seeds of grafted varieties do not even germinate.
- Opt for a ripe dark red berry with soft flesh.
- Strawberries must be placed in a bowl of water, covered with a lid and left for the fermentation process for 4 days.
- Taking advantage fine sieve, wipe the softened fruit through it and separate the seeds with a spoon. This must be done with care so as not to damage the seeds.
- Rinse the seeds directly in a sieve under running water.
- Carefully select the seeds and place them on a linen towel. Leave to dry for five days.
- After the seeds dry well, separate them with a thin needle from each other, place them in a paper bag. Store in a cool place.
- Do not forget to sign the bag: strawberry variety, date when the seeds were collected.
How to grow strawberries - video
We offer you a video about proper cultivation strawberries.
pruning strawberries
Spring strawberry care
Secrets of efficient strawberry cultivation for a good harvest
1. Strawberry planting material
2. Sowing strawberries
3. Planting strawberries in the ground
4. Care for strawberries
5. Strawberry ripening
6. Preparing strawberries for winter
Garden strawberry (large-fruited) is the most common berry crop grown by amateur gardeners. People call it strawberries. In this article, in order not to introduce confusion, it is also called a strawberry and we will talk about planting strawberries in open ground.
Ripe strawberries.
Biological features of culture
Strawberry - evergreen with a shortened rhizome and a small stem that becomes woody some time after planting. It forms three types of shoots: horns, mustaches and peduncles.
- Horns or rosettes are formed from vegetative buds in the lateral part of the stem. The apical kidney of the horn - "heart" - is red. The larger it is, the more yield the plant will give in the first year. As the bush grows, the horns form higher and higher above the ground.
- Whiskers are long lashes with which young plants can separate from the main bush. Mustaches of the 1st and 2nd orders are most suitable for obtaining planting material.
- Peduncles are not suitable for planting material.
Diagram of a strawberry bush.
A feature of strawberries is their constant renewal.
Strawberry requirements for climatic factors
The berry plant is quite demanding on environmental conditions.
- Temperature. Strawberries are quite winter-hardy; they can withstand temperatures down to -8-12°C without freezing. Under snow, it can tolerate frosts down to -35 ° C. spring frosts can damage buds and flowers, but since the crop blooms extremely unevenly, the entire crop is never lost. In addition, the buds are more resistant to frost (-4-5°C) than the opened flowers, which can withstand temperatures as low as -2°C.
- Light. The culture is photophilous, but is able to tolerate slight shading. It can be grown in rows young garden, however, under the crown of an adult tree in dense shade, the plants will produce small berries.
- Moisture. Strawberries are demanding on moisture, can tolerate short-term flooding, but do not grow on waterlogged soils. Drying out has a very bad effect on the development of culture. Not only does the yield of bushes decrease, but their growth and development also slows down.
Impact climatic factors on the yield of strawberries can be significantly weakened by proper agricultural technology.
Where is the best place to plant strawberries?
The best place for planting strawberries are well-lit areas with a flat surface, protected from strong winds. The soil should be loose, well-cultivated, cleared of weeds, especially malicious (wheatgrass, bindweed, thistle, thistle, gout). Occurrence ground water on the plot at least 70 cm.
Lowlands where cold air accumulates are not suitable for planting strawberries. In such places, the crop ripens 8-12 days later.
Steep slopes are also unsuitable for planting, because when snow melts, the soil is washed out and plant roots are exposed.
A place for planting strawberries is chosen even and well lit.
Strawberries are grown on any soil, but medium loams are most preferred. With a close occurrence of groundwater, plants are cultivated on high ridges. Sandy soils are the least suitable for cultivation; plants on them suffer both from a low content of nutrients and from a lack of moisture. Before planting strawberries on such lands, they are cultivated.
Culture Precursors
- garlic;
- greens (parsley, dill, lettuce, cilantro, basil);
- legumes;
- root crops (carrots, beets);
- all types of cabbage;
- turnip, radish, radish;
- bulbous flowers (tulips, daffodils), as well as marigolds.
But the best precursor is fertilized black or busy fallow. However, it is unlikely that gardeners can allow the land to be empty for a whole season on their already not very large plots.
Bad predecessors:
- potatoes, tomatoes;
- all pumpkin plants (cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, melon, watermelon).
Bushes are especially strongly oppressed after potatoes. Strawberries do not tolerate root secretions of this crop.
How to prepare a bed for planting strawberries
The beds for planting are prepared in 1-2 months, the earth should settle down, settle down. Strawberries love loose fertile soils, so digging should be carried out as deep as possible: on weakly fertile soils by 18-20 cm, on chernozems - 25-30 cm.
We are preparing a ridge for planting garden strawberries.
Strawberries do not respond well to the direct application of fertilizers for planting, because they do not tolerate a high concentration of salts in the soil. Therefore, they are used either under the predecessor, or in the preparation of the beds. The applied fertilizers are buried deep so that they dissolve in the ground and turn into a form accessible to plants.
on su clay soils a bucket of completely rotted manure, peat or compost is brought in per 1 m2. In the absence of organic fertilizers, use nitroammophoska or nitrophoska (2 tablespoons / m2).
When planting strawberries on sandy soils increased doses of manure, compost or humus are introduced into the beds - 2-3 buckets / m2. You can make sod land and 3-4 kg of sawdust.
On heavy loams and clay soils use river sand With organic fertilizers. 3-4 kg of sand and 2-3 buckets of manure or compost are added per 1 m2. Fertilizers are thoroughly mixed with the ground and close up deeply.
Strawberries grow well in neutral and weakly acidic soils(pH 5.5-7.0). If the pH is below 5.5, then liming is carried out. It is better to apply dolomite or limestone flour, as their effect continues throughout the entire period of growing the crop in one place (4 years). Application rate 3-4 kg/m2.
Lime is not applied directly under strawberries, but is used 2-3 years before the laying of a plantation for previous crops. Lime can be replaced with ash, it acts much softer, it contains trace elements necessary for strawberry bushes. Ash is brought in for digging 2-3 cups / m2.
On alkaline soils, the site is acidified. To do this, use peat, sawdust, rotted coniferous litter (10 kg / m2). Their action is soft and slow, but long-lasting. If it is necessary to slightly acidify the earth, then physiologically acidic mineral fertilizers: ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate. Ash on highly alkaline soils should not be applied.
Selection of strawberry seedlings
When choosing seedlings Special attention pay attention to the state of the bushes. They should be fully formed with 3-5 leaves spread out. The absence of damage, spots, wrinkles on the leaves is an indicator of the health of the seedlings.
Only healthy seedlings are selected for planting.
Squat rosettes with a large pink or red central bud are considered the highest quality. The development of the strawberry bush and the harvest of the first year depend on its size. With a “heart” diameter of more than 20 mm, it is possible to get a crop of up to 300 g of berries in the first year. Bushes with long, elongated petioles and a green "heart" in the first year will give a very small crop or there will be no berries on them at all.
Choose strong healthy specimens, weak plants will not only be less productive, but they are more susceptible to diseases and pests. If only the worst plants remain, then it is better not to take anything at all than to buy obviously problematic bushes.
If strawberry seedlings are already blooming, then specimens with large flowers are chosen - in the future these are large berries. Don't buy seedlings small flowers, and even more so the one that has no buds at all.
When laying a new plantation, 3-5 plants of each variety are selected in order to subsequently receive planting material from them. Best Option- This is the purchase of strawberries of 3-4 varieties.
When buying seedlings with an open root system, special attention is paid to the roots. They should be light, at least 5 cm long. If the roots are dark, then the plant is weak and sick, it may not take root after planting.
The place of the growth point ("heart") should be thin. The thicker it is, the older the bush from which the outlet is taken. The berries on such plants are very small, and it gives a crop of only 1 year.
Planting strawberries in open ground
A strawberry plantation is formed gradually. The most thoughtful way of growing - placing rows of plants on the plot different ages. Every year a new bed is laid, and the most old strawberries dig up. Then on the site it will be possible to gradually replace old plants with young strawberry bushes.
Strawberry seedlings of different ages.
Planting dates when it is better to plant strawberries
Planting time determines the size and quality of the first harvest. The main dates for planting strawberry bushes are spring, the second half of summer and autumn.
Spring planting time highly dependent on the growing region and weather conditions. In the middle lane and in Siberia, it occurs in early-mid May, in the southern regions - mid-late April. The earlier the seedlings are planted, the greater the harvest will be next year. During the growing season, the bushes will get stronger and lay a large number of flower buds.
The main disadvantage of spring planting strawberries is the lack of planting material. What is for sale is either rosettes obtained from old bushes or last year's latest mustaches. Neither is quality planting material. The horns of old bushes are not young seedlings, but the same old bush, divided into rosettes. There will be no harvest from such plants, no matter how well they are looked after.
Mustaches of the 5th-8th order are the weakest on the garland and in order to obtain berries they must be grown during the year.
Summer landing time is the most optimal. You can determine the most favorable landing time by the mustache. When mustaches of the 1st and 2nd orders appear, then it's time to plant seedlings. For the remaining time, the bushes will form a powerful root system and leave fully prepared for the winter. Subject to the deadlines, the harvest of 1 year should be 100-150 g of berries per plant.
autumn term(September-October) is the worst in terms of getting berries for the next year. The bushes will have time to take root, but they will go into the winter poorly prepared, not fully formed, they will lay few flower buds, the harvest will be very small (20-30 g per bush).
In addition, such plants do not tolerate winter quite well: the percentage of loss can be very large. In the northern regions, up to half of the strawberry bushes sometimes freezes.
Autumn planting of strawberries is possible only when it is necessary to get a large number of mustaches for the next year. Then in the spring all flower stalks are removed from these plants, thereby stimulating the formation of as many whiskers as possible. In the first year, the bushes give the most powerful mustache, from which the best varietal plants are obtained.
It should be borne in mind that early varieties with optimal time plantings give half the yield than medium and late - this is a feature of strawberries.
Seedling treatment before planting
Seedlings brought from the nursery are often infected with pests and diseases. To destroy pests, strawberries are heated in water at a temperature of 50 ° C, immersing the plant, together with the pot, entirely in water for 15-20 minutes. The procedure is repeated twice with an interval of 30-40 minutes.
AT hot water most pests die (mites, stem nematodes, root aphids, etc.).
To prevent diseases, seedlings are completely immersed for 5-7 minutes in a solution blue vitriol or HOM (1 teaspoon) and table salt(3 tablespoons) diluted in 10 liters of water. Then it is rinsed with water and planted.
Strawberry Planting Schemes
There are several schemes for planting strawberries: compacted, 30 × 60, 40 × 60, 40 × 70.
Compact planting. Strawberries have a very clear pattern: the denser the planting of seedlings, the higher the first harvest. With a compact planting, plants are placed late varieties according to the scheme 20 × 60 cm (20-25 bushes / m2).
The aisles should not be compacted, because after the first picking of berries, the strawberries are thinned out. If this is not done, then next year it will give very few berries. After fruiting, every second bush is dug up and placed on a separate bed according to the 40 × 60 cm scheme. Compacted plantations for these bushes are no longer suitable, such a scheme is only suitable for seedlings.
Seedlings of early varieties are planted at a distance of 15 cm from each other with a row spacing of 60 cm. After picking the berries, they must also be thinned out so that the gap between the bushes is 30 cm.
Planting strawberries according to the scheme 30 × 60 cm. Strawberries give high yields only when the plants are free in the garden and there is no competition from other bushes (the exception is the first year). According to the scheme 30 × 60 cm, early varieties of strawberries are planted.
Between the varieties in the garden, the distance is left at 80 cm, it is necessary so that the mustache does not intersect. Confusion with varieties must be avoided by all means.
Planting according to the scheme 40 × 60 cm. According to this scheme, mid-season and late varieties are placed, since their bushes are more powerful, forming large rosettes.
Planting according to the scheme 40 × 70 cm. This scheme is used when planting strawberries of mid-ripening and late varieties on highly fertile chernozem soils.
You can plant bushes in a single-row or two-row way.
How to plant strawberries
Landing is carried out on cloudy days or in the evening, because in daytime and in sunny hot weather, the leaves evaporate water strongly. And since the bushes have not yet taken root, and the flow of water into the leaves does not occur, the plants may wither. This negatively affects the further development of culture.
At spring planting blooming strawberries remove all flower stalks, since the main thing is rooting and correct formation plants. The harvest of seedlings only depletes the plant, which further leads to its weakening and poor wintering.
Proper planting of seedlings.
When planting plants, it is impossible to deepen or raise the "heart", since in the first case this leads to decay of the seedlings, and in the second - to its drying. "Heart" should be located at the level of the soil.
When planting strawberries, no fertilizers are used, they must be applied in advance. The roots are well straightened, they should not be twisted or bent up. With a length of roots over 7 cm, they are shortened, but they should not be less than 5 cm.
When planting in the hole, a mound is poured, the roots are evenly distributed over it and sprinkled with moist soil. After that, the seedlings are watered abundantly. You can spill the planting holes with water and plant the bushes directly into the water, then after planting, watering is not carried out.
Planting strawberries under black covering material
As a covering material, a black film or agrofiber (dark spunbond, lutarsil) with a thickness of 100 microns is used. When using thinner material, weeds grow through it. It is spread on the bed in a continuous layer 1-1.2 m wide.
At the edges, the material is fixed by pressing it to the ground with bricks, boards or sprinkling it with earth. Then cross-shaped slots are made on its surface, in which holes are dug and seedlings are planted in them. Slots are made after laying the material on the bed. The bushes are pressed tightly, otherwise the mustache will grow and take root under the film. There is no need to be afraid that the plants will be cramped, the film and agrofibre are able to stretch.
The ridges are made high and slightly sloping so that the water flows down and hits the ground along the edges. For the winter, the covering material is removed, because in winter the plants under it rot (especially under the film). Under covering material, it is better to grow strawberries in a single row.
The advantages of this landing method:
- a significant increase in yield, since the black surface heats up more in the sun, the soil warms up faster and deeper;
- berries are practically not affected by gray rot;
- weed growth is suppressed;
- less labor intensive growing process.
Flaws:
- uniform watering of the bushes is almost impossible. Watering the plants under the root is also very difficult, because the slots are small and it is difficult for enough water to get into them;
- the film does not allow air to pass through, due to which the roots rot;
- weeds actively germinate through strawberry bushes;
- way too expensive to grow
When growing strawberries under agrofibre or film, it is necessary to lay an irrigation system. This is economically justified only in large farms. On individual garden plots it is too laborious and costly.
The optimal life of the plantation is 4 years. Then the yields are sharply reduced, the berries become small and sour, it becomes necessary to renew the plantings of strawberries.
