How to care for strawberries after harvest. Pruning strawberries in the summer after harvest: caring for garden strawberries after fruiting in July and August - top dressing and processing When to handle strawberries after harvesting in the fall

The first thing to do with strawberries after harvesting is to weed the bed, if it is not mulched with a film. Most experienced gardeners know that weeding strawberries during fruiting is not recommended. Therefore, by the time the crop is harvested, the beds are usually overgrown with weeds. Organic mulch should be removed from the beds after or before weeding. Next, you need to loosen the soil.

It is quite natural that strawberries are greatly weakened after picking berries. Therefore, the main task of the gardener during this period is to try to restore the strength of the plants as fully as possible.

Care for strawberries after harvest: the main activities

To support weakened plants, the summer resident at the end of the season should:

• water them properly


• carry out autumn feeding;


• cut bushes.

Also, in some cases, preventive measures against pests and diseases are carried out on the site in August - September.

How to water

Moisten the soil under the strawberries during this period should be correct. In order for the plants to quickly regain strength, watering should be infrequent, but plentiful. Moisten the soil in the garden should be about once every 1-2 weeks. At the same time, you need to fill the strawberries as carefully as possible. Surface watering will not give any result during this period.

What and when to feed

Weakened strawberries need a lot of nutrients after harvest. Therefore, plants at the end of the season must be fed. This crop is fertilized in August or September, usually with organic matter. As at any other time, strawberries respond best during this period to chicken manure or horse manure. In extreme cases, you can use, of course, mullein.

Mineral top dressings can also be useful at this time. Instead of organics, for example, it is allowed to use ammophoska.

It is not necessary to make an infusion of horse or cow manure to feed strawberries after picking berries. Pieces of such fertilizer can simply be spread out in the garden between the rows and under the bushes. Subsequently, autumn rains will wash away and dissolve organic matter.

Chicken manure is a great answer to the question of how to care for strawberries after harvest in terms of replenishing nutrients. However, the fertilizer is very strong. Therefore, to facilitate dosing, it is still worth preparing a solution from it. To feed strawberries, this type of organic matter should, as usual, be diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20. Consumption after picking berries should be approximately one bucket per 8-10 bushes.

Mineral fertilizers are applied to the beds by scattering over the surface of the earth, followed by embedding in the soil with a chopper and abundant watering. So that a crust does not form on the soil, after this procedure, strawberries should be mulched with needles or peat.

Strawberries really need nutrients after harvest. However, the vegetative processes in plants by autumn begin to gradually slow down. Therefore, strawberries are usually fed only once during this period.

You can fertilize the beds at any time after picking the berries. However, it should be borne in mind that the last liquid feeding of the season with chicken manure should be carried out until mid-September at the latest. Dry mullein, horse manure and mineral fertilizers can be applied later.

How to Care for Strawberries After Harvest: Pruning

Immediately after the strawberries stop bearing fruit, all dried and damaged leaves should be removed from the plants. The main pruning of this crop is usually done in late summer - early autumn. Wherein:

• mustaches are removed from the bushes;


• cut the leaves.

Mustaches from strawberries should be removed in the fall. The fact is that they greatly weaken the plants. Leaving a mustache on strawberries before winter is worth it only when there is a need to expand the planting. And in this case, most of the processes should be removed. For breeding on strawberries, only very strong mustaches are left in not too large numbers.

Cut off such shoots from strawberries should be as low as possible to the ground with a sharp pruner. You don't have to cut your mustache. Otherwise, you can easily damage the roots of the plant. After all, it will certainly, albeit a little, “stretch” out of the ground after the process.

The strawberries themselves are cut in such a way that a part of the bush about 5 cm high remains above the ground. Such pruning should be done for strawberries starting from the second year after planting. Plants of the first year are left uncircumcised for the winter.

Disease prevention

Both viral and fungal diseases can affect strawberries. Victoria after the harvest is weakened. And therefore, it can be very easy to catch some kind of infection. Therefore, after picking berries, complex plant prevention is usually carried out using universal preparations. It can be, for example, Nitrofen. In those areas where strawberries are often infected with powdery mildew, it is additionally desirable to use Topaz.

Also at the end of the season, you can carry out preventive treatment of plants from pests. For this, it is best to use karbofos or Aktellik.

Prophylactic treatment of strawberries after harvest is usually carried out only in areas that are quite problematic in terms of morbidity and pests. On the safe side, these procedures are not considered mandatory. However, to remove from the beds and burn all the garbage, as well as deep loosening, of course, is worth it in such a garden.

People who are far from gardening think that strawberry care begins in early spring. In fact, the most important period for this crop begins in the second half of summer, when buds are laid on the strawberry bushes for the next harvest. About how strawberries are cared for after fruiting, how strawberries are pruned, when and how to fertilize strawberries, how to water strawberries and how to prepare them for wintering - you will receive answers to all these questions in our article.

Pruning strawberry leaves

Some gardeners prefer to remove all leaves from strawberries after fruiting, even young and healthy ones. It seems to us that this measure is extreme, and it should be applied only when your strawberries are severely affected by pests or some kind of disease. If the one-year-old bushes are mostly healthy and there are not so many pests on them, then remove only diseased, disfigured, drying and old leaves that have changed color. The remontant strawberries of the first year are also not pruned, only bad leaves and mustaches are removed from it, if the variety forms them.

Mandatory pruning of strawberries after harvest only applies to bushes older than two years. In addition to leaves, all whiskers are also removed, unless you are going to transplant and propagate this year. Whiskers are collected together and cut as close to the base of the bush as possible, and the leaves are cut at a height of 10 cm from the ground. Before the onset of cold weather, strawberries will have time to grow new foliage.

Pruning of strawberries is carried out 2-3 weeks after fruiting is completed. Plant residues must be immediately removed and destroyed from the site so that pests or microorganisms that cause diseases do not move into the soil, and from it they do not switch back to strawberries.

Processing strawberries after fruiting

If during the picking of berries you find a lot of rotten or moldy fruits, then there is every reason to assume development on strawberries gray or black rot. Leaf spots may be a sign white or red spotting, and whitish plaque is a clear symptom of the disease powdery mildew. From powdery mildew, strawberries are treated with colloidal sulfur, and the leaves must be abundantly moistened both from the upper and lower sides. Topsin solution or copper oxychloride will help you get rid of fungal spots, black and gray rot.

Top dressing strawberries

To help strawberries recover after harvest, store food for the winter and prepare for fruiting next season, they need to be fed with trace elements and minerals. Most suitable for this are special balanced fertilizers for strawberries, as well as Ammofoska, which includes not only all three essential elements (phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium), but also magnesium, sulfur and calcium. Never use preparations containing chlorine as a fertilizer for strawberries - it does not tolerate it, but humus not only nourishes the plant, but also improves soil structure. Strawberries respond well to a solution of mullein and chicken manure.

Top dressing is carried out after pruning and processing of strawberries from diseases and pests. If you prefer to use organic matter as a fertilizer, you can spread small pieces of horse or cow manure over the area: all subsequent rains and watering will gradually dissolve the fertilizer, releasing the microelements necessary for strawberries from it and soaking them in the soil in the root area. And well-rotted compost is poured under the strawberry bushes right to the roots. Chicken droppings act much faster if you dilute it in water in a ratio of 1:20, mix thoroughly and pour strawberries with this solution at the rate of 1 bucket per 10 bushes. Strawberries respond well to wood ash, which is scattered over the surface of the site at the rate of 1 two-liter jar of fertilizer per 1 m² of beds. But it is categorically impossible to apply ash simultaneously with fresh manure, since this causes a large loss of nitrogen released into the air in the form of ammonia.

Granular mineral fertilizers are scattered over the surface at the rate of 10 g of ammonium nitrate, the same amount of potassium sulfate and 30 g of superphosphate per 1 m² of land, they are embedded in the soil with a chopper, after which the garden bed is abundantly watered.

Watering strawberries after fruiting

After harvesting, watering strawberries does not stop. Moisten the soil in the garden infrequently - once every 7-10 days, but plentifully so that the soil is saturated with moisture to a depth of at least 5-6 cm. Soil is moistened in the evening or early in the morning, using settled and sun-heated water.

After watering or rain, remove weeds and trim the mustache that robs strawberries of nutrition and moisture. Sometimes a little potassium permanganate should be added to the water for irrigation so that the solution acquires a light pink color: this composition is an excellent prophylactic against fungal diseases.

Preparing strawberries for winter

When the season comes to an end, strawberries need to be prepared for winter. If it rained in the fall and the soil was saturated with moisture, you do not need to water the strawberries, but if the weather was dry, then at the end of October, spend winter watering strawberries, spending 1.5-2 buckets of water per m² of plot. After watering, carefully inspect the bushes, and if you find exposed roots, cover them with moist soil. Before the onset of the first frosts, cover the strawberries with spruce branches, not so much to protect from the cold, but to retain snow. We do not recommend using straw as a shelter for strawberries, as field mice often start in it.

Pruning strawberries after fruiting and harvesting is one of the mandatory activities, the implementation of which provides not only an impressive (30 to 40%) increase in the yield of this crop next year, but also improves the appearance and taste of the berries.

Competent and high-quality processing of plantings guarantees the production of especially large, juicy and sweet fruits.

Pruning garden strawberries helps:

1. Without resorting to the use of chemicals, to prevent the occurrence of dangerous infectious diseases (gray rot, spotting, powdery mildew) to which this crop is susceptible.
2. Significantly facilitate weeding plantings.
3. Create optimal conditions for the natural release of the surface of the ridges from pathogenic fungi by improving air circulation in bushes with bare bases. Removing diseased and old leaves contributes to the disinfection of the soil due to its good ventilation and heating by sunlight.
4. To create obstacles for the successful development of the strawberry mite, a microscopic pest that loves dampness and lives at the base of leaf petioles.

Trimming methods

Pruning strawberry bushes after harvest can be:

• complete (total);
• partial (selective).

It is better to refuse the complete removal of leaves from strawberry bushes, since total pruning contributes to the rapid depletion of plants that spend all their energy not on laying fruit buds of the future crop and storing nutrients, but on increasing green mass.

Full mowing of the leaves is advisable only if the strawberry plantings have been badly damaged by pests or fungal infections.

During partial pruning after harvest, you must first remove all (including healthy) leaves lying on the ground. After that, having carefully examined the bush, remove the old, dried up and diseased (spotted, speckled and dotted) leaves of the upper tiers.

Young and healthy leaves are best left. You should not touch the bushes of this year either: they need to get stronger and gain strength.

Cut leaves that are infected with diseases and are likely to contain pests should be burned immediately. They are not suitable for laying in compost and use as a mulching material.

If the gardener does not plan to propagate strawberries, throughout the entire vegetative period he must definitely remove its creeping shoots (whiskers), cutting them as close as possible to the middle of the leaf rosette.

Basic pruning rules

Pruning strawberries after harvest requires conscious action, as thoughtless leaf removal can harm plants:

1. Despite the fact that some gardeners call it mowing, the use of a scythe, lawn mower or sickle in this case is completely unacceptable. This is an exclusively manual work, requiring the use of sharply sharpened garden tools: secateurs, scissors or a knife.
2. In order to avoid mechanical damage to the root system of plants, it is strictly forbidden to pick the leaves manually. Damaged bushes will hurt, recover for a long time and probably will not bring a lot of fruit.
3. In order to prevent the penetration of pathogens of dangerous infections into the base of the bushes, you can not cut the leaves under the very root. The length of the petioles left must be at least 5 centimeters.
4. Pruning should only be done in dry weather. Treated bushes are watered exclusively at the root. Watering by sprinkling can be applied only after the final tightening of the wounds left after pruning.
5. Processing should begin with the beds on which healthy and young plants grow, gradually moving to older and more problematic plantings. The beds, on which some bushes show signs of wilting or being affected by viral diseases, should be treated last, disinfecting the tool used as often as possible, using a strong solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulphate.
6. Since the main purpose of pruning is to clean plantings from insect pests and pathogens of dangerous infections, cut leaves must be carefully collected and burned immediately. Putting them in a compost pit is not recommended (except when they fall into the deepest layers, which will not be used within the next five years).

Timing

Any pruning of green mass severely injures and weakens strawberries, however, there is a period during which its bushes are able to quickly recover, painlessly enduring the removal of almost the entire above-ground part.

This period begins 7-10 days after the cessation of fruiting (usually at the end of July). The optimal time for pruning strawberries in regions where snow cover occurs in early or mid-November expires by mid-August.

It is by this time that the gardeners of the Moscow region, the Urals, the northwestern and central parts of Russia, Siberia, the Far East and Altai need to complete the work on processing strawberry ridges. Pruning of strawberries is somewhat delayed (until high-quality planting material is obtained) only if the mustache for its reproduction is supposed to be taken from a fruit-bearing plantation.

Such tight deadlines are explained by the fact that strawberries need at least 2-3 months of active vegetation to build up a new leaf apparatus and prepare for winter, since it is the leaves that provide the process of photosynthesis that affects the development of the root system, annual horns and the laying of fruit buds.

If for some reason the optimal time for pruning the berry was missed, it is carried out in a sparing mode, which involves the removal of only the lower and affected (covered with white bloom, spots and uncharacteristic redness) leaves.

Step-by-step instruction

The method of pruning strawberries after harvesting is extremely simple: grabbing a bush with one hand, cut off all of its aerial part (including leaves, unnecessary mustaches and dead flower stalks) with a sharply sharpened tool.

As a result, cuttings of leaf petioles sticking out above the ground remain on the ridge (their height - in order to avoid damage to growth buds in the center of annual horns and hearts of strawberry bushes - should be at least 8 cm) and barely appeared young leaves.

Cardinal pruning of all foliage is unacceptable, since bushes that have not had time to grow green mass will go to wintering weakened and, unable to endure the cold, simply freeze.

The cut leaves are carefully combed out with a rake.

The fertility of the strawberry plantation in the next season depends on the quality of processing the bushes and compliance with the optimal timing of their pruning.

Care for strawberries after fruiting and harvesting

Care for Victoria in the period after fruiting includes:

1. Removal of dry and affected leaves from the ridges, as well as a layer of old mulch containing pathogens of dangerous infections and pests.
2. Careful weeding of weeds that rob plants of nutrients.
3. Pruning old foliage and mustaches.
4. Merciless destruction of bushes affected by the strawberry nematode (to prevent the spread of this pest).
5. Thorough loosening of the soil between the rows.
6. Watering plantings (during the drought period).
7. Preventive treatment of bushes from infections and pests.
8. Periodic top dressing.
9. Soil mulching.

Soil loosening

1. In order not to damage the roots of strawberries, loosen the soil on the beds only in the aisles, immersing the tool to a depth of 70 mm.
2. Having finished loosening the beds, it is advisable to pile up the strawberries, paying special attention to plants with a bare root system (as a rule, this is typical for 2-3-year-old bushes) and making sure that the soil does not fill up the growth point (the so-called "heart"), located in the very center of the bush.

Watering rules

1. In order for the treated bushes to recover quickly by growing the root system, green mass and laying fruit buds, the soil on the strawberry plantation must be moist.
2. In dry weather, strawberry beds should be watered at least once a week (watering should be plentiful). Immediately after pruning, it is necessary to water the treated bushes not by sprinkling, but by the method of overlap.
3. So that the growing leaves do not suffer from sunburn, it is necessary to water the strawberries either in the morning or in the evening.
4. After watering, the soil on the beds must be loosened, preventing the formation of a hard crust on its surface.
5. So that the ground under the bushes always remains loose and moist, it is advisable to mulch the plantation.

Mulching strawberry beds

Soil mulching is an extremely useful manipulation that contributes to:

• loosening the soil in the beds;
• accumulation of nutrients and enrichment of the soil with many beneficial microorganisms (due to the decomposition of mulching material);
• control of growth of weeds, which greatly facilitates the care of plants;
• more aesthetic appearance of berry beds.

A suitable mulching material for planting strawberries is:

• needles;
• sawdust;
• leaf humus;
• straw;
• chopped dry grass left over from mowing the lawn and previously dried in the sun.

As a mulching material, you can use spunbond (preferably black, which prevents the growth of weeds), covering them with high beds intended for new plantings of strawberries.

Pest and disease control

It is advisable to subject the fruiting strawberry bushes to a chemical treatment designed to destroy pests and fight all kinds of diseases, since during the fruiting period the possibility of its implementation was absolutely excluded.

Before proceeding with the chemical treatment of strawberry bushes, it is necessary to rid them of diseased, old, dry and pest-damaged leaves:

1. After removing the damaged foliage, the petioles remaining from it, as well as the soil under the strawberry bushes, are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. This measure prevents the occurrence of fungal infections.
2. The infection of plantings with strawberry mites can be guessed by the presence of leaves, the surface of which resembles corrugated paper. To combat it, you can use the anti-mite preparations Actellik, Thiovit Jet, Fitoverm, Fufanon, Kemifos and an aqueous solution of colloidal sulfur, acting in strict accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
3. Active rotting of the berries indicates damage to the bushes by gray rot. In this case, the bed must be treated with a solution of copper oxychloride.
4. The presence of yellowish leaves localized in the center of strawberry bushes, which are distinguished by unusually thick petioles, is evidence of their defeat by the nematode. As experience shows, in this case, any attempts (including spraying with chemicals) to save the plants are completely useless, so they must be destroyed. The beds on which the affected bushes grew must be shed with a large amount of boiling water.
5. To combat the raspberry-strawberry weevil, planting strawberries should be treated twice with a solution of the Intavir preparation. The interval between treatments should be at least 14 days. Good results are obtained by spraying the beds with a solution prepared from ten drops of iodine and 10 liters of water.
6. The presence of brown spots on strawberry leaves can be the result of viral infections. You can cope with them by spraying the leaves with a solution of Bordeaux liquid.
7. Strawberry pest and disease control can be combined with foliar top dressing of bushes if fertilizers are added to the applied tank mix.

In order to prevent the development of diseases, strawberry plantings must be regularly inspected, immediately removing diseased leaves and getting rid of diseased plants, using a weak solution of potassium permanganate to irrigate the soil in the garden.

Top dressing of fertile strawberries

By the end of the fruiting period, weakened strawberry bushes, which have given all their strength to the fruits of the new crop, are especially in need of top dressing. Only with their help, plants will be able to fully recover and lay a sufficient number of flower buds.

After harvesting, experienced gardeners feed strawberries at least three times:

1. Immediately after pruning the affected leaves (in late July or early August), strawberries are fed with nitrogen fertilizers. This measure will accelerate the growth of young leaves.
2. Two weeks later, a second top dressing is carried out, consisting in the introduction of organic matter enriched with potassium and phosphorus. This top dressing stimulates the laying of flower (or fruit) buds.
3. About a month later (in mid-September), the strawberries are fed for the third time, using a mullein solution for this.

Top dressings can be organic or mineral.

The most popular mineral supplements:

1. "Ammofoska" is a complex fertilizer containing four main components: potassium, phosphorus, sulfur and nitrogen. It can be embedded in the soil with a chopper, scattering dry granules over the surface of a strawberry bed (at the rate of 20-30 g per square meter), and then watering. Ammophoska can be dissolved in water (a matchbox in a bucket of water) and water the plants from a watering can.
2. "Nitroammophoska" and "Nitrofoska" are used in the form of an aqueous solution prepared from one tablespoon of fertilizer per 10 liters of water.
3. Specialized fertilizers for garden strawberries: Ogorodnik, Kristalon, Fertika.
4. An aqueous solution of a mixture prepared from potassium sulfate, superphosphate and ammonium nitrate (in a ratio of 1:3:1).

Gardeners should be aware that fertilizers containing chlorine, which is detrimental to this crop, cannot be used to feed strawberries.

The most popular organic fertilizers used to feed strawberries include:

1. Biohumus. It is poured directly to the roots of strawberry bushes.
2. A solution of mullein, prepared from one part of manure and ten parts of water and infused for a day, after which it is used to apply under strawberry bushes. To enrich the infusion with additional trace elements, experienced gardeners add one part of wood ash to it.
3. Infusion of bird droppings. It is not recommended to apply bird droppings under growing bushes in a dry form: this is fraught with a burn of the roots and death of plants. To prepare an infusion, bird droppings are diluted with water (in a ratio of 1 to 10) and infused for at least 48 hours. After that, diluting one liter of the finished infusion with ten liters of water, they use it to water the strawberries.
4. An herbal infusion prepared from nettles and other weeds left over from weeding. Having laid the grass in a large barrel (approximately to the middle of its volume), add a little wood ash to it, add water to the very brim and leave it in a sunny place for fermentation for ten days. To speed up fermentation and enrich the infusion with beneficial microorganisms, you can add 200 g of yeast to the barrel. The finished herbal infusion is diluted with water (in a ratio of 1 to 1) and used for watering strawberry beds. It not only feeds strawberries, but also helps deoxidize garden soil.
5. Wood ash, rich in trace elements and used to reduce the acidity of the soil in the beds. After pruning strawberries with wood ash, sprinkle the soil (based on: a two-liter jar per square meter), after which it is watered and loosened. Since wood ash is incompatible with fresh manure, the simultaneous use of these fertilizers is unacceptable.

When fertilizing strawberry beds, you should remember about the inadmissibility of overfeeding it. Otherwise, she will begin to "fatten", actively increasing the green mass and refusing to lay flower buds. Experienced gardeners say that underfeeding strawberries is better than overfeeding them.

Preparing plantings for winter

1. Preparing strawberry beds for winter consists in adding mulching material (peat or sawdust) under the bushes. The thickness of the mulch layer should be at least 5 cm. The use of straw or hay as mulch should be avoided, as they can attract mice that can gnaw on the roots.
2. In order to reduce the pressure of the snow cover on the plants, at the end of November they are covered with raspberry branches or spruce branches.
3. You can protect strawberries from severe frosts by covering them with a thick layer of dry foliage.

After picking berries, strawberry bushes require special care to recuperate and intensively lay fruiting buds for the next year.

With the correct implementation of summer-autumn preventive measures, garden strawberries (the scientific name of strawberries) increase fruiting by at least 15-30 percent. The fruits become larger, juicier and sweeter. Any variety, simple or remontant strawberry, responds with gratitude to care and attention, therefore, berries grown by one's own hands are noticeably different from store-bought ones.

Care for strawberries after harvest

At the end of July-beginning of August, after the fruiting of strawberries, the care corresponding to this period is carried out, consisting of: trimming the mustache, removing damaged leaves, weeding, top dressing, hilling the bushes.

In July, after harvesting strawberries, the plants begin to grow new leaves, form new horns, the growth of whiskers with side rosettes intensifies and new flower buds are laid for the new season.

Be sure to weed the beds, that is, the removal of all weeds. Excess mustache and dried leaves are also removed. Reddened leaf blades are removed first.

It is impossible to cut off foliage and mustaches, you can only cut it off, otherwise the bush will be damaged and will hurt. For trimming, take only sharp scissors or secateurs. Old, cut leaves, in order to avoid the reproduction of pests, it is better to burn. If the young leaves curl or look corrugated, this indicates that the plants are infected with strawberry mites and they should be treated with a special preparation.

After pruning, the soil around the strawberries is loosened, fertilized, and watered. The aisles are loosened 10 centimeters deep. Around the plants, loosening is carried out by 5-7 centimeters. It is desirable to spud bushes.

In this case, the roots should be completely covered, and the upper part of the bush should remain above the ground. In no case do not fill up the growth point, that is, the middle of the rosette of leaves.

Feeding strawberries in July

Mineral fertilizers with a wide content of trace elements are taken for top dressing. About 30 grams of fertilizer goes per square meter. For this, a special fertilizer for garden strawberries is suitable - Fertik, ammophoska.

Fertilizers containing potassium chloride should not be used, as it slows down growth and impairs fruiting. Fertilizers are embedded in the soil to a depth of about 5-8 centimeters.

In addition to these fertilizers, you can use last year's humus. It crumbles around the bushes and digs a little into the soil. Humus improves soil structure and makes it more fertile.

You can also fertilize the beds with diluted chicken manure (breeding it in a ratio of 1:15 with water). When feeding, we must not forget that this solution should not fall on the foliage, otherwise burns will appear on the plants, which provokes the development of diseases. A high concentration of the solution can generally destroy the bush. Therefore, this type of dressing is not used so often. And more often in spring than in summer and autumn.

If the weather is dry, then the beds with strawberries are abundantly spilled with water. Soil moisture should be maintained until the end of the season. Watering is done once a week in a bucket per square meter.

For best results, drip irrigation can be used. This type of watering allows you to get the right amount of moisture and at the same time the plants do not rot, since the soil does not become waterlogged.

Caring for strawberries in August

To get a bountiful harvest for the next season, perennials need proper care at the end of summer. It includes: pruning leaves, transplanting mustaches, preparing plants in winter, that is, sheltering bushes.

Old leaves are cut off. Here, gardeners act differently, some mow all the foliage completely, others remove only leaves damaged by diseases. If strawberries grow in groups, early varieties are processed first. Then come the middle and late varieties, this will allow you to evenly care for the plants and prevent them from overgrowing, which leads to the threat of infection with diseases and pests.

Mustaches with new rosettes and young roots are planted to form young bushes. For this, the strongest specimens are selected, usually this is the first rosette on the antennae. Strawberry plantings are recommended to be renewed every 3 years, this is how many years the bush bears fruit as much as possible, then the bush ages and the yield decreases markedly.

To protect strawberries from various fungi, powdery mildew, pests, the bushes are sprayed with special preparations, or with self-prepared means.

For spraying, drugs such as:

• Karbofos or Actellik, this is protection against weevil and strawberry mites;
• Azocen and Topaz are used for the prevention and control of powdery mildew;
• a one percent solution of lime and copper sulfate saves bushes and berries from rot, spotting.

Fertilizing strawberries in August

Top dressing of the bushes during this period increases the degree of frost resistance of the plant and contributes to the laying of future flower buds.

Complex mineral fertilizers should include: 1 part nitrogen, 2 parts phosphorus, 4 parts potassium. In the finished version, it can be: Fasco, Autumn, Autumn. All these preparations, except for the base, contain other useful substances.

Fertilizer Autumn in its composition does not contain nitrogen, which allows it to be used even in a later period, but this preparation contains all the elements that are necessary for the growth and good fruiting of strawberries.

In the form of organic fertilizers suitable: peat, horse manure in granules, humus, bone meal.

Mineral and organic fertilizers should not be mixed. In rare cases, when the soil is depleted, mineral and organic top dressings are applied over the entire area of ​​​​the beds. If the strawberry planting area is quite large, this mixture can also be used.

After feeding, the plants are covered with mulch, and for wintering, the bushes are covered with leaves, needles, potato tops, and straw. Dry weather is chosen for shelter, otherwise the layer may compact and cause the formation of pests and diseases within the layer or lead to root rot.

The layer of mulch covering plants from frost should be at least 7 centimeters. In addition to mulch, non-woven material is used, for example, spunbond.

Autumn care for remontant strawberries

Remontant strawberries, in comparison with simple varieties, have a short life span and after two years the plants must change new ones. Some varieties do not produce mustaches and are easier to care for, but seeds are used to propagate them, which complicates the breeding process.

July and August are suitable for updating strawberry plantations. By autumn, the bushes take root and easily endure the winter.

In preparation for winter, flower stalks and leaves are cut off from the mother bushes. Bushes are hilled so that the roots are covered with soil. But the core of the plant must remain open, otherwise it will begin to rot.

The best reviews of gardeners

I always cut off almost all the leaves, leaving 3-4 leaves. when the first frosts begin, I cover with spruce branches so that they do not freeze in winter. in the Urals it happens in winter -30, so you can’t do without shelter. and I cut off the leaves because by the end of the season they are almost all sick.

Each gardener grows not only vegetables on his plot. Here you can find fruits and berries. These favorite crops include strawberries. Its taste is admired by adults and children. And it must also be grown correctly, because if it does not have enough nutrients, then it will not give a good harvest. Consider how strawberries should be cared for after fruiting.

Characteristic

Everyone knows strawberries. This plant can be recognized by its appearance:

• undersized bushes, the height of which does not exceed 35 cm;
• straight stems with a little fluff;
• during flowering, white buds are formed, which have 5 petals;
• The fruits are bright red in color and have a delightful aroma.

There are a large number of varieties. All have their own maturity period. The earliest of them falls on May and can last until the beginning of autumn.

In order for the plant to give a big harvest, you need to properly care for it. The main stages of preparation include:

• watering;
• weeding from weeds;
• hilling;
• loosening;
• top dressing.

But what about the plants from which you have harvested the entire crop? Under no circumstances should they be dropped here. It is necessary to carry out further care for strawberries in the summer, after fruiting. And our task is to find out how this is done.

With the move

The main thing that can be done with the plant after harvest is to transplant it. To begin with, you must prepare the right place for the berry. It must meet the following requirements:

• the soil is well-groomed, dug up, fertilized;
• the place where onions, legumes or garlic grew is ideal;
• use organic matter, such as bird droppings or humus, to fertilize the beds.

You can transplant the shoots that the berry gave. It is better to dig up old bushes and throw them away. It is recommended to carry out the procedure on a cloudy day, when there is no strong sun. If the weather is clear, then it is better to postpone the transplant until the evening. Moisten the transplanted bushes well.

If you think that this is where caring for strawberries after fruiting ends, then you are deeply mistaken. Still just getting started.

Sanitary treatment of bushes

As you know, garden strawberries are considered the most popular berry in the country. Care after fruiting will help restore the strength of the plant by next year. During this period, active leaf growth begins. At this time, we begin to think about the future harvest and do everything according to our instructions. After picking the berries, if there is no need to replant the plants, it is necessary to carry out hygienic treatment according to the following principle. The very first step is weeding the beds with berries from weeds. Remove everything well and loosen the soil.

1. You need to cut out all the mustache and old leaves. At the same time, leave the young shoots that managed to get out.
2. Be sure to clean the berry soil from dry foliage. Serious carriers of infections and various diseases can remain on it.
3. If you notice that young shoots have taken on a painful appearance, do not rush to get rid of them. You can try treating strawberries with colloidal sulfur.
4. The next important step will be loosening the beds. This cannot be done in the immediate vicinity of the bushes, since their root system is located on the surface. Loosen the soil carefully, between rows, to a depth of about 15 cm.

We have gradually figured out what is the care of strawberries after fruiting. Pruning bushes is included in the list of measures. Do not be afraid to carry out this procedure. The berry will not suffer from this, but will only benefit and give a good harvest in the new season.

Food

The main care for strawberries after fruiting includes feeding the bushes with various fertilizers. First of all, you need to make mineral preparations. For each square meter of beds, 30-40 grams of substances are needed. Special ready-made mixtures of preparations that are made specifically for berries are ideal. Other than that, use:

• ammophoska, it contains such necessary substances as phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium;
• humus;
• compost.

The only enemy of strawberries is chlorine. Avoid fertilizers that contain such a substance. But after fertilizing, you need to thoroughly moisten the soil.

Watering according to all the rules

We proceed to the next procedure, which is included in the basic care of strawberries after fruiting. Ganichkina, a well-known agrotechnician, recommends paying special attention to watering. She gives some advice on this:

1. Moisten the soil after each fertilization. This will help the nutrients to dissolve faster and soak into the ground.
2. So that a crust does not form on the soil, sprinkle the bed with peat.
3. The whole season it is necessary to keep the soil in a damp state. In no case should you fill the bushes so that they do not start to rot.
4. Humidification should be carried out as needed. Watering should be plentiful. There will be no sense from superficial moisture.
5. After each watering, loosen the soil, weed from weeds and be sure to remove the whiskers. Strawberry bushes should not waste their strength and juices on them.

Preparing for the autumn-winter period

For all the care of strawberries after fruiting, you have already spent a lot of time and effort. And most importantly, you don't have to stop there. An important period lies ahead. Autumn and winter are the main enemies of the berry. So that in the new season you can see the plants in good health, make preparations:

1. In autumn, you can stop moistening the soil. But don't stop at fighting weeds and mustaches.
2. Cover all bushes with a layer of straw. It will protect the plants from the coming frosts.
3. Rows between strawberries can be overlaid with grass. It will not only warm, but also become fertilizer in early spring.

We have considered how to care for standard plant varieties. It is worth paying attention to repairmen.

May to November

Modern breeders offer gardeners the most interesting varieties. One of these is the repair berry. With it, you can harvest several times a season. In order to have a lot of berries, you need to properly care for remontant strawberries after the first fruiting. It is as follows:

1. Loosen the bushes constantly so that the roots remain in the ground.
2. After you have harvested the first crop of ripe berries, feed the bushes with mineral fertilizers.
3. Water as needed.
4. To keep the berries from spoiling, keep the bed covered with a special black material. Moisture passes well through it and it is very difficult - various insects and weeds.

Now you know how to properly care for strawberries. The quality and quantity of tasty and fragrant berries depend on these important procedures.