How to properly grow and care for strawberries?

Ripe garden strawberries are a favorite treat for children and adults. But in order to collect a decent harvest from berry bushes, you will have to work hard. The first stage will be planting seedlings and caring for young plants.

Remember that only weeds grow on their own. Strawberry seedlings need care for successful growth, and timely processing is required for fruit-bearing bushes.

Planting dates for garden strawberries

There is no strict time limit for planting strawberries. You can perform this operation, both in spring and in autumn... If desired, individual bushes are planted in the summer.

Spring landing seedlings are carried out from late February - mid-March to early May, when the soil is saturated with moisture from the melted snow cover. For each region, the terms are different. If you miss the moment, the earth will dry up. It will be difficult for a young bush to root, the growth rate will slow down.

If there is a threat of night frost, the seedlings are covered with a covering material or film.

In case of night frosts, it is necessary to build a shelter for strawberries.

Summer landing and cultivation is carried out, as a rule, by additional planting, in the holes empty after the death of the bushes, purchased seedlings. By June-July, hardened seedlings of berry bushes will be on sale.

The main condition will be disembarkation of seedlings in the evening, after rain or cloudy weather. Requires abundant (moderate) watering, temporary protection from direct sunlight.

Autumn start from mid to late August. You should not delay too much with this procedure, as the mustache should have time to root well before wintering in the garden. For the climatic zone of the middle lane, it will be optimal to finish planting until the middle of the second decade of September.

Benefits of growing in spring and fall

Each gardener will have to decide on the right time of year for planting strawberry seedlings independently. Both methods are used in the cultivation of garden berries and have their own advantages and disadvantages.

When planting in spring:

• The bushes have time to root and grow well over the summer, which significantly increases their chances of successfully overwintering and giving a bountiful harvest next year;
• Ridges under the spring cooked in autumn;
• When planting early seedlings shelter or hardening required, long-term care;
• The planting of berries is added to the huge list of spring works.

When planting in spring, the soil is prepared in advance, from autumn

When planting in autumn:

• You can use your own planting material taken from mother plants;
• Berries on the bushes will appear next summer;
• Ergonomic use of the site. In summer, future strawberry beds can be used to grow vegetables and plant strawberries after harvest.

Thus, the autumn planting of rooted whiskers saves the gardener's energy and time, but is more exposed to the danger of freezing during the winter without shelter.

Important rules when disembarking

When planting young berry bushes, the following rules must be observed:

• Never post strawberry planting after plants of the family Solanaceae (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, etc.);
• Change the location of the strawberry plantation on the site at least once every 3-4 years... Pests and diseases characteristic of this garden culture accumulate in the soil;
• Do not plant plants close to each other. Affect the quality of the crop;
• Carry out all measures to prepare the site for seedlings (fertilization, disinfection, moistening, loosening, weeding);
• Responsibly treat the choice of quality seedlings and the right place for planting them.

It is important to choose quality seedlings for planting strawberries.

Care after planting and harvesting

In the first days after planting a young plant in a permanent place, it is necessary water regularly and cared for properly. The moist soil around the bush promotes the rapid formation of new roots.

It is important not to overdo it with watering, since excess moisture in the area can provoke root rot and the spread of various diseases: gray and root rot, powdery mildew, etc.

Mulching the ridge with sawdust or straw will help preserve moisture in the soil.

Due to the layer of mulch, many parasites whose larvae develop near the surface of the earth cannot lay clutches in the upper layers of the soil. It is desirable to carry out it several times a year (3-4 times).

Caring for autumn seedlings and fruit-bearing bushes is quite simple. Produced weeding, loosening the soil around the bush.

All old foliage must be removed (trimmed). For the winter, shrubs are covered with a layer of fallen leaves or other improvised means.

After the end of the harvest, old leaves must be removed.

In the spring, strawberries need more attention:

• Plants are sanitized (Fitosporin, Phytocid).
• From young plants remove all mustache and peduncles... Cut off last year's leaves;
• In several stages they carry out complex feeding plants with mineral and organic fertilizers (compost, humus).

How to plant correctly

The berries are grown both in open and closed ground (greenhouses, hotbeds).

There are many ways to plant strawberries:

• The easiest, but not the most requested way is carpet... Strawberry shoots spread freely and take root in the entire area allocated for it. The yield from such plantations is low, and the berries themselves are rather small;
• The most common way is planting in rows... Plants are planted in one (several rows) with a distance of 15-20 cm between the bushes. The next row is planted opposite at least 30-40 cm from the first;
• Planting in separate bushes provides that the distance between plants will be at least half a meter. Timely removal of all creeping shoots will exclude the possibility of intertwining berries.
• Nesting the method looks like a mother plant surrounded by several rooted whiskers (up to 5-6).

Preparation of seedlings

Correctly selected berry seedlings for planting are the key to a rich harvest in the future.

They can be purchased in a nursery, or grown independently by rooting a mustache from well-proven mother bushes.

Young plants must be healthy:

• leaves (4-5) smooth, shiny no damage or stains;
• root collar in diameter not less than 6-7 mm;
• developed root system about 10 cm (longer roots can be cut).

Before planting, seedlings with an open root system are etched in a 10% manganese solution. Rinse with water. Sprinkled with growth stimulants (soaked in the root) and planted in a permanent place.

Before planting, seedlings with an open root system are treated with a manganese solution

Seat selection

The best option for a strawberry bed would be sunny area of ​​your garden, sheltered from the wind.

The most favorable slopes are considered to be with a slight slope of 2-3 degrees on the south or southwest side of the garden. For a berry grower with a well-developed root system, groundwater close to the surface (less than 60 cm) poses a serious threat.

When choosing a plot for strawberries, do not forget the nuances of crop rotation. The culture is not too demanding on the soil, but prefers light and fertile substrates with low acidity... The plant is responsive to the introduction of organic fertilizers and fertilizing into the soil.

Landing

The area under the ridges of berry bushes is pre-dug up, choosing all the roots of weeds. On heavy soils with dense soil, before digging, the earth is covered with baking powder (sand, sawdust). Fertilize the ridges with humus, compost, ash, azofoskoy.

Strawberry seedlings are planted in a hole with a diameter of 15-20cm

The seedling is planted in a hole with a diameter 15-20 cm and depth up to 10 cm... If the soil in the bed has not been prepared in advance, then the nutrient mixture should be applied immediately to the planting hole.

The well is spilled with a manganese solution. The seedling is lowered into the hole, straightening the roots (with an open root system), and sprinkled with earth. Water, slightly compacting the soil around the plant, and mulch with sawdust.

The main condition for planting is the correct location of the center point of growth relative to the soil surface. They must be at the same level.

Otherwise, the plant will die:

• at a high location - will freeze in winter;
• when deeply buried into the ground - it will get wet and rot.

It is difficult to overestimate the impact of measures for planting young plants and their subsequent care. It is at these most important stages in the life of a berry bush and lays the foundation for a bountiful harvest.

The taste and size of the berries, the ripening times are determined by the characteristics of the cultivated varieties, the rest depends on your hard work. Be sure that a bountiful harvest of fragrant berries will more than reward all the efforts of a gardener.

To get the maximum yield of strawberries (garden strawberries), it is necessary to properly care for it. Agrotechnics can correct many mistakes made during planting, as well as reveal all the advantages of the variety. With improper care, strawberries produce small sour berries, and varietal differences are reduced to nothing.

Introducing strawberries

Strawberries are perennials grown to produce berries. The plantation gives high yields for no more than 4 years, then the berries become smaller, their taste becomes sour. Although the bushes with proper care can live for more than 20 years, but the harvests from them will be small.

Horns

The bush has about 30 rosettes (horns). The older the bush, the larger the number of horns
it consists, their number depends on the care and variety. The growth of rosettes begins after the end of fruiting, every year they form higher and higher above the ground. Strong strawberry bushes have many horns, weak ones have few.

Peduncles appear from the tops of the rosettes, respectively, the more luxuriant the bush, the more abundant flowering and fruiting.At the bottom, the rosettes grow together into one small stem, on which adventitious roots are formed. Powerful bushes lay many peduncles, bloom for a longer time and yield higher.

Diagram of the structure of the strawberry bush

Mustache

The strongest whiskers of the plant give in the first year of cultivation, every year the formation becomes weaker, while the whiskers become smaller. By the fourth year, the strawberry usually no longer gives a mustache. If someone gets vegetative shoots from their 5-6 year old plantation, it is because it was poorly looked after and there are bushes of different ages, and the whiskers give young rooted plants.

Vegetative shoots begin to form when the length of daylight hours is more than 12 hours and temperatures above 15 ° C. The laying of flower buds in rooted whiskers occurs after 2-3 months (therefore, during the autumn planting of buds, very few buds are laid, they do not have time to ripen and the yield for the next year is low).

Berries

Several factors affect the quality of strawberries.

1. Soil composition. Strawberries grown in poor soils have a less pronounced taste than when grown in fertile lands.
2. Weather... The more direct sun hits the bushes, the sweeter the berries. Strawberries growing under tree crowns, no matter how you look after them, usually have sour berries.
3. Grade. Most European strawberries are sweeter than domestic ones.

Properties of berries.

• Berries plucked by unripe berries turn red during transportation and storage, but they will not be completely sweet.
• The flavor characteristic of the variety is acquired only when fully ripe on the bush. To reveal the taste, completely reddened berries are not removed for 2-3 days. Such berries are unsuitable for storage or transportation, but their taste is fully manifested.
• To obtain maximum yields, the berries are picked unripe, as this stimulates the growth of the remaining ovaries. As a result, strawberry yields are increased.
• Unripe berries of any variety have the same sweet and sour taste.

On a personal plot, where good taste is more appreciated than an increase in yield by 300-500 g, it is better to let the strawberries fully ripen and taste their true taste. But in damp weather, berries should be removed that are not fully ripe, since it is ripe berries that are affected by rot and mold in the first place.

The merits and demerits of culture

The main advantages of strawberries.

• Strawberries can produce good yields with very low fertilization and easy maintenance. The main thing is to fertilize the soil well before planting the crop.
• Annual harvests. Strawberries do not have a fruiting frequency like some other berries (such as raspberries).
• Quick first harvest.
• Very simple and easy reproduction. The bush is capable of producing several dozen whiskers per season, from which the best are selected and rooted. Over the summer, you can plant a bed of the most valuable variety.
• Unpretentiousness of plants. Strawberries can grow under the crowns of young trees, in flower beds, among weeds (but yields in such thickets are reduced).

Disadvantages of culture.

• Defeat with gray mold. Most modern varieties are quite resistant to this disease, but with improper care, up to a third of the harvest can be lost. Domestic varieties are more resistant to disease than European ones.
• Insufficient self-fertility of strawberries. For a good set of berries, several different varieties are grown on the plot.
• Winter hardiness is the ability not only to endure negative temperatures, but also winter thaws without being damaged. In domestic varieties, it is quite high, the loss of bushes in the spring is insignificant. In European varieties of strawberries, winter hardiness is lower, the plants freeze slightly, and in severe winters they freeze completely. But some imported varieties grow successfully in our conditions; for the winter, the bushes are covered, which somewhat reduces the loss of plants.
• Short fruiting period.The berry yields maximum yields for 3-4 years, then it must be completely renewed.

All the disadvantages of the berry are surmountable, the main thing is not to leave the strawberries without proper care.

Features of growing and caring for strawberries

The main components of proper care are:

1. weeding;
2. loosening;
3. water regime;
4. top dressing.

Strawberry care is simple, but requires patience and consistency.

Weeding strawberry beds

Planting strawberries should always be weed-free. This culture does not like competitors and, if the plot is overgrown, produces small sour berries. Weeding is carried out as the weeds grow, 6-8 times per season.

Simultaneously with the removal of weeds, the mustache is also cut, especially in spring. If they are removed in time, then the plants will switch to flowering, otherwise all the power of the bushes will go into formation and there will be no berries.

Loosening

Strawberries love loose, well-permeable soil. There should always be free air access to the roots. Before flowering, the soil is loosened 3 times, and after picking berries - once every 2 weeks. If the weather is rainy and the ground is quickly compacted, then loosening is carried out more often. The soil is cultivated to a depth of 3-4 cm.

Starting from the second year, strawberry bushes are spud, since adventitious roots appear on the stem. Hilling stimulates root formation, growth of horns, bushes become more luxuriant, which gives an increase in yield.

How to water strawberries

Strawberries are most demanding for moisture in June, when berries, whiskers and leaves grow at the same time. If the weather is dry, then the plot is watered every 2-3 days to a depth of 30 cm, and if possible, every day.

Watering is best done in the aisles, for which a furrow is made in the middle of the bed during planting, which will collect water when the snow melts and during watering. The plants are not watered under the root, since the strawberry root system is spreading and the bulk of the roots is located at the periphery of the aboveground part of the plant.

After harvesting, the plants begin a second peak in root formation and foliage growth. At this time, the plot is watered 1-2 times a week. If there is no rain, then watering is carried out daily. Before and after flowering, the bushes can be watered with sprinkling, strawberries are very fond of high humidity.

Before flowering, strawberry plantations can be watered.

During flowering and fruiting, only the aisles are watered, the water temperature should be at least 15 ° C. The rest of the time, the plants tolerate watering with cold water well.

In the fall, pre-winter watering is done. The earth is shed to a depth of 30-50 cm. Wet soil better protects strawberries from frost, so it is necessary that the plot goes under the snow wet.

During flowering and growth of ovaries in case of rainy weather, strawberries suffer from waterlogging. Signs of this are the appearance of large brown spots on the leaves and ovaries (without their deterioration). Especially often, waterlogging of a strawberry plantation occurs on dense clay soils. The roots cannot provide normal nutrition for the aerial part and the bushes begin to shed the largest berries.

When signs of oxygen starvation appear, deep loosening is carried out (5-7 cm). If the berry is constantly waterlogged, then the beds are raised to 15-20 cm. When there are no ovaries on the strawberry, it does not suffer from waterlogging, but, on the contrary, gives lush foliage and a powerful mustache.

Feeding strawberries with folk remedies (ash, chicken droppings)

Strawberries with berries take out quite a lot of nutrients from the soil, these are not only basic nutrients (NPK), but also trace elements that need to be replenished. The lack of nutrition begins to manifest itself in the second year of cultivation, in the first year the plants have enough fertilizers applied before planting.

Lack of nutrition never manifests itself for any one element, therefore, complex fertilizers containing trace elements are always applied to the plot.It is better to feed strawberries with organic fertilizers, since they act more gently and lastingly.

In the first year of cultivation, if the soil has been properly prepared, no fertilizer is applied. In the second and subsequent years, the berry is fed 2 times per season. In the spring, ash is brought to the surface of the soil around the bushes, and then the soil is shallowly loosened. On marginal soils in May, humates, humus or herbal fertilizer can be applied along with ash.

Ash should not be applied along with manure, as a chemical reaction occurs, as a result of which a large amount of nitrogen is released, which can damage the plants.

To prepare the herbal infusion, the herb is placed in a plastic barrel, poured with water and left to ferment for 10-15 days. At the end of fermentation, 1 liter of infusion is diluted in 10 liters of water and the bushes are watered at the rate of 1 liter per plant.

After harvesting, strawberries begin a second wave of regrowth of roots and leaves, and at this time they need nitrogen. Feeding is done with a solution of mullein or bird droppings (1 l / 10 l of water). Strawberry bird droppings are preferred and are now sold in garden stores. It is the most concentrated fertilizer in terms of nutrients.

In the case of excessive use of organic matter, overfeeding and fattening of strawberry bushes may occur. With the correct application of fertilizers, the size of leaves and berries increases, and the yield increases.

Excess nitrogen manifests itself in the appearance of large leaves and crushing of berries, the productivity of plants is significantly reduced. Overfeeding occurs due to the frequent use of herbal fertilizers or non-compliance with the application of other organic fertilizers.

To prevent the fattening of plants with organic matter (except for manure and compost), ash is introduced, which does not contain nitrogen and creates a predominance of potassium and phosphorus in the soil. Plants overfed with nitrogen do not tolerate winter well and are more affected by diseases and pests.

Underfeeding for strawberries (and not only for them) is better than overfeeding, since in this case the situation is easier to fix.

Do I need to feed strawberries with yeast, iodine, boric acid and ammonia

Top dressing with folk remedies (yeast, iodine, boric acid, ammonia) is highly undesirable for the culture.

Firstly, it is a monofertilizer that does not provide plants with the entire set of trace elements.

Secondly, the bushes can be easily overfed (especially with ammonia), which will cause significant damage to the plantation.

Thirdly, iodine, boric acid and ammonia are volatile solutions that evaporate quickly, they must be immediately washed out into the lower soil layers, which is impossible with a large plot area.

Fourth, yeast is an excellent protein feed for animals, but does not contain any plant nutrients.

Fertilization of a strawberry plantation should be systemic, completely provide the plants with the necessary elements, and no experiments with feeding are allowed.

Strawberry plantation care

Regular grooming is the basis for a high yield. Strawberries with proper agricultural technology in the first year can give up to 300 g of large berries from a bush. On the garden plot, you need to have four plots (beds) of strawberries: the first, second, third and fourth years of fruiting.

How to care for strawberry seedlings

When planting seedlings, no fertilizers are applied. The soil must be fertilized beforehand. The newly planted mustache is shaded from the sun, otherwise the seedlings wilted, since the roots cannot yet make up for the loss of water that is lost when it evaporates by the leaves. Withering is not very dangerous for seedlings; when the evening coolness sets in, they will straighten out.

For shading, the mustache is covered with newspapers, a white cloth or a little grass is thrown over them. After 2-3 days, the shelter is removed, by this time the plants have already taken root and can independently extract water from the soil. In the early days, the planted mustache is well watered.In the future, the land under the young bushes should always be moist. In the case of a warm and dry fall, the strawberries are watered once a week.

It is important not to overgrow the strawberries with weeds. If this is not done in the year of planting, then in the future, the fight against them will become much more complicated. Weeds will germinate through the bushes and can no longer be removed without damaging the crop.

Young strong whiskers, after rooting, begin to produce whiskers themselves, which must be removed, since they weaken the plant and interfere with its preparation for winter.

Preparing strawberry beds for winter

European varieties require special care when preparing a plot for winter, since they are less winter-hardy. In the fall, if the weather is dry, water-charging irrigation is carried out. Water well protects the rhizomes from freezing, conducting heat from below to the roots of plants.

It is better to insulate strawberries for the winter.

For better wintering, strawberries are insulated by laying out fallen leaves and needles under the bushes and in the aisles. They cover only bare ground, the plants themselves do not need to be covered, since they leave before winter with leaves, which themselves are insulation.

The main thing in winter is to prevent the roots from freezing. If there is no insulation, then soil is poured into the aisles and under the bushes with a layer of 3-4 cm.

Spring strawberry care

In the spring, after the snow melts, dry leaves are cut off from the bushes, insulation (if used) is removed from the garden, weeded from the first weeds and loosened. Old bushes, which have a small lignified stem with adventitious roots, are additionally huddled so that they are more powerful. Larger plants have better flowering and higher yields.

Loosening is carried out to a depth of 2-3 cm, since the roots of the strawberry are shallow. With this treatment, the earth warms up faster and the plants start to grow.

The main task in spring is to ensure that the soil warms up quickly so that the plants grow foliage and begin flowering sooner. At an early start of the growing season, flowering will occur in more moist soil. For the fastest warming up of the earth, you can put a black film in the aisles.

Some gardeners, on the contrary, do not remove the insulation for a long time, fearing frost damage to strawberries. But, firstly, frosts are not terrible for her in spring, and secondly, strawberries bear fruit from mid-June to mid-July (depending on the variety), and in May they need time to prepare for flowering. The better it prepares, the larger the berries will be.

Dry leaves must be removed in spring so that the earth warms up faster.

Old dry leaves along with last year's mustache are removed, but young foliage does not need to be cut off. Pruning green leaves in spring delays flowering for 2 weeks (until new ones grow), the plant spends a lot of energy on growing foliage, because of this, the berries become smaller.

In a dry warm spring, when the earth dries up quickly, watering is carried out. After the young leaves grow back, spring feeding is done.
If the plants are weakened after winter, grow poorly, they are sprayed with a growth stimulator "Zircon" or "Epin".

What should be the care of strawberries after harvest

After fruiting, spring leaves look yellow and spotty, they are removed along with regrown mustaches and weeds. It is impossible to mow all the foliage, since the roots growing at this time require starch, which comes just from the leaves, if they are removed, this will slow down the preparation of strawberries for winter.

After harvesting, it is imperative that a second feeding is carried out to replenish the nutrients taken out with the berries.

In the second half of summer, mustaches begin to grow more actively in strawberries. In no case should they be allowed to take root. They compact the planting and weaken the bushes, which leads to a decrease in the yield and taste of the berries.

If the bushes are intended for fruiting, then all the whiskers that appear are cut off from them.The plot is examined every 4-5 days, since the whiskers appear until October, and the newly appeared spears of the shoots are removed.

Strawberries have a balance between production and fruiting: if the plants are not given the opportunity to form a mustache, then it enhances fruiting, and vice versa, if they are not cut off, the yield is greatly reduced.

The plantation should always be weed-free, fertilized, and the bushes should be trimmed with mustaches.

In the fall, water-charging irrigation is carried out, if necessary, a heater is laid out in the aisles.

Plantation care of the last year of cultivation

With spring feeding, you can give a little more nitrogen, the bushes will not have time to get fat, and the yield will not decrease from this. With dry soil, watering is carried out. Immediately after fruiting, the bed is dug up. This year, you can plant early cabbage on it, which will have time to ripen before the onset of cold weather (for this, increased doses of nitrogen were given).

Mulching strawberries

When caring for a plantation, mulching materials are used to protect berries from dirt and decay, insulate bushes in winter and protect the soil from premature heating in a thaw. Mulch inhibits weed growth and prevents soil crust formation after rain or watering.

Using mulch to grow strawberries is the best way to keep your plot clean and makes it much easier to care for it. To prevent undesirable effects during its application, the mulch is applied under certain conditions.

Sawdust, straw, dry moss, fallen leaves, needles are used as mulching materials. Their disadvantage is the binding of soil nitrogen, which causes nitrogen starvation of plants. Therefore, mulch is introduced in the fall as a heater in the aisles, by the spring the process of disintegration of fiber (of which it consists) will be completed and nitrogen binding will not occur.

In the spring, the insulation is removed for better heating of the soil, then it is returned as mulch, and a fresh portion of the material is added to it. When mulching materials are introduced in the spring, they must be impregnated with a solution of humates, mullein or bird droppings.

To do this, they are either soaked in a barrel with a fertilizer solution (sawdust), or they are watered very abundantly with these fertilizers so that the mulch is completely saturated with the solution. Then the binding of soil nitrogen will not occur, and the plants will not experience nitrogen starvation.

Mulching strawberries with sawdust. Sawdust strongly acidifies the soil, watering them with urea as a nitrogen fertilizer increases acidification. This effect gives excellent results on leached chernozems. On acidic soils, this should not be allowed. To prevent acidification of the soil, sawdust is first soaked in a barrel with humates or chicken droppings, after which they become an excellent mulching material. Spread on the beds in a layer of 6-10 cm. Sawdust is stronger than hay and straw and inhibits the growth of weeds.

Straw as mulch.

Mulching with grass and straw... Hay and straw are almost the same fiber and bind soil nitrogen very strongly. They are brought in in the fall. When used as mulch, hay or straw, in the spring, crumbs are added with them, or watering with nitrogen fertilizers (humates, mullein, herbal infusion) is carried out on the newly decomposed mulch. In this case, nitrogen fixation does not occur and the yield does not drop. They are laid out in the aisles with a layer of 5-7 cm.

Leaf mulch. It is advisable to apply the foliage of deciduous trees in the fall, laying it out in the aisles with a layer of 15-20 cm. In winter, it will be a heater. In spring use, freshly decomposed leaves are watered with humates, mullein, or herbal infusion.

Mulching strawberries with needles. Pine and spruce bark and needles protect plants well from diseases, since they contain phytoncides.The material is taken only under healthy trees, scattered in the aisles and under the bushes with a layer of 7-10 cm. Since this material strongly acidifies the soil, it is brought in with manure crumbs.

Peat as mulch they are not used on strawberries, since it has a number of significant disadvantages:

• strongly acidifies the soil;
• has a very high moisture capacity, which is why it is almost impossible to soak it with a nitrogen solution;
• in damp weather, it gets wet and interferes with the normal respiration of the roots;
• in winter it can be covered with an ice crust, which leads to damping off of plants.

The correct use of mulch not only makes it easier to care for the plantation, but it is itself a good fertilizer.

Protecting berries from dirt

Berries lying on the ground are contaminated with soil, and moreover, they are more strongly affected by gray rot. So that the berries do not come into contact with the soil, you can make various supports for the bushes: from wire, plastic bottles, planks, film, special rings on legs are sold in stores. But all this is suitable for a small plot.

On a large plantation, plucked lower peripheral leaves are placed under green berries. If the bush is healthy, red berries can lie on the ground for some time without being damaged.

When growing strawberries, you do not need to maintain a plantation with a more productive fruiting period. The berry must move through the plot in frequent rotation.

Other helpful articles on growing strawberries:

1. Strawberry pests. What pests can threaten your plantation and how to effectively deal with them.
2. Strawberry diseases. Treatment of plants with chemicals and folk remedies.
3. Propagation of strawberries. How to propagate strawberry bushes on your own and what mistakes gardeners make most often.
4. Growing strawberries from seeds. Is it worth it to do this for ordinary summer residents.
5. The best varieties of strawberries with photos and descriptions. A selection of the newest, most productive and promising varieties.
6. Growing strawberries in a greenhouse. Growing technology and all the pros and cons of this business.
7. Planting strawberries outdoors. Planning to tackle strawberries? Then this is the very first article you need to read.

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Strawberries are a favorite and incredibly finicky berry. Like a spoiled child, she reacts painfully to any wrong step in growing. However, if you comply with the conditions required by the berry, you can annually harvest in buckets from 5-10 sq. m. area. The yield and longevity of the "straw" berries (as some old-timers call strawberries), the spoiled princess of the berry fields, depend on some of the peculiarities of their cultivation. In this post I will share my many years of experience in growing strawberries.

In my summer cottage, strawberries have been growing since 1987. During this time, I changed the place of its cultivation (that is, transplanted) only three times, although there is an opinion that it is more expedient to transplant strawberries after 3-4 years, or even grow them altogether as a crop in crop or crop rotation.

Pineapple strawberries, Garden strawberries, Large strawberries (Fragaria ananassa)

Variety, lighting, soil and watering are important points when growing strawberries.

Strawberry varieties

The best varieties of strawberries are the old, well-established, zoned varieties. For reproduction, it is better to ask the neighbors to share several bushes, antennae, berries, from which a favorite variety can be grown by seed. I advise you to buy strawberries only from absolutely reliable sellers or specialized firms. I still have Victoria, Domashnaya, and I don’t remember the name of the third grade.The varieties have long been mixed into one combined and regularly bear fruit to this day.

Lighting and space for strawberries

"Straw" berries adore the sun. It also bears fruit in the shade, but it must be an appropriate variety that does not react with a sharp decrease in taste to changes in the conditions of photosynthesis. Strawberries will not grow well and bear fruit when placed in lowlands where cold fogs accumulate and in high places where the bright sun will burn them. The root system of strawberries is shallow and reacts quickly to any changes in weather conditions. Therefore, the site should be flat, sunny, windless, with good lighting. At the dacha, I allocated a flat, sunniest plot for strawberries, far from garden plantings, but close to the source of irrigation (artesian). I always heat water for irrigation in the sun.

Soil for strawberries

Strawberries are picky and will not form large berries and a large harvest on heavy, albeit fertile soils, peat bogs, light gray soils. The best for her are fertile air and permeable soils: black soil, chestnut, dark gray. On my site, black soil is ordinary, fertile enough, but heavy and dense for strawberries. In order for it to meet the requirements of a capricious berry, before planting seedlings, mustaches, individual bushes, I prepared a plot from autumn with an area of ​​10x3m.

Pineapple strawberries, Garden strawberries, Large strawberries (Fragaria ananassa)

Preparing the soil and planting strawberries

Since autumn, for each square meter, I have introduced 1.5-2.0 buckets of a mixture of organic matter: humus, semi-decomposed manure, compost, bird droppings. I evenly raked it all over the site and dug it up. The weeds rose up magnificently. I cultivated with a hoe 8-10 cm and sowed rapeseed (mustard or other crop is possible) on green manure in the third decade of August. After about 30 days, she cut it, collected the cut and added it to the compost heap. The root residues of the green manure were cut by deep loosening (up to 8-10 cm) and poured with a working solution of the Baikal EM-1 soil conditioner. I used it to increase the number and activity of working in the soil of Effective microorganisms.

During autumn and winter (I live in the south), soil animals (earthworms, other soil inhabitants) will process most of the organic matter into forms accessible to plants. In addition, rapeseed and mustard are excellent phytosaniters that rid the soil of fungal and bacterial infections and a number of pests. Green manure improves the structure of the soil, suppresses the growth of weeds. This is a good mulch for country plantings (garden, berry, vegetable, flower crops).

After the green manure, the soil becomes more airy, becomes more crumbly, the adhesion of soil particles into one heavy wet lump is significantly reduced. In addition to rapeseed and white mustard, oil radish, buckwheat, oats, phacelia and other green manure crops can be sown. Each green manure, in addition to improving the structure of the soil and removing weeds, replenishes the topsoil with nutrients. Legumes (vetch, lupine, peas) - with nitrogen, buckwheat - with potassium, white mustard - with phosphorus, and rapeseed - with phosphorus and sulfur. So, the use of green manure before planting strawberries is a must.

In the spring, before planting the strawberries, I once again loosened the soil with a hoe. At the same time, she relieved her of the top layer of spring weeds. For loosening, I brought it into the square. m 50 g of nitroammofoska and added agrovermiculite. Natural soil structure improver loosens the soil well, is able to accumulate water and nutrients and give them gradually to plants if necessary. It does not have any negative effects on the soil and plants.

The area for strawberries was divided into narrow ridges and wide paths. She raised the ridges a little, shoveling the soil from the paths. Landing on the ridges is two-line. The distance between the lines is 30 cm, in the row between the plants - 20 cm.The path between the ridges was left 1.0 m wide.

After planting strawberries from a watering can without a nozzle, under each bush, she poured about 0.4-0.5 liters of root solution. The soil was mulched (sprinkled) between the plants and between the lines with a mixture of humus with large sawdust and earth. After 2 weeks, the aisles were watered with a solution of poultry droppings, using a solution diluted with 1 part of droppings with 10 parts of water. The path was mulched with coarse mulch. In the rest of the growing season, in the first year, she watered the strawberries so that the soil under the mulch was moist. She removed weeds from the path and between the plants on the ridges, tore off all the mustaches. She cut the weeds with a hoe through the mulch, without raking it.

Planting strawberry seedlings

Strawberry care.

In subsequent years, the soil under the strawberries was still kept moist, but without excessive moisture. After each watering, she mulched open areas of soil, including paths. Fed during the growing season 2 times, the last, the 3rd time - before leaving the plants to dormancy.

The first time I fed it in the phase of buds - the first flowers, with an organic solution. I poured the nutrient solution carefully, from the side of the wide path under the root of the plants so that it did not fall on flowers, buds, leaves. Consumption - one bucket of solution for 6-12 strawberry bushes. Organic fertilizers (manure or bird droppings) were diluted in a ratio of 1:10 - 1:12. Sometimes in the first top dressing I brought nitroammofosk at 40-50 g / sq. m. After feeding, I watered it.

She mulched in a row with fine mulch with a layer of 2-3 cm, lifting the leaves. The wide path was mulched with chopped straw, green stalks of annual weeds, mowed by a grafted green mass of siderates. The ground was covered with a layer of up to 5 cm. For the mass flowering of strawberries, it is necessary to mulch the bushes: the berries in the ridge and on its sides will then fall on clean mulch.

After the first collection of strawberries, I carried out the 2nd feeding. For 1 sq. m of area for irrigation, scattered 1.5-2.0 glasses of ash under the bushes from the side of the wide path or watered with ash infusion (200 g / 10 l of water). In other years, she introduced kemira or a mixture of trace elements.

During the first 2 years, she cut off all the whiskers, made it possible for the strawberry bushes to take root well and form healthy plants. From the 3rd year she cut off the mustache from the side of the wide paths. Strong 2-3 whiskers from the bush were directed to the middle of the line. When the rows of strawberries closed, became thick, thinning was carried out in spring or autumn after harvesting. She dug out early aged strawberry bushes, low-fruiting, ugly, forming small berries. I left 3-4 bushes per running meter. This thinning was done every 4 years. Sometimes, after disinfection with 1% potassium permanganate, a healthy, well-developed mustache was planted (directed) into the free space. The feeding area for the remaining bushes increased. Strawberry bushes formed larger berries, a lush aboveground mass.

The third feeding of strawberries was carried out at the end of September. Introduced phosphorus-potassium fertilizers for the last watering (no more than 60-70 g / sq. M.). At the same time, I tried to cut off old, shriveled, diseased leaves creeping on the ground. If there was no time left for this procedure, I tried to cover them with mulch, where they rotted until spring.

During the growing season, the main thing for an adult strawberry is sufficient watering, but not excessive watering. Otherwise, the roots get sick with rot and the bush dies, infecting nearby growing ones. And the second condition is sparse landings. It is necessary to thin out unnecessary bushes, especially if the original plantings were thickened (after 10 cm).

Around the 4th - 5th year, she left the most developed strawberry whiskers with normal, not elongated internodes and sent them to a wide path. For 1-2 years, a row of young strawberry bushes appeared along the edges of the wide path, which I cut off from the old row in the fall. I dug up the old 2 rows. For digging, I applied full mineral fertilizer.It is necessary to quickly rot the remnants of the mulch applied annually under the strawberries in the ridge. The strawberry layout changed from double-row to single-row. The distance between the rows was approximately 50, 40-50 cm. The mustache also cut off during this period, leaving 1-2 of the most developed, directed along the row. Strawberries bear fruit for another 4-5-6 years, forming high yields of healthy large berries.

Strawberry transplant

Strawberry transplant methods

If it becomes necessary to replace a strawberry plot with a new plantation, this can be done in the following ways:

• take a new site,
• improve the old site and plant young bushes on it.

The plot can be replaced with another one, carry out all the preparatory work and plant the planting material of the same or other varieties of strawberries.

It is possible to restore the same area without changing it for one or two years, heal it and plant it with new planting material.

You can leave 1 / 3-1 / 4 of the plot under the harvest. Dig up the rest in the fall and prepare a young plantation for planting within one to two years. We prepare part of the area under the strawberries for wintering as usual. On the rest of the plot, after the last harvest, we prune the strawberry bushes at the level of the root collar. When the bushes dry up, it is necessary to add organic matter, dig up, sow green manure. It is possible not to mow it and leave it until spring or to mow, but leave the mowing in place. In the spring, the green manure is embedded in the soil and during the warm season until autumn, sow different green manures 2-3 more times, embedding them in the soil upon reaching a height of 8-10 cm (before budding). They will improve the structure, reduce or remove the debris of the site, and replenish the supply of nutrients. In the second autumn, they carry out the entire cycle of work on preparing the soil for planting strawberries. In the fall at the end of August, you can plant a new strawberry plantation or leave the planting for the spring. It is necessary to prepare planting material for planting.

To prevent the strawberries from burning and getting sick in hot weather, they sowed winter garlic in wide aisles and sometimes did not remove it for 2 years. Strawberries didn't hurt at all. The mulch ash treatment got rid of the slugs. May beetle larvae did not appear on the site over the years. The layer of mulch probably interfered with egg deposition. From the summer sun, she shaded the strawberry bushes by sowing phacelia along a wide path between strawberries and garlic. You could use (as gardeners advise) tall tagetes, calendula, kosmeya, or plant a row of corn together with garlic.

Planting pineapple strawberries or garden strawberries - strawberries

I don't cover strawberries with anything for the winter. In cold areas, during the May days and early June frosts, you can use shelters made of spunbond or other materials. They must be removed in the morning. Otherwise, ovaries and flowers may die from overheating under cover.

Thus, by performing the basic agrotechnical techniques, it is possible to grow large and healthy strawberries without frequent transplants. The main thing is to choose zoned varieties of healthy planting material. Prepare the soil thoroughly. Using timely watering, feeding, thinning, it is possible to grow strawberries in one place not for 2-3 years, but up to 7-8 and even 10 years.

Dear Readers! Please share with us your experience in growing high yields, methods of soil preparation and care for a strawberry plantation, transplantation times.

Strawberries are one of the most delicious and popular berries in our country. To get a rich harvest of sweet fruits, you need to know many of the nuances of growing. There are many ways to cultivate berries. How to grow strawberries correctly?

When is the best time to grow?

Strawberries can be planted permanently in early spring or fall. Autumn planting is preferable, since fruiting will begin in the coming season. Plants planted in spring will only yield a year later.However, there is a risk of plant death after the onset of return frosts.

Autumn-planted strawberries will have time to take root and get stronger before winter. The optimal time for planting is from August 10 to September 25. You should not delay planting, because late planting can greatly reduce the volume of the crop.

How to choose a seat?

For strawberries, it is advisable to choose a flat area with enough sunlight, not blown through by drafts. Before planting, it is recommended to check the soil for the presence of pest larvae: wireworm, nematodes and the Colorado potato beetle, and also to make sure that there are no roots of perennial weeds in the soil.

If there are large trees in the garden that cast shadows on the berry bushes, the strawberry will not develop well. Such a neighborhood is also dangerous for the health of those who will eat berries, because when spraying trees, some of the chemicals can get on the fruits. Currants and gooseberries are good companions for strawberries, so you can place bushes between these crops.

Strawberries are considered to be an unpretentious plant that can adapt to life in almost any area. However, it has its own preferences: the culture develops best in light soils, loamy, chernozem and sandy loam soils. Strawberries feel comfortable in dark gray forest soil on a small southwest-facing slope. On sandy, clayey, peaty and soddy-podzolic soils, strawberries bear fruit worse.

When choosing a site, determine its acidity: for strawberries, pH 5 to 6.5 is normal. Groundwater should not pass close to the surface, the optimal depth is 60 cm. In winter, a 25 cm thick layer of earth should not freeze more than -8 degrees Celsius.

One plot is suitable for growing strawberries for 3-4 years, then it must be transplanted to a new place. You can return the culture to the previous site after 2-3 years. The principles of crop rotation should be followed. Strawberries are planted in areas where garlic, herbs, cereals, marigolds and petunias previously grew.

Site preparation and seedlings

If a spring planting is planned, the soil begins to be prepared even before the onset of winter. It is dug up and applied to each m2 of soil, 10 kg of humus (you can replace 5 kg of manure), up to 100 g of superphosphate and 50 g of potassium salt. If in the autumn the holes were not fertilized, then 3 handfuls of humus and one handful of wood ash are introduced into each hole.

Before planting, the seedlings must be left for 3 days in a cool place, and immediately before lowering into the hole, the roots must be treated with a clay chatterbox so that they take root more easily and do not dry out.

The chatterbox is prepared as follows: half a bucket of orange clay is poured with water so that it slightly covers the clay layer. The mixture will infuse and soon turn into a mass similar in consistency to sour cream. To get rid of undissolved lumps, the clay is mixed well.

Before planting, pinch the longest root of the bush. In order for the root system to take root faster, the green mass of the seedlings is also cut off, leaving 3-4 large leaves. If autumn time is chosen for planting strawberries, the soil is prepared in spring according to the above scheme.

How to choose seedlings?

It is necessary to plant only healthy and strong seedlings. The root system should be fibrous, and the length of the juicy white roots should be at least 3-5 cm. The diameter of the root collar is preferable 6 cm. The green mass of a quality seedling consists of 3-5 leaves and a whole apical bud.

The acquired seedlings must be planted quickly. If it is not possible to plant immediately, strawberries can be buried in damp ground, after wrapping the roots with moistened moss.Place the seedlings in a cold room or in a dark corner of the garden.

How to plant strawberries?

Open field strawberry cultivation scheme

Strawberries are planted during cloudy and damp weather.

The planting process includes the following steps:

1. A bush is lowered into the prepared hole.
2. The root system is carefully straightened so that it is located throughout the space.
3. The hole is gradually covered with earth, periodically tamping the soil so that voids do not form.
4. The root collar is buried in line with the ground.
5. The young plant is watered abundantly.

Cultivation and reproduction methods

There are several ways to grow and propagate strawberries. The culture is grown in vertical beds using flower pots, pipes and bags, under agrofibre, film tunnels are built. The plant is propagated using seeds, whiskers and dividing the bush.

String method

If the line method is chosen, it is necessary to prepare six hundred bushes of seedlings per 100m2. There are one-line and two-line planting methods. Popular is the classic two-line fit. This placement option assumes a distance between lines of 30cm, between rows - 70cm, and between bushes - 20cm.

One-line planting method implies 70cm spacing between lines and 20cm spacing between bushes. The beds are arranged in a north-south direction, and two strawberry rows are planted along the edges.

The planting process includes the following steps:

1. If the area is small, it is advised to use a cord for planting. Using a tape measure, marks of future rows are made at the two ends of the selected area.
2. Pegs are installed along the edges of the rows, on which a cord is pulled, indicating the future line.
3. Observing the recommended distance, along the stretched cord with a stick in the ground, they indicate the places of future planting holes, which are then dug out to such a depth that the root system can freely fit in the hole.
4. A liter of water is poured into the hole.
5. After absorbing water into the soil, a well-spread root system is placed in the mud.
6. The hole is covered with dry soil, regularly tamping the soil to avoid the appearance of air pockets.
7. The young plant is watered using half a liter of water for each shrub.

To save plants from pests, it is recommended to lay lutrasil or roofing material with holes made for bushes on the soil.

Using film tunnels

A cover made of film material will help the strawberries ripen faster, the gardener can even win several weeks if he creates such a structure. Most often, this method is resorted to when growing early strawberry varieties.

The easiest to create and operate are film tunnels, which are installed in early May:

1. To begin with, support arcs are installed, which are placed at a distance of one meter from each other. They should rise half a meter above the ground.
2. At the ends of the arcs buried in the ground, a film is fixed, which is then pulled onto the supports.
3. The result is a kind of film tunnel. If the film sags from above or from the side, it is necessary to secure the arcs with twine.

It is necessary to regularly look after the plantings in the film tunnel (mulch, harvest), as well as arrange periodic ventilation. For this reason, one side of the greenhouse must be deaf, and the gardener must be able to get inside from the other side.

One side of the film is sprinkled with earth or fixed with heavy objects, and a rail is attached on the other side. From the end of the structure, the film is collected in a knot and tied to pegs driven into the ground. Planting care is easy. A thermometer must be placed inside to monitor the temperature. If the thermometer rises above 25 degrees, urgent ventilation is needed.

In vertical beds

For gardeners who do not have large plots, the vertical growing method is popular. Strawberries are planted in special containers placed vertically and filled with soil. Pipes, bags, flower pots, and car tires are used as containers. Any vertical arrangement will do.

This method is also suitable for growing strawberries if there is no suitable soil on the site. The big advantage of this method is obtaining a rich harvest when using a small area of ​​the site.

The distance between the planted plants should be about 10cm. The capacity in which the root system will grow must be at least one and a half liters in volume. Each container is filled with a soil mixture consisting of turf, humus and peat in equal proportions.

As soon as the containers and seedlings are prepared, planting begins from the very bottom tier, gradually moving to the very top. Strawberries grown in vertical beds are watered 2-3 times a week using warm water.

She needs regular feeding, which is carried out during watering. With the onset of cold, the culture needs protection. If the structure is prefabricated, it is disassembled, and the containers are placed on the ground and covered with agrofibre.

Benefits of using vertical beds:

1. Easy maintenance (no need to get rid of weeds).
2. Less likelihood of disease.
3. Saving the area of ​​the site.
4. Easy to harvest and saves time.

There are also some disadvantages:

1. Less supply due to small land volume.
2. Fast drying and frequent watering (potted strawberries dry much faster, so frequent watering is required).
3. Freezing in winter (if you do not cover the plant and bring it into the room, the strawberry will die).

Under agrofiber

The use of agrofibre can shorten the ripening period of the crop by a week. After the snow has completely melted, the bushes are covered with agrofibre. A comfortable temperature is created under this material for the development of culture. It is protected in case of recurrent frosts and cold winds. After establishing a comfortable temperature, the shelter is removed.

Growing from seeds

The seed method has several advantages, since the seeds are stored for a long time and there is no possibility of transmission of fungal diseases. Seeds are harvested on their own or purchased in a store.

For self-harvesting, strong bushes are chosen on the site and seeds are collected from ripe berries. The planting material is dried and stored in glass containers until the next season. 3 months before the intended planting in open ground, the seeds are wrapped in wet gauze and placed in the refrigerator.

Seeds are sown in January:

• drainage and soil mixture are poured into the container;
• in the ground, rows are made half a centimeter wide;
• the earth is watered;
• sow seeds, which are lightly sprinkled with earth.

The soil in the box should always be moist. The first shoots will appear in a month. Young plants are transplanted into a large box, and at the end of April they are moved to open ground.

Growing with a mustache

Propagation of strawberries with whiskers is popular. The sturdy mustache is detached from the mother plant and planted in a peat pellet, which is placed in a tray filled with water. A shelter is organized from above to create greenhouse conditions. After a week, the mustache will sprout. To avoid injury, the mustache is transferred to the open ground directly in a peat tablet.

Reproduction by dividing the bush

By dividing the bush, remontant strawberries are propagated, which practically does not give a mustache. A three-year-old plant with strong roots is chosen. In autumn or spring, the mother plant is dug up and divided into parts so that each new bush has roots and a leaf rosette.The resulting delenki are planted in a permanent place.

Care after landing

After planting, strawberries require attention. It is necessary to regularly water it, feed it, remove weeds and prepare it for wintering. In the spring, the site is cleaned with a rake. All debris, fallen leaves, mustaches and dry bushes, which can transmit diseases to new plants, are removed from the site.

Throughout the entire period of strawberry development, the soil should always be loosened, without weeds and moderately watered. After the formation of ovaries, the strawberries are no longer loosened and mulched using wheat or rye straw. If there is no such material, you can purchase a special mulching cloth in the store.

Watering and feeding

The soil should always be in a moist state, so watering is done as the soil dries up. After the end of fruiting, the strawberry begins to grow new roots, leaves and whiskers. During this period, mineral and organic fertilizing is introduced. Three kilograms of humus, 30 grams of superphosphate, 15 grams of nitrate and 20 grams of potassium salt are added per square meter of land.

Winter care

Strawberries need special preparation before the onset of winter time. After cutting off the leaves and whiskers, the ground is loosened, well spilled with potassium permanganate and fed. Until young foliage appears, the site is well watered. If the bushes can build up a lush green mass before the cold weather, they will cope with any frost. To save the plant from severe frosts, it is covered with pine needles.

Sweet strawberries are considered the queen of our gardens, so every summer resident should know the secrets of its cultivation.