The most popular berry cultivated in Russia is strawberries, the cultivation and care of which is not as simple as for some other crops. The fruiting season usually begins in late May and ends in July.
We will figure out how to cultivate to get a rich harvest of fragrant berries.
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Strawberry: cultivation features
Strawberries have several advantages over other crops. In addition to the fruiting period, this is a high yield, cold resistance, large fruits, and resistance to diseases. But there are also features. It gives high yields only the first 2-3 years, after which the bushes should be updated.
In order not to reduce the previously obtained results, you need to know in what conditions and how to grow strawberries.
There are three options for breeding berries:
- in the open ground;
- in the greenhouse way;
- in PVC pipes.
Each of the methods has its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
In the open ground
In open ground, fruiting can be expected between May and July. Growing strawberries in open ground does not require large material costs, but takes more time and effort. During the growing season, bushes are abundantly watered and fed, and in the fall they are prepared for wintering, which will be discussed later.
In the greenhouse
Growing strawberries in a greenhouse provides increased productivity, an early growing season.In an unheated room, seedlings can be planted already at the end of April, without fear of return cooling. Cultivation in heated greenhouses is practiced in the northern regions of Russia.
In the production of strawberries indoors, it is important to consider some specific points. This is ventilation, lighting and artificial pollination.
Of great importance is the daily ventilation of the greenhouse, especially on hot days. Due to the fact that in the summer often sultry and calm weather is established, it makes sense to use artificial ventilation.
In spring, during flowering, the greenhouse lacks natural pollinators: insects and wind. This problem is removed if a self-pollinated variety is selected.
In large greenhouses, when cultivating strawberries, hydroponics is used.
In PVC pipes horizontally
A more advanced method of growing strawberries is hydroponics. With this method, plants take the necessary substances from the nutrient solution. Bushes give large yields. Most often, PVC pipes are used. The advantage of their use is space saving, because pipes can be placed horizontally at a convenient height in several levels, crop cleanliness, exclusion of contact with the ground.
At the same time, hydroponics has several drawbacks compared to the traditional method.
- Firstly, it requires a large initial investment.
- Secondly, it is often necessary to purchase equipment for additional lighting: DNAT or DNAZ lamps.
If you weigh all the pros and cons, it becomes obvious that the hydroponic method is more profitable.
For planting, pipes with a diameter of 10-15 cm are used. Every 15 cm, a hole is cut out with a drill, where a pot enters, the upper diameter of which is slightly larger than the lower.
A plant is placed in each pot, the root system is filled with expanded clay, after which the container is placed in the pipe. You can use plastic pots with large drainage holes.
A pump is used to supply the solution. Ideally, it is set to automatically run a stream of water through the pipes for 30 minutes 2-3 times a day. Drainage is carried out in separate containers, from which the same water is again drawn by the pump for the next cycle.
Solutions for hydroponics should either be directed under the guidance of a qualified specialist, or purchased ready-made. The first way is preferable, as at different stages of development strawberry bushes require nutrients in various concentrations.
You can irrigate the roots with a solution 1-2 times a day for a short period of time - usually half an hour.
It is possible to grow the culture in PVC pipes using nutrient soil instead of hydroponics. It is important to establish drip irrigation.
How to grow strawberry seedlings?
Seeds are recommended to be sown in shallow plates with soil at the end of February or March. The main requirement for the soil is its lightness and friability. To meet the needs of strawberry seedlings, they are prepared from 1 part of ordinary garden soil and 1 part of sand, preferably coarse-grained. It is recommended to add a small amount of perlite, vermiculite or pine bark to the mixture. These ingredients additionally loosen the substrate and contribute, on the one hand, to the retention of moisture, and on the other, to remove excess water.
Seeds are sown to the surface, slightly sprinkled with a thin layer of soil, and hermetically covered with polyethylene or a mini-greenhouse. In this state, the tanks stand at room temperature for 3-4 weeks until the first shoots appear. Before they appear, the soil can not be moistened, but humidity can be controlled and, if necessary, a sprayer should be used so as not to wash the seeds.
When the bulk of the seeds hatch, you can make small holes in the polyethylene, expand them every day, accustoming the sprouts to dry air. After 2 weeks, the greenhouse can be removed.After a month, the bushes reach a size when they become cramped in a container, which means they should be peaked in larger containers.
Strawberry Care
Strawberries are demanding on growing conditions, so to get large yields, you have to create favorable conditions.
How and when to plant
Seedlings are planted on beds usually in early April - mid-May, but each time, in preparation for this, it is important to study the long-term weather forecast. If weather forecasters promise significant cooling, then it is worth the time. In closed ground, dates can be shifted 2 weeks earlier.
Soil requirements and preparations
Strawberries love the soil on which bulb and bean crops grew - onions, garlic, bulb flowers, and beans. It develops worse where its predecessors were tomatoes, cabbage, potatoes, and cucumbers.
Planted in rows with a distance between each of about 25-30 cm. Between the bushes, you can keep a distance of about 15 cm.
Before planting the bed is dug up, loosened. When digging, you can add wood ash and compost, mixed with vermicompost, in an amount of up to two liters per bucket of earth. Wells are made in the soil, 1-2 liters of water are poured. The bush is planted, straightening the root system, sprinkling with earth and pouring more water. When the liquid is absorbed, it is recommended to mulch the earth around the root neck in order to avoid its quick drying and reduction of air permeability. Mulching also inhibits the growth of weeds and protects the berries from rot, arising from their contact with the soil. The ideal mulch is straw or sawdust. As an option - mowed grass, tops. Planting is watered daily for seven days.
Watering and feeding
Strawberries consume a lot of water, and the most abundant watering is required for young and flowering bushes. After the formation of the ovaries, watering can be slightly reduced.
For fruiting throughout the period, strawberries should be fed with fertilizers. He loves manure when 1 volumetric part is filled with 8 parts of water. You can add a little wood ash to the infusion. It is infused about 4-7 days. In the spring, after snow melts over the entire surface of the soil, it is recommended to sprinkle urea.
Weed removal
From time to time, even with careful mulching, weeds appear on the beds with strawberries. Every gardener knows what to do with them. It can only be noted that when growing strawberries on an industrial scale 2-3 weeks before planting, seedlings of the beds are treated with Roundup or its analogue. With a high degree of probability, this prevents the appearance of a large number of weeds in the summer.
Post Harvest Features
The fruiting period ends in mid-July, so preparations for wintering can already begin. First of all, beds need to be rid of weeds and loosen the ground. This will allow fertilizers to reach the root system faster and make up for lost strength.
In addition, it is necessary to take care of the bushes themselves, after fruiting, the upper part of the rhizome may be slightly exposed, which will negatively affect further growth and fruiting. It is necessary to pour under each bush of nutrient soil, without falling asleep core.
In mid-August, old rotted leaves are removed so that the plant has completely recovered to the cold. Young, only grown leaves should not be touched. At this time, a lot of mustaches appear, which strawberries give for further breeding. If you do not plan to expand your ownership or replace shrubs, then the mustache must be removed so that the plants do not lose strength. If there is such a need, then your task will be to choose a strong mustache at each bush and leave one outlet for them.
In September, strawberries respond positively to top dressing. Watering manure and adding wood ash to the aisles helps the bushes to prepare for a long winter.
After harvesting in the northern latitudes and at the level of Moscow, strawberries are covered in open ground. For this, dry fallen leaves, straw, spruce branches, covering material are used, but the best protection of the roots from freezing is a thick snow cover in winter.
Removable strawberries - growing and proper care
Strawberry is a noble berry, although its fruiting period is very short. But the breeders found a way out! Thanks to their work, varieties capable of bearing fruit from late May to mid-autumn, and even longer in greenhouses, were bred. Such a strawberry is called remontant.
For the cultivation of repair varieties, the same conditions are suitable as for ordinary species:
- in open ground - the fruiting period in this case is limited from May to September;
- in greenhouses - this option is suitable for industrial breeding, since fruiting can last all year round, subject to additional heating and lighting;
- PVC pipes are a more common option for the cultivation of strawberries on an industrial scale, since the cost of equipment is very high and not every novice entrepreneur is ready for such investments.
The main problem of the strawberry is the depletion of bushes, since it takes a lot of time to spend flowering and ripening berries. Therefore, the main task is to support the plants throughout the flowering and ripening of the crop.
Otherwise, the algorithm for cultivating repair varieties is not much different from ordinary types of strawberries.
Any summer resident or gardener must follow several rules:
- Provide strawberries with sufficient watering throughout the entire ripening period of the berries. Drying of the soil will negatively affect the harvest, and there is no need to talk about large berries.
- Fertilizers and fertilizers. This is an integral part of the maintenance of repair varieties. As mentioned above, the fruiting period is much longer, therefore, in order to preserve plants for the next year, you need to take care of them in advance.
- The next step can be called loosening the soil and mulching plants. Loose soil will allow nutrients to reach roots faster, and mulch will take care of maintaining soil moisture.
- No less important is pest control.
Strawberry propagation
The culture propagates by seedlings or by dividing adult bushes. Each of the methods has its own characteristics and disadvantages.
About how the propagation of strawberries by seedlings occurs, we have already talked about earlier. The technology for growing young plants of repair or ordinary varieties is the same, so we will pay attention to reproduction by dividing an adult bush.
We must say right away that this method is used extremely rarely, since after prolonged fruiting it is very difficult to find strong bushes ready for division. But if you have a shortage of planting material, then you can use this option.
For these purposes, you need to select plants of two or three years. By this age, the plant forms several independent rosettes, which can be easily divided into several bushes. It remains to remove the lower leaves and plant the planting material.
Diseases and pests and methods of dealing with them
Culture is loved not only by people, but also by slugs and grape snails. These invertebrates are scared away by granules of superphosphate scattered among the stands. Of the folk methods, it is proposed to sprinkle the leaves with ash or tobacco dust, and practice shows that this method has worked well.
Sometimes strawberries are affected by fungal diseases, which are easily diagnosed by leaves. Usually they get a grayish tint, becoming stained or coated like mold, or simply dry out. Brown spotting is a little distinguished according to the symptoms: the leaves become covered with spots that look like rust. The drugs Euparen, Ridomil and Bordeaux mixture cope well with this group of diseases.It is bred according to the instructions and used for spraying the ground part of plants.
Separately, it is worth highlighting powdery mildew and late blight, from which greenhouse bushes often suffer. With powdery mildew, fruits, leaves and stems are covered with a white coating that resembles powder. Blight affects the roots: they seem to dry out for no apparent reason. They are conventionally considered incurable misfortunes, therefore it is important to prevent them: to ventilate the greenhouse well, to remove dried leaves in a timely manner, to spray bushes with Fitosporin every 2-4 weeks during the summer.
Growing strawberries is a rather troublesome affair. But how great the temptation to enjoy a delicious, juicy, fragrant berry! Gardeners, in spite of everything, do not stop difficulties, and in the end they are convinced that it is worth it.
