How to properly care for garden strawberries in spring. Growing strawberries in spring: care and feeding

Strawberries are incredibly aromatic, tasty and healthy berry, loved by children and adults. Strawberry (Fragaria moschata or Fragaria elatior) – herbaceous perennial of the Rosaceae family, called garden strawberry or nutmeg. Today, many varieties of strawberries have been bred, which differ in flowering time, size and shape, taste of the fruit, resistance to frost and drought. But to collect big harvest delicious berries, it is important not only to choose the right variety, but also to ensure proper care of the plant, special attention feeding

Strawberries are a tasty and healthy berry containing ascorbic, folic and nicotinic acid, riboflavin, and microelements.

Planting time significantly influences further care and the time of obtaining the first harvest. In spring, planting garden strawberries must be completed before the third decade of May. In summer, planting takes place at the end of August or beginning of September. Not only the care and time of harvest, but also the application of fertilizers depends on the time of planting: fertilizing strawberries in autumn and spring is different.

Gardeners usually plant strawberries in the fall - this allows them to harvest the berries the following summer. But even if there is a need to plant strawberries in the spring, the place should be prepared in advance - on the eve of winter. For each square meter area of land must be entered:

10 kg of humus or 5 kg of manure;
50 g potassium salt;
100 g superphosphate fertilizer.

Seedlings for planting must be healthy and strong. High-quality seedlings are the key to rapid survival of plants, their good development and a bountiful harvest. Gardeners recommend taking annual seedlings with a root system of at least 5 cm and 2-3 leaves.

Features of care

Immediately after planting, the soil is mulched to retain moisture in the soil, provide additional nutrition and protect against weeds. Subsequent care and feeding of strawberries in the spring is carried out taking into account the age of the crop.

In the first year of plant growth, all flowers and tendrils are removed - this will give the opportunity to strengthen the root system, and the bushes to increase vegetative mass over the summer months. The result will be a full bountiful harvest next year.

Spring care for plants of the second year of life begins with removing old mulch and removing damaged, blackened and dry leaves, loosening the soil between the rows.

To avoid damage to the bush, unnecessary leaves are not torn off, but cut off with pruning shears.

Watering

Regardless of the age of the strawberries, you need to ensure sufficient soil moisture. This can be achieved:

high-quality regular watering under plants or by drip method (especially recommended during flowering);
mulching (mulching material can be rotted sawdust, straw, mowed lawn grass, dry weeds).

It is better to water strawberries early in the morning.

When watering, it is important to provide the plant with enough water, but not to allow excess moisture. Basic rules to follow:

start watering at the end of April;
Apply about 10–12 liters of non-cold water per square meter of land area;
in moderate heat, water once every 10–12 days, in hot weather - up to 4 times a week;
from August to October (in the absence of rain) water twice a week;
When watering, avoid getting water on the leaves and inflorescences.

Diseases and pests

Strawberries are a delicate crop that is susceptible to various diseases and pest attacks. In this case, the plant begins to rot or, conversely, dry out. Most often, strawberry bushes are affected by:

root, gray and fruit rot;
septoria (white, brown or brown spotting);
powdery mildew;
jaundice;
late blight or fusarium wilt.

If the root system is excessively moistened, gray or root rot immediately attacks the strawberry.

Most diseases are fungal in origin. They can be prevented by following agricultural practices for growing the plant, and preventive treatment of strawberries and soil at the beginning and end of the growing season. If preventive measures fail to protect the crop from diseases, fungicide treatment is carried out.

Strawberry bushes are attacked by many insect pests. This:

shaggy bronze;
mites;
strawberry nematode;
leaf beetle;
dark click beetle;
strawberry-raspberry weevil;
red ants;
snails and slugs;
mole crickets.

But if you properly care for the crop and carry out preventive treatment plants and soil with insecticides, attacks by harmful insects can be avoided. In spring, gardeners recommend removing all leaves from the plant before the buds swell and remove top layer soil in which insect larvae and pathogens may have overwintered. If it is not possible to remove the soil, you need to loosen it to a depth of 6–8 cm.

Preventive treatment is carried out three times:

in early spring, immediately after loosening, the soil is sprayed with a 3% or 4% solution Bordeaux mixture or copper sulfate 2–3%;
in early April (before budding begins), the plants are treated with Quadris, Topsin-M or other fungicidal agents;
immediately after flowering, the bushes are sprayed with fungicides.

Spraying strawberry bushes should be carried out at an air temperature of at least 18 ° C.

In addition to preventive spraying, the berry crop must be provided with proper care (watering, weeding, loosening the soil) and nutrition. After all, it is weak, stunted plants that are most susceptible to attack by diseases and pests.

Top dressing

Fertilizing strawberries, as well as caring for them, differs depending on the age of the plant. Immediately after planting, the main purpose of applying fertilizers is to strengthen the bushes and increase the vegetative mass. Whereas in the second year of strawberry life, applying nutrients into the soil and spraying plants can increase productivity.

1st year

In the first year of cultivation, spring feeding is carried out weekly: the leaves are sprayed on all sides with solutions of two complex fertilizers: Siyanie-1 (a tablespoon diluted in 10 liters of water) and Gumistar (½ cup per 10 liters of water). Once a month, 10 granules of the preparations Healthy Garden or Ekuberin are added to this composition.

2nd year

In the second year of cultivation, regular fertilizing is also necessary. Fertilizers must be applied at least three times during the season:

in early spring after clearing the area of withered leaves and mulch under which the strawberries overwintered;
during the appearance of flowers and the formation of fruits;
after harvest.

Early spring

In early spring, the soil can be fertilized:

nitroammophoska (a tablespoon per 10 liters of water);
organic fertilizers - mullein infusion (ratio 1:10) or chicken droppings (dilution 1:12);
whey (1 liter per 3 liters of water);
a mixture of ½ liter of mullein and a tablespoon of ammonium sulfate (per 10 liters of water);
ash (glass), iodine (30 drops) and boric acid (teaspoon), which must be diluted in 10 liters of water;
nettle infusion (pour boiling water over a bucket of young grass, leave for 2-3 days);
potassium permanganate (3 g), urea (tablespoon), ash (½ cup) and boric acid (½ teaspoon), which are diluted in 10 liters of water.

For each plant you need to pour from 500 ml to 1 liter of fertilizer.

During flowering and fruit formation

During flowering, the bushes are sprayed with a 0.02% solution of zinc sulfate or boric acid (1 teaspoon of solution per 10 liters of water). The soil is fertilized with potassium nitrate, ash or chicken droppings.

For fertilizing, you can use special complex fertilizers, which help increase productivity by 30%.

After harvest

Nitroammofoska (2 tablespoons diluted in 10 liters of water) is applied to the soil immediately after harvesting. In August, fertilizing with urea is carried out (30 g diluted in 10 liters of water) - this promotes the formation of flower buds and ensures a harvest next year. After fertilizing with urea, the soil must be watered. The final stage is the autumn feeding of strawberries, which is carried out after trimming the leaves and tendrils, watering the soil and disinfecting it with a solution of potassium permanganate.

Many people consider growing strawberries a troublesome task and do not plant a healthy and tasty crop on their plots. But everything is not as complicated as it seems at first glance. If you give the plant a little attention and time, provide optimal conditions for growth and proper nutrition, strawberries will definitely thank you for your troubles with delicious, aromatic berries. Proper care of berry crops and proper spring feeding are the key to obtaining a high-quality and abundant harvest.

Strawberries are one of the most beloved and always desired berries on our tables. When breeding it, you need to take into account some of the subtleties of seasonal plant care, then the safety of the bushes and productivity are guaranteed to you.

Did you know? Strawberries are a healthy treat. Contains vitamins C, E, P, salicylic, oxalic, folic acid, carotene, potassium, calcium, fluorine, iron, silicon, copper, magnesium, zinc, iodine, chromium. All these vitamins and micro- and macroelements are involved in metabolic processes in the body and are responsible for the formation of immunity and the health of the nervous system.

This article will tell you about the agricultural technology of strawberries and the features of caring for them in the spring, based on the advice of experienced gardeners.

How to care for strawberries in spring

Winter is over, the snow has melted, strawberries have appeared in the beds, caring for them in the spring, although simple, is necessary so that the bushes begin to grow after hibernation. Let's take a closer look at how to care for strawberries in the spring in order to reap a good harvest in the summer.

Cleaning strawberries from debris

Before processing and feeding strawberries in the spring, you need to clear them of debris, thin them, trim them, and, if necessary, replant them.
Clean strawberries from last year's leaves, if you did not do this in the fall, or from those that froze in winter. You need to collect the old mulch, tear off or cut off all the withered tendrils, shoots, peduncles and leaves - remove everything, leaving only a bush with a few green leaves. If there are basal leaves (which spread along the ground), they are also removed. The collected rubbish is thrown away or burned.

Important! Always start caring for strawberries after winter by clearing them. The more carefully you remove all dead parts from the bush, the better and more friendly the growth and fruiting will be in the end. In addition, by removing garbage from the garden bed, you destroy the pests that remained in it over the winter, thereby preventing plant diseases.

Thinning, pruning, replanting

If the foliage is thick, it is thinned out, a few leaves are cut off - this is in order to ensure maximum sunlight the remaining ones. The basal leaves are also removed. It is also necessary to remove rosettes that began to develop in winter. Pruning is done with pruning shears, or with ordinary sharp scissors. From the 3-4th year of growth, with active growth, the yield of strawberries decreases, so they need to be replanted - take young shoots from the mother bushes and plant them in another place. The transplantation takes place around the beginning - mid-May. Seedlings from mother bushes should have healthy, strong stems and leaves, and developed roots. They are carefully disconnected from the mother bush, the tendrils are removed, the root shoots that are too long are shortened and planted in a new place. Before planting, it is advisable to treat the roots with a growth preparation (Kornevin, etc.).

The area for seedlings is prepared in 1-1.5 months. – add organic matter or mineral fertilizers, dig deep, level, sprinkle wood shavings, sawdust, covered with film or agrospan. The day for planting is not hot, cloudy, or windless. Optimal distance between bushes - 25-35 cm, between rows - 45-65 cm. The soil is well moistened and the seedling is planted at ¼ height so that the “heart” remains completely above the ground. The planted bushes are watered and mulched.

Important! Only fresh shoots are replanted. They cannot be stored.

Mulching is also caring for strawberries in the spring, until fertilizing is applied. In addition to the fact that mulch retards the growth of weeds and eliminates the need for loosening after watering, it will maintain sufficient soil moisture until the flowering phase and prevent it from overheating. For mulch, use peat, sawdust, straw, and pine needles.

Did you know? It is advisable not to use hay, sunflower husks, buckwheat, or rice - they quickly cake and rot.

You should also add mulch under the bushes when the ovary appears - the litter will protect the berries from dirt and rotting when watering from contact with wet soil.

Spring feeding and watering of strawberries

Caring for strawberries in the spring is also a must for feeding them after winter. At the same time, they monitor proper watering beds.

How often and how much to water strawberries in spring

In dry weather, water up to 4-5 times a week. If it rains periodically, then, of course, less. Strawberries need constant moisture, but not excessive moisture. Moreover, during the growing season (before flowering), the bushes are watered along the foliage, and when flowers appear - at the root or between the rows.

Important! Do not use for watering cold water from a well, well - let the collected water stand or heat it until slightly warm.

Water in the late evening and in the morning (preferably before sunrise). Afterwards, they must be loosened.

Features of spring feeding of strawberries

Strawberries have their own characteristics of care in the spring: they are fertilized twice during the spring.

When to fertilize strawberries in spring

Strawberries are fertilized after spring clearing and pruning, then during the flowering period. Regarding the question of what fertilizers are needed for strawberries in the spring - these should be fertilizers that give maximum growth and development to the plant.

How to fertilize strawberries in spring Organic and mineral compounds are used for feeding. Dung, mullein - 30 g/10 l of water, nitroammophoska, potassium or ammonium nitrate - 25-30 g/10 l of water, etc. are suitable.

When deciding what else to feed strawberries in the spring, you can try folk remedies - for example, yeast.

Did you know? Yeast is rich in protein (amino acids), carbohydrates (glycogen, polysaccharides), vitamins, and nitrogen. Contain phosphoric acid, potassium, zinc, iodine, iron, lipids.

There are several ways to feed strawberries with yeast in the spring. Most best option– 500 g of pressed non-dry yeast per 2.5 liters of water. You need to thoroughly dissolve the yeast in this volume, and then add another 5 liters of water to the solution and mix again. You can add 80-100 g of sugar to the resulting mass and let it brew for 1.5-2 hours before watering.

Treatment of strawberries from diseases and pests

Before processing strawberries in the spring, make sure once again that you have cut off all diseased leaves and that all shoots and stems of the plant are healthy. Because the first spring treatment is preventive, and all diseased parts of the plants must be identified and destroyed in order to prevent the disease from spreading to the entire planting.

With the arrival of spring, many summer residents are worried about the condition of their strawberry bushes. These plants, after a long and cold winter Special processing is required, which will allow increasing the berry yield in the future. Many questions arise about dried leaves and topsoil, disease prevention and pest protection, as well as fertilization. Let's try to understand each of them.

Instead of the usual tearing off old foliage, loosening the soil, spraying and fertilizing, you can get by. These activities take up a lot of free time and provide minimal benefits. Try organizing your work like this:

First of all, collect a layer of mulch on the strawberry beds that did not have time to rot over the winter.
If necessary, repair or adjust the wooden borders that surround the bed.
Add fertilizer to the soil (organic or mineral at your discretion).
Carry out preventive measures to protect plants from pests and diseases. Use special preparations for spraying.
Mulch your strawberry beds.

The most important thing in the spring is to clear the strawberry beds of the remaining mulch. It will also come in handy for compost. Such cleaning will allow the soil to warm up faster, and this has great value for the growth and development of strawberry bushes. Warm soil will speed up the onset of green mass and ovary formation.

Fertilizers are necessary for this crop to stimulate growth and development. Each summer resident can choose one of the types of fertilizers, depending on professional preferences - mineral or organic.

You can enter complex fertilizer, consisting of water (large bucket), cow manure (half a liter), ammonium sulfate (1 tablespoon) or water and nitroammophoska (1 tablespoon).

For farmers who have chosen organics, the following recipes are offered:

Mullein and water in a ratio of 1 to 10.
Bird droppings and water in a ratio of 1 to 12.
Herbal infusion based on young nettle.

When applying fertilizer, do not allow it to get on the leaf mass; water only under the bush.

Spraying strawberry plantings must be carried out at an air temperature of at least 18 degrees Celsius and always before flowering begins. Such preventive treatment will prevent harmful insects and protect against many diseases in the future. Chemical preparations such as Caesar or Taurus or natural-based preparations (for example, Fitoferm) are suitable.

Experienced summer residents recommend using a non-standard method of processing strawberry bushes. For processing you will need hot water heated to about sixty degrees. Using a watering can with a fine sprinkler, you need to water every bush and, if possible, every leaf. Such a “shower” for strawberry bushes will not only protect against insects, but will also affect the size of the berries in the near future.

Next important stage caring for strawberry bushes is to mulch the soil. Last year's mulch was collected so as not to interfere with the warming of the soil. Now that the beds have warmed up enough, you can spread out a new mulch layer. This reliable and proven protection is applied to the surface of the beds around the end of April - beginning of May.

It is recommended to choose a material for mulch that will not only retain moisture in the soil and fight weeds, but will also become a natural antiseptic. Pine and spruce needles are simply ideal for this purpose. The specific aroma of these plants will help resist any diseases.

If this type of mulch is not available to you, you can use straw. True, it has its pros and cons. Plus, it allows water to pass through perfectly and will prevent the fruit from rotting. The downside is that straw often harbors harmful insects.

As for last year's leaves on strawberry bushes, they will fall off on their own over time - there is no point in picking them off. Dried leaves will complement the mulch layer on the strawberry beds.

Features of spring strawberry care (video)

In order to get maximum yields of strawberries (garden strawberries), you need to properly care for them. Agricultural technology can correct many mistakes made during planting, as well as reveal all the advantages of the variety. At improper care Strawberries produce small, sour berries, and varietal differences are reduced to nothing.

These strawberries have been properly cared for.

Introduction to strawberries

Strawberries are a perennial plant grown for their berries. The plantation produces high yields for no more than 4 years, then the berries become smaller and their taste becomes sour. Although bushes with proper care can live for more than 20 years, their yields will be small.

Horns

The bush has about 30 rosettes (horns). The older the bush, the more more 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 rosettes, respectively, the more magnificent the bush, the more more abundant flowering and fruiting. At the bottom, the rosettes grow together into one small stem, on which adventitious roots are formed. Powerful bushes produce many flower stalks, bloom for a longer time and produce a higher yield.

Strawberry bush structure diagram

Mustache

The plants produce the strongest tendrils in the first year of cultivation; every year the tendril formation becomes weaker, while the tendrils become smaller. By the fourth year, strawberries usually no longer produce whiskers. If someone gets vegetative shoots from their 5-6 year old plantation, it is because it was poorly cared for and there are bushes there different ages, and tendrils are produced by young, rooted plants.

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

Berries

The quality of strawberries is influenced by several factors.

Soil composition. Strawberries growing in poor soils have a less pronounced flavor than those grown in fertile soils.
Weather. The more direct sun the bushes get, the sweeter the berries. Strawberries growing under the canopy of trees, no matter how you care for them, usually have sour berries.
Variety Most European strawberry varieties are sweeter than domestic ones.

Properties of berries.

Berries picked unripe turn red during transportation and storage, but they will not be completely sweet.
The berries acquire the taste characteristic of the variety only when fully ripened 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 evident.
To obtain maximum yields, the berries are picked unripe, as this stimulates the growth of the remaining ovaries. As a result, strawberry productivity increases.
Unripe berries of any variety have the same sweet and sour taste.

On a personal plot, where good taste is more valued 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 wet weather, you should pick the berries not fully ripe, since it is the ripe berries that are affected by rot and mold first.

Advantages and disadvantages of culture

The main advantages of strawberries.

Strawberries can give good harvests with very small doses of fertilizer and simple maintenance. The main thing is to fertilize the soil well before planting the crop.
Annual harvests. Strawberries do not have a periodicity of fruiting, like some other berries (for example, raspberries).
Quickly obtain the first harvest.
Very simple and easy propagation. A bush is capable of producing several dozen tendrils per season, from which the best ones 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 by gray rot. Most modern varieties are quite resistant to this disease, but with improper care you can lose up to a third of the harvest. Domestic varieties are more resistant to the disease than European ones.
Insufficient self-fertility of strawberries. To ensure good berry set, several different varieties are grown on the plot.
Winter hardiness is the ability not only to tolerate negative temperatures, but also winter thaws without being damaged. In domestic varieties it is quite high, and the loss of bushes in spring is insignificant. European varieties of strawberries have lower winter hardiness; the plants freeze slightly, and in severe winters they freeze completely. But some imported varieties grow successfully in our conditions; The bushes are covered for the winter, which somewhat reduces plant loss.
Short fruiting period. Maximum yields The berry garden lasts for 3-4 years, then it needs to be completely renewed.

All the shortcomings of the berry plant can be overcome; the main thing is not to leave the strawberries without proper care.

Features of growing and caring for strawberries

Main components proper care are:

weeding;
loosening;
water regime;
feeding

Caring for strawberries is not difficult, but it requires patience and systematicity.

Weeding strawberry beds

Strawberry plantings should always be free of weeds. This crop 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 trimmed, especially in the spring. If they are removed in time, the plants will switch to flowering, otherwise all the strength of the bushes will go into the formation of berries and there will be no berries.

Loosening

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

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

How to water strawberries

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

It is better to water between rows; for this purpose, make a furrow in the middle of the bed when planting, which will collect water when the snow melts and during watering. The plants are not watered at the roots because root system strawberries are spreading and the bulk of the roots are located on the periphery of the above-ground part of the plant.

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

Before flowering, strawberry plantations can be watered with “rain”.

During the flowering and fruiting period, only the row spacing is watered; the water temperature should not be lower than 15°C. The rest of the time, plants tolerate watering well with cold water.

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

During flowering and ovary growth in the event of rainy weather, strawberries suffer from waterlogging. Signs of this are the appearance on the leaves and ovaries of large brown spots(without damaging them). Waterlogging of strawberry plantations especially often occurs on dense clay soils. The roots cannot provide normal nutrition to the above-ground parts and the bushes begin to drop the largest berries.

When signs of oxygen starvation appear, deep loosening (5-7 cm) is carried out. If the berry grower experiences constant waterlogging, then the beds are raised to 15-20 cm. When the strawberries do not have ovaries, they do not suffer from waterlogging, but, on the contrary, produce lush foliage and powerful tendrils.

Fertilizing strawberries with folk remedies (ash, chicken droppings)

Strawberries and berries remove quite a lot of nutrients from the soil; these are not only basic nutritional elements (NPK), but also microelements that need to be replenished. Lack of nutrition begins to appear in the second year of cultivation; in the first year, the plants have enough fertilizer applied before planting.

Nutritional deficiency never manifests itself in any one element, so complex fertilizers containing microelements are always applied to the plot. It is better to feed strawberries organic fertilizers, since they act more gently and lastingly.

In the first year of cultivation, if the soil has been properly prepared, fertilizers are not applied. In the second and subsequent years, the berry garden is fed 2 times per season. In the spring, ash is added to the surface of the soil around the bushes, and then the soil is loosened shallowly. On infertile soils in May, humates, humus or

You cannot add ash along with manure, since chemical reaction, as a result of which it is released large number nitrogen, which can damage plants.

To prepare an herbal infusion, the herb is placed in plastic barrel, pour water and leave 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 harvest, strawberries begin a second wave of root and leaf growth, and at this time they need nitrogen. Fertilize with a solution of mullein or bird droppings (1 l/10 l of water). Bird droppings are preferable for strawberries and are now sold in garden centers. This is the most concentrated fertilizer in terms of nutrients.

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

Excess nitrogen manifests itself in the appearance large leaves and chopping berries, plant yields are significantly reduced. Overfeeding occurs due to the frequent use of grass fertilizer or non-compliance with the norms for applying other organic fertilizers.

To prevent fattening of plants with organic matter (except manure and compost), ash is added, 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 susceptible to diseases and pests.

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

Is it necessary to feed strawberries with yeast, iodine, boric acid and ammonia?

Feeding with folk remedies (yeast, iodine, boric acid, ammonia) is extremely undesirable for culture.

Firstly, this is a monofertilizer that does not provide plants with the entire set of microelements.

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 into the lower layers of the soil, which when large area plots is impossible.

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

Fertilizer for a strawberry plantation must be systematic and fully provide the plants with necessary elements, and no experiments with feeding are allowed.

Strawberry plantation care

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

How to care for strawberry seedlings

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

To shade the mustache, cover it with newspapers, white cloth, or throw a little grass over it. 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 first days, the planted mustaches are well watered. In the future, the soil under the young bushes should always be moist. In the case of a warm and dry autumn, water the strawberries once a week.

It is important to prevent strawberries from becoming overgrown with weeds. If this is not done in the year of planting, then in the future the fight against them will become much more difficult. Weeds will grow through the bushes and it will no longer be possible to remove them without damaging the crop.

Young strong mustaches, after rooting, themselves begin to produce mustaches, 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-recharging irrigation is carried out. Water protects rhizomes well from freezing by 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 straw, fallen leaves and pine needles under the bushes and between the rows. They cover only bare ground; there is no need to cover the plants themselves, since they go into winter with leaves, which themselves act as insulation.

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

Caring for strawberries in spring

In the spring, after the snow melts, dry leaves are cut off the bushes, insulation is removed from the garden bed (if it was used), weeded from the first weeds and loosened. Old bushes that have a small woody stem with adventitious roots are additionally spudded to make them more powerful. In large plants better flowering and higher productivity.

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

The main task in spring is to ensure rapid warming of the soil so that plants quickly grow foliage and begin flowering. At early start growing season, flowering will occur at more wet soil. To warm up the soil as quickly as possible, you can put black film between the rows.

Some gardeners, on the contrary, do not remove the insulation for a long time, fearing damage to the strawberries by frost. But, firstly, it is not afraid of frost in the 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 is prepared, the larger the berries will be.

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

Old dry leaves along with last year's tendrils are removed, but young foliage does not need to be trimmed. Trimming green leaves in the spring delays flowering for 2 weeks (until new ones grow); the plant spends a lot of energy growing foliage, which causes the berries to become smaller.

During a dry, warm spring, when the soil dries out quickly, watering is carried out. After the young leaves grow, do spring feeding.
If plants are weakened after winter and grow poorly, they are sprayed with growth stimulator “Zircon” or “Epin”.

How should strawberries be cared for after harvest?

After fruiting, the spring leaves look yellow and spotted; they are removed along with regrown tendrils and weeds. You cannot mow down all the foliage, since the roots growing at this time require starch, which comes directly from the leaves; if they are removed, this will slow down the preparation of strawberries for winter.

After harvesting, be sure to carry out a second feeding to replenish the nutrients carried out with the berries.

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

If the bushes are intended for fruiting, then all emerging mustaches are cut off. The plot is inspected once every 4-5 days, since the shoots appear until October, and the spears of shoots that have just appeared are removed.

Strawberries have a balance between bean formation and fruiting: if plants are not given the opportunity to form tendrils, then it increases fruiting and, conversely, if they are not picked, the yield is greatly reduced.

The plantation should always be free of weeds, fertilized, and the bushes should have their tendrils trimmed.

In the fall, moisture-recharging irrigation is carried out, if necessary, insulation is laid out between the rows.

Caring for the plantation in the last year of cultivation

When fertilizing in spring, you can give a little more nitrogen, the bushes will not have time to get fat, and this will not reduce the yield. When the soil is dry, 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 (this is why increased doses of nitrogen were given).

Mulching strawberries

When caring for a plantation, mulching materials are used to protect berries from dirt and rot, insulate bushes in winter period and protecting the soil from premature heating during thaws. and prevents the formation of soil crust after rains or watering.

Using mulch when growing strawberries is best way keeping the plot clean, which makes caring for it much easier. To prevent undesirable effects when using it, mulch is applied under certain conditions.

Sawdust, straw, dry moss, fallen leaves, and pine needles are used as mulching materials. Their disadvantage is the fixation of soil nitrogen, which causes nitrogen starvation of plants. Therefore, mulch is applied in the fall as insulation between rows; by spring, the process of decomposition of fiber (of which it consists) will be completed and nitrogen fixation will not occur.

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

To do this, either soak them in a barrel with a fertilizer solution (sawdust), or water them very generously 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 it with urea as a nitrogen fertilizer enhances 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 inhibits the growth of weeds more than hay and straw.

Straw as mulch.

Mulching with grass and straw. Hay and straw consist of almost the same fiber and very strongly bind soil nitrogen. They are introduced in the fall. When using hay or straw as mulch in the spring, add manure crumbs along with them, or water the freshly spread mulch with nitrogen fertilizers (humates, mullein, herbal infusion). In this case, nitrogen fixation does not occur and the yield does not decrease. They are laid out between rows in a layer of 5-7 cm.

Leaf mulch. It is advisable to introduce foliage of deciduous trees in the fall, laying it out in row spacing in a layer of 15-20 cm. In winter, it will serve as insulation. When used in spring, freshly spread leaves are watered with humates, mullein, or herbal infusion.

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

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

strongly acidifies the soil;
has a very high moisture capacity, which makes it almost impossible to saturate it with a nitrogen solution;
in wet weather it gets wet and interferes with normal breathing of the roots;
In winter, it can become covered with an ice crust, which leads to damping off of plants.

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

Protecting berries from dirt

Berries lying on the ground become contaminated with soil, and they are more susceptible to gray rot. To prevent the berries from coming into contact with the soil, you can make various supports for the bushes: from wire, plastic bottles, boards, films, stores sell special rings on legs. But all this is suitable for a small plot.

On a large plantation, plucked lower peripheral leaves are placed under the green berries. If the bush is healthy, the 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 picker should move around the site in frequent rotation.