How to plant strawberries: useful tips

Garden strawberries - a type of strawberry. It has larger leaves and berries, rich in vitamins and microelements. The culture propagates by seeds and rosettes. The plant takes root in any soil, but the size of the fruit depends on the quality of the soil and the number of nutrients. Strawberries can be planted in the middle or late spring, as well as in the fall. In order for a culture to quickly take root and not die in the winter, you need to follow a few rules.

Planting material

A simple breeding method for cultivated strawberries is sprouts made from whiskers. In summer, the plant formed shoots. Sockets sprinkle with the substrate and regularly watered, so that they take root. Closer to the fall, the billet is separated from the mother bush with sharp scissors or a knife. Seedlings dig and inspect, select healthy specimens.Viable blanks have white and elastic roots, a well-developed core and at least 3-4 leaves. Warped and sluggish sockets are thrown out, they will not survive the winter. The roots of strong seedlings are shortened, leaving 6–7 cm. Shoots before planting are soaked in water or growth-stimulating solutions.

If the strawberry does not let the mustache, you can multiply it by dividing the bush. Choose the largest and thickest species and dig. The root system is neatly cleaned from earthen coma and cut into 2-3 pieces with a sharp knife. Each blank must have a core and full leaves, at least 4 pieces.

The most difficult breeding method is seeds. Planting material harvested independently. Select large fruits and wait until they mature. Soft berries saturated red tone knead and pass through a sieve, separating the flesh from the seed. The seeds are transferred to a colander, covered with gauze, washed with water. Planting material is sown in prepared pots or open ground. In the spring there is a seedling, for which you need to carefully care. Strengthened sockets dig and planted. They give a crop in a year.

Soil preparation

Strawberries are recommended not to be planted in areas where eggplants, potatoes, cucumbers, peppers, or cabbage used to grow. After such crops in the ground remain insect pest larvae:

• Colorado potato beetle;
• nematodes;
• wireworm.

In the spring, they awaken and begin to actively proliferate, destroying the root system of domesticated strawberries. Strawberries grow well in the land where marigolds, cereals, onions or garlic, carrots, beets or radishes used to grow.

Choose plots located on the southeast side of the garden. Ideally, if trees grow near the strawberries, they will create shade and cover the tender foliage from direct sunlight. Strawberries give a rich harvest if they grow in black soil or dark gray forest soil. Like culture loamy and sandy soil. The berries will be small and sour, if the owner of the dacha has chosen a sod-podzolic or light gray substrate located in the valley. Strawberries do not take root in areas with too wet soil, which is constantly flooded.

Before planting, the ground is dug up and carefully inspected.If bugs or eggs are found in the substrate, the soil should be treated with ammonia water. The solution destroys the larvae and spores of fungal diseases. Alpaloid lupine can drive pests. The plant is sowing the selected area, and a year later they dig and replace the culture with strawberries.

Areas where there are a lot of weeds are watered with Roundal solution. On 1 ha take 2 liters of the drug. The tool copes with perennial plants that are firmly rooted, and destroys weed seeds.

Substrate 2-3 weeks before planting strawberry bushes enrich with humus and wood ash. You can use compost or peat. Fresh manure is prohibited, the component produces a lot of nitrogen, which stimulates the growth of green mass, but suppresses the formation of buds.

Fertilizer plentifully sprinkle the beds and dig shovels to the depth of the bayonet. The plot is leveled with a rake and left for 3 weeks. To get a good harvest, it is recommended to add potassium compounds and superphosphate to the compost. At 1 m take 20 g of the first and 40 g of the second additive. With increased soil acidity, dolomite lime is used, approximately 250–300 g.

Strawberries are transferred to new beds every 2–4 years. The land in which the strawberries grew is recommended to be sown with grain or onion crops. They help the soil to recover and be filled with nutrients. Strawberries can be returned to the old site in 3-4 years. So much time it will take the substrate to enrich with micronutrients.

Good time

Domesticated strawberries are planted in spring or autumn. In summer, the air temperature is too high. Soil dries quickly, do not help even frequent watering. A culture devoid of water fades and perishes.

In spring, strawberry seedlings are planted in late April or May, when the earth warms to a depth of 5–6 cm. In autumn, strawberries are prepared for reproduction in September. Some summer residents start planting culture in the late days of August. Autumn seedlings have time to take root and settle down during the winter, so the crop is harvested next year.

Preparation and landing methods

Sockets before planting soaked in a solution of copper sulfate. The drug is mixed with baking soda in a ratio of 1 to 6.The workpiece is diluted with water: 10 g of liquid is taken for 30 g of the composition. Copper sulfate disinfects seedlings and protects against fungal diseases.

Sockets dug out of the ground are sent to the cellar or basement for 12–24 hours. The root system is dipped into a orange clay talker. 5 kg of the dry component is mixed with water to make a creamy mass. Billet insist a few hours, and then smeared with orange paste strawberries. The roots are also wrapped with wet paper so that the shoots do not lose moisture. Seedlings, protected from drying out, can be stored for several days.

Strawberries are planted in the evening, choose an overcast day. Well, if it rains a little. There are 4 common landing methods:

• carpet;
• nests;
• individual bushes;
• in rows.

The first option is suitable for people who come to the country rarely. Whiskers, which are formed in strawberry bushes, do not break off, but allow to take root. Culture gradually grows and captures the site. A special microclimate is created, and a layer of natural mulch is formed on the ground. Strawberries, planted by the carpet method, must rarely be watered and fertilized. On the plot with strawberries do not grow weeds.Land is loosened rarely, mostly in the fall and spring.

In the carpet method, the only drawback. Berries due to the large number of whiskers and rosettes are gradually becoming smaller.

Summer residents who want to receive large fruits, choose a way of planting separate bushes. Between the beds observe a distance of 45–60 cm. The strawberry whiskers are regularly cut so that the plants do not intertwine with each other. The artisanal method is complicated and time consuming. It is often necessary to loosen and mulch the soil with straw, to fertilize and water the beds, as well as to fight weeds.

Thanks to the artisanal method, strawberries are intensively developed and bear fruit, and the probability of fungal diseases is reduced, because each plant is ventilated.

In order to transplant strawberries not in 2–3 years, but after 5–6 years, gardeners divide the land into rows. 15–25 cm recede between the pits. The row spacing is 40 cm. The method practically does not differ from the handicraft one. Have a strawberry tear mustache, regularly weed between the rows, the plants are watered and mulched.

A rich harvest is obtained by planting strawberry nests. The largest and fluffy bush will be the core, which is surrounded by the rest of the plants.Form a hexagon. The distance between the central and lateral points is 5–6 cm.

With this method, you will need a lot of planting material. Between the nests observe a distance of 25-30 cm. The method provides a rich harvest.

Modern options

Summer residents, tired of fighting weeds, are recommended to pay attention to non-woven material. The invention is called “Spunbond”. Dense black material permits air and retains moisture in the soil, creates a favorable microclimate for the development of strawberries, but protects against plant pests.

Summer residents using Spunbond plant rows of strawberries. Land before work plentifully watered. In dry ground, strawberries take root poorly. At a distance of 55–60 cm they dig the grooves, cover the substrate with non-woven material and fix it with stones or boards. In dense preparation, cross-shaped incisions with a diameter of 5–6 cm are made. With a hand, holes are formed into which strawberry seedlings are placed. The root system is straightened so that the shoots are looking down and slightly to the side, sprinkled with earth, leaving the core on the surface.The corners of the nonwoven fabric gently straighten to cover the base of the strawberry. Only leaves are left outside.

Strawberries without nonwovens are planted in the same way. The wells abundantly moisturize, straighten the root system and sprinkle with a wet substrate. Seedlings abundantly watered, that they are better acclimatized. Sprinkle with fresh straw. Thanks to mulching in the soil moisture remains longer, and the roots do not overheat and do not freeze.

Tip: Ammonia solution, in which sockets are soaked for the prevention of fungal infections, can be replaced with garlic water. The tool is prepared from 2–3 crushed cloves and 1 liter of a liquid base.

If the suburban area is small, and you need to save space, it is recommended to build a pyramid of old tires or boxes. The height of the structure can reach 10 m. The tanks are filled with a nutrient mixture, which includes peat, turf ground and humus. To make the substrate looser, add some sand to it.

The distance between the bushes in containers is 15–20 cm. The volume of land for the root system is 1.5 liters. In winter, the design is dismantled,and the ingredients are buried in the ground and mulch with fallen leaves. In the spring during the frost period, containers are covered with foil or non-woven material.

Growing seedlings in early spring

Summer residents who want to harvest in May or June build mini-greenhouses for strawberries. The land is enriched with fertilizers, dug up, and after 3 weeks form the beds. Small arcs with a radius of 50–60 cm are made of wire, set at a distance of 1 m.

Ukryvna material is fixed on the frame with a jute rope. One side of the film is pressed to the ground with iron slats or stones, the other is left free, so that it is convenient to plant strawberries and care for the crop. The ends of translucent polyethylene are tied with ropes and fixed with pegs, and then added dropwise with earth. In an improvised greenhouse will be warm and humid. The film attracts sunlight, retains water and protects against weeds.

A thermometer is attached to the inner wall of the greenhouse. If the thermometer shows +25 or higher, the free edge of the film is slightly opened and the greenhouse is aired. Strawberries love it warmly, and because of the heat it weakens and is ill.

The greenhouse is aired on sunny days, and when the bushes bloom, the covering material is removed for the whole day, and returned to the place in the evening to protect the seedlings from frost. The film is completely removed after the formation of berries.

In the early morning, before the onset of heat, the culture is watered with heated water. Cold can not, otherwise the strawberry sick. The beds are moistened 1 time per week. The earth is periodically loosened, removing weeds and dried bushes. In autumn, strawberries grown in the greenhouse are covered with a mixture of fallen leaves, straw and lapnik. Before mulching, the soil is enriched with peat and compost.

Seedlings

Hybrid varieties of strawberries are propagated by rosettes and division of the bush. The remaining varieties can be obtained from seeds. Growing seedlings is simple. A container 10–15 cm deep will be needed. The container is half filled with a substrate for seedlings, and the soil is poured abundantly.

In the ground a small groove or grooves are made with a toothpick at a distance of 5–6 cm. Seeds are laid in the pits, they are not sprinkled with soil. The container is covered with glass and carried to a warm room. Capacity with young shoots put on the lighted window.Transparent cover is removed to the seedlings breathe.

Seedlings with 2 true leaves are diving into separate pots. Every 2 weeks fertilizer for strawberries is applied to the soil. Grown up and grown strong bushes are planted in open ground in spring or autumn.

Care

Strawberry beds are advised to surround plants, pest repellent. Slugs do not tolerate the smell of parsley, Colorado beetles and other insects do not like garlic, radish, marigold, onions, sage and spinach. Pests repel beans and lettuce, as well as cabbage and beetroot.

In bushes planted in spring, antennae and inflorescences are removed in the first year. They prevent the plant from taking root and getting stronger. 15 days after planting, the land is fertilized with mineral or organic feed. Flower shops sell biohumus. At home, the fertilizer is made from fermented grass or bird droppings. The billet is soaked in water and infused for several days. The concentrated solution is diluted and added to the substrate after weeding and heavy irrigation.

The land around strawberry bushes needs to be mulched. Soil sprinkled with pine or fir needles. The aroma of pine needles scares away the bear, the Colorado potato beetle and other pests. Spruce needles replace straw.The preform is first soaked in water and laid out in a thin layer on a film or sheet of iron, left in the sun. Wait until the weed seeds germinate. Clean and dry straw scattered between the rows and under the bushes. Hay or dried grass is used in a similar way.

Garden strawberries are watered 2-3 times a week from a watering can. The hosepipe is too strong, it can damage the leaves and the core. Watering can replace sprayers: fan, swaying, circular or rotary. Strawberries will also like drip irrigation. The main thing is that the water was warm and settled, without impurities of heavy metals.

You can plant remontant strawberries in spring and autumn. The land before garden work is enriched with fertilizers, and after it is mulched with straw or coniferous needles. Young strawberry seedlings are watered and regularly fertilized, protected from cold and pests, and in the first year they pull off mustaches and inflorescences. Thanks to this, the culture quickly takes root and adapts to new conditions.

Video: proper strawberry planting