Today, a lot of people grow various berries in their personal plots. In order to maximize the harvest every season, it is necessary to provide the plants with proper care. Can strawberries be grown all year round? This issue is relevant today in both home and industrial gardening. Thanks to the development of biological technologies, it is now possible to grow environmentally friendly berries without serious time and financial costs. What is the difference between the new method of growing berries? Let's try to figure this out.
How to grow strawberries at home?
This issue should be given special attention. Some believe that growing strawberries at home is some kind of complex process that requires special skills. For everything to go well, it’s not necessary to equip a heated greenhouse or hotbed. Even growing strawberries on the windowsill can bring you real profit. The profitability of this activity can be 100%.
Technology
As a rule, growing strawberries from seeds at home is carried out according to the Dutch method. It is it that is most often used in large farms. The method is very simple. If all conditions are met, you can get up to 150 kg of fresh berries from one bush.
Strawberries can be grown all year round. It is also not necessary to use special equipment, fertilizers and soil. The need for pest control when using such a growing technology is also absent. Finished products are in high demand. Strawberries will be environmentally friendly, without the addition of chemicals. Just master this technique - and you can get superprofits.
How to choose the right seedlings?
This is one of the main stages. Growing strawberries without fail includes such an important point as the choice of seedlings. You can buy it ready-made or get it yourself from seeds. Most often, gardeners prefer cluster seedlings. It has a well-formed root system. Cooled ready-made sockets must first be placed in plastic containers. After three days, the length of the roots will be 3-4 cm. Finally, the system will form on the 10th day. After 5 weeks, the entire cell will be filled with roots.
We grow seedlings on our own
To do everything right, it is better to use the recommendations of experienced gardeners. Today, growing strawberries from seeds has gained great popularity. They can be stored for a long time. It is better to take seeds from the middle part of ripened berries. It is necessary to cut one layer, put it on paper and dry. Until the planting time comes, they must be placed in an environment with a low temperature (from +2 to +4 ° C). After they need to be slightly moistened and mixed.
What varieties to use?
Today there are many. If you plan to start a highly profitable business, then you need to choose varieties characterized by unpretentiousness to the duration of daylight hours. It is better to give preference to species that form an ovary, inflorescences and berries. For longline cultivation, it is best to use such varieties as Brighton, Elizabeth, and Pineapple. To get a crop throughout the year, you can use varieties such as "Elizabeth II" and "Selva".
Strawberry varieties vary depending on the growing environment. There are varieties intended for open ground or closed ground. The last type of strawberries for proper growth requires uniform temperature, constant illumination and humidity. The crop ripens throughout the year. The fruits are quite large, resistant to the effects of a disease such as powdery mildew.
How to store seedlings?
The key to a good harvest is the preservation of seedlings by the cold method. The technology for growing strawberries involves the use of seedlings that have been in a cellar or refrigerator for a long time.
For such storage, seedlings should be prepared in advance. The growth of bushes can be stopped for a while, if you stop watering them. In this case, the state of the plant must be constantly monitored. After 10-15 days, it must be watered. It is important to prevent overgrowing. In the fall, sockets should be dug up, sorted, and moved to storage. The thickness of the root neck of seedlings should be 6 mm. Sockets, as a rule, have 3-4 sheets. The length of the roots is about 5 cm. For a while, the bundles need to be moved to boxes and put in the cellar. In this form, seedlings can be stored from 1.5 to 10 months. The temperature in the room should not exceed +6 ° C, and humidity - 90%. Try to avoid sudden changes in the microclimate.
How to equip a room?
This is one of the fundamental issues in this process. Growing strawberries at home requires a specially equipped room. Under this type of activity, you can adapt a garage, a barn or a non-residential room. Also pre-prepare bags with seedlings. They are usually installed along the room in an upright position. The distance between the rows should be 90 cm. Between the bags should also leave free space, from 15 to 30 cm. In the first and second rows they can be slightly shifted in relation to each other. As a rule, bags are placed with a density of 2-3 pieces per square meter.
What is required for the arrangement?
If you are interested in growing strawberries, then for the equipment of the room you will need the following elements:
- adapter;
- a container for supplying a solution;
- plastic pipe;
- nozzles;
- fixing collars;
- fluorescent lamps;
- droppers;
- foil;
- bag.
On the bracket, it is necessary to fix the container in which the nutrient solution will be contained. Using adapters, you need to create a special branching for the pipeline. Clamps are fixed on it. They provide the bags with an upright position. They can be arranged in two tiers, leaving a distance of 30 cm between them. It is also necessary to ensure proper lighting. For this, they put fluorescent lamps. Growing strawberries all year round involves installing special reflectors on the walls. The foil handles this function very well.
Is it possible to grow berries in a vertical way?
Let's dwell on this in more detail. Growing strawberries in a greenhouse year-round allows you to get a big crop using a vertical system. As a rule, this method is used to save space. In addition, when planting in this way, picking berries is much more convenient.
To arrange a vertical bed, you need the following set of tools:
- drill;
- bit;
- plastic pipe;
- twine;
- stub;
- sackcloth.
First of all, you need to measure the desired length of the plastic pipe. Holes should be drilled in its upper part. After that, it is covered with burlap. In a pipe of larger diameter, 3-4 holes are drilled in each row. Thus, four rows must be formed. A plug must be installed on the bottom hole. After that, the workpiece is mounted on a grid or fence. A narrow pipe must be placed in a large one and covered with a layer of gravel, whose thickness is 10 cm. They are laid in a pyramid in a slide and covered with soil from above. The soil before planting should be fertilized with humus.
How to equip a drip irrigation system?
To ensure optimal strawberry growing conditions, it is necessary to prepare droppers for the solution, pallets, film, plastic bags, pumps for supplying water, a tank and a nutrient solution. Seedlings must be placed on a substrate. Using a dropper, you can adjust the flow of the nutrient mixture directly to the roots. As a substrate, it is best to use mineral wool or peat mixtures. The substrate is evenly placed in the film and transferred to a pallet. As a result, an excess of the nutrient mixture should accumulate in it. It comes from a dropper under pressure. To do this, place the tank with the nutrient solution so that it is above the level of irrigation.
Growing strawberries in a greenhouse according to the mineral layer system requires the presence of components such as:
- pipes;
- hoses;
- plastic box;
- water pump;
- tank;
- glasses for seedlings.
When using this method, strawberries receive nutrients from a solution that is placed in plastic boxes. Using a pump, it is pumped out of the main tank through pipes and hoses. Seedlings must be moved to cups. Their bottom should be raised and not in contact with the nutrient mixture. The roots of the plant will be in an enriched environment. The solution should contain all the necessary micro and macro elements.
Strawberry cultivation requires strict observance of the temperature regime. At night, the air should warm up no less than +18 ° , and during the day - up to +25 ° . Water consumption when using a drip system will be 3 liters per day per 1 meter of container. To adjust the drip system, you can increase the number of holes in the hose.
Crop rotation and uterine plantation
How is strawberry growing in a greenhouse all year round when using the technological term for ripening berries? On average, these indicators are determined from September to May. A mother plantation is being laid in mid-April. Seeds are sown in boxes with soil and covered with a small layer of earth on top. Germination will depend on soil moisture and brightness. As light sources, sodium lamps can be used. High soil moisture can be achieved by spraying water.
As soon as the first shoots appear, you can pickle seedlings. After 45 days, the second stage is carried out. A plan of 10 x 10 cm is used for planting seedlings. At the end of July, approximately 100 strawberry bushes are formed per square meter of shelving. The beds should be updated every year.
The process of growing berries on the windowsill
The conditions for growing strawberries can be observed at home. You can plant the berry even on the windowsill. In this case, by dilution is meant distillation. After fruiting, the seedlings are removed and replaced with a new one. It can be stored for 7-10 months. For winter planting, such varieties as “Geneva”, “F – SSh1”, “Queen Elizabeth II” are suitable.
Strawberry bush must be moved to a container, covered with earth and left in the basement for two weeks. After that, it can be planted in a pot with pre-prepared soil. Three sockets can be placed in a large container. On top of the earth have a central kidney. The soil should consist of 3 parts of deciduous soil and 5 parts of humus. There must be drainage at the bottom. For this purpose, river sand or charcoal is perfect. Watering seedlings should be through the pan.
The cultivation of strawberries in the open field is different from the cultivation at home. On the windowsill, plants need additional lighting. Before flowering, strawberries must be fertilized. As for diseases, most often the berry is affected by gray rot. In this case, the infected areas should be washed with warm water. Also, a good effect can be achieved by spraying the affected plant with a tincture of garlic.
Conclusion
Many probably would like to have a strawberry plantation on their windowsill in order to enjoy this wonderful berry if they wish. But in reality, everything is not so simple. Growing strawberries from seeds requires some effort. To do this, you need to choose the right variety. For growing on a windowsill, “suprim” is best. The mass of berries in plants of this variety is from 5 to 7 grams. During active growth, seedlings let out a long mustache. They can be tied with special trellis.
Growing strawberries all year round allows you to provide yourself and your family with healthy berries, rich in vitamins and minerals. You can breed and for subsequent sale. In this case, the business can bring considerable income. If you are interested in growing home-grown flowers, and you are ready to diligently care for the plants on your windowsill, then you will probably be able to breed strawberries. If all the requirements and conditions are met, you can very well achieve up to 4 crops per year.