Strawberries - this is one of those crops for the cultivation of which in the classic version of the land is not rationally used. Each gardener knows that planting in the usual way into the ground occupies a very large area, while the yield that can be harvested from this site is small. Therefore, planting strawberries in a pipe is aimed at increasing yields per square meter of land.
Vertical Strawberry
The use of vertical plants and structures for growing strawberries is a practical way to save land. To equip vertical flower beds and beds, you can use various designs that are commercially available, or make them yourself. One of these options, which is quite new to use, is the vertical planting of strawberries in a PVC pipe designed for the installation of sewers. Planting strawberries in a pipe is already a proven and reliable method recommended by leading gardening specialists.
Materials for the manufacture
To make a vertical flower bed you will need:
- Pieces of PVC pipes of wide diameter.
- An electric drill, a nozzle for wide openings or an ordinary drill for wood.
- Plug for pipe.
- A narrow PVC pipe that is used to supply water to the roots of plants.
- Scotch.
- Knife and cork.
- Burlap for winding irrigation pipe.
- Twine or twine.
- Soil mixture.
- Gravel or expanded clay.
- Strawberry seedlings.
- Fasteners.
How to make a strawberry planting tube
If you decide to plant strawberries in vertical beds, pipes, determine their height. It is necessary to measure the length of the pipe and cut it off by installing a plug on one side. In a thin pipe designed to moisten the soil, small holes are drilled on two-thirds of the entire surface. This is to ensure that water flows mainly in the upper part of the vertical flower beds. In order for the lower plants not to be waterlogged, and the upper ones to receive a sufficient amount of water, the tube is wrapped with burlap and fixed with twine or twine. This is necessary so that the roots of strawberries do not penetrate the tube and do not violate the water supply system. A plug is inserted into the lower end of the tube and secured with duct tape. The bottom is the side where there are no holes.
In a wide pipe, it is necessary to make windows with a large nozzle on a drill, or drill their contours with a thin drill and cut them with a knife. These holes are located mainly on the sides that will face the light. On the side that will inevitably be turned north, they will not be needed. The last holes are made no lower than 20 centimeters from the ground. Watering narrow tube is inserted into the main wide and attached to it in any convenient way. Pipes are installed at a constant location, deploying holes to the sunny side, and secured with clamps or other available fasteners.
The soil
Planting strawberries in a pipe involves the use of ready-made universal soils in the store or their independent harvesting. For this it is necessary to mix in equal parts ordinary garden land, peat, turf. For breathability of the soil, sand and sawdust are added. Also, ashes to prevent decay are necessarily added to the prepared mixture for growing strawberries, since strawberries have a superficial, rather delicate root system.
The land on which the previous 2-3 years such crops as strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes or potatoes were not suitable for planting strawberries. This contributes to the transmission of diseases that are characteristic of these plants. Also in the earthen mixture you can add humus or manure in small proportions. Pipes 10 centimeters below are filled with coarse gravel or any other suitable material to create good drainage. From above, the soil mixture is filled and slightly compacted to the very top.
Planting strawberries in pipes
Plants, such as marigolds or marigolds, are placed in the lower holes of the tube. These flowers drive away pests well, preventing them from reaching strawberry plants. If varieties are planted that propagate by the removal of the antennae, then the plants can be planted through one hole, in order to further conduct the antennae into free holes where they will take root. Vertical planting of strawberries in the pipe consists in carefully placing the plants in an unusual position for them. You can pre-fill the pipe with soil and then make small recesses in it with your fingers to plant the seedlings or plant the plants in stages, filling them with soil.
This is how strawberries are planted in a pipe (photo below).
Pipe strawberry care
It is quite simple and differs little from usual when growing plants in the ground. This is timely watering, periodic top dressing and disease prevention. Water is supplied to the irrigation pipe. For convenience, at the end of it, towering above the garden, you can place a watering can with a wide neck. The tube is completely filled to the top. It gradually releases water through a stretched burlap and compacted earth around it. With good drainage, you can not worry about the gulf of plants. It is easy to determine the state of the soil, for this you just need to feel it with your fingers in the holes where the strawberries are planted. It does not tolerate drying out of the soil, therefore, constant moistening should be carried out.
Strawberry is fed during the period of active growth and flowering. When the fruiting period begins, top dressing is stopped. The most effective manifestation of foliar micronutrient supplementation. To do this, use a mixture of boric acid, zinc sulfate, cobalt nitrate and manganese sulfate. To prepare the solution, these substances are taken in equal proportions and mixed with water in an amount of 0.025%. As the root dressing, universal fertilizers are used, as well as solutions of mullein or bird droppings.
If strawberries are planted in pipes, wintering under such conditions differs little from soil. However, the advantage of this technology is that these beds can be wrapped with improvised materials or brought into a covered room.
Varieties for vertical cultivation
Planting strawberries in pipes involves the acquisition of high-yielding varieties that are resistant to most plant-specific diseases and pests. The maturity dates do not have special significance, since the pipes are easy to install not only in the open air, but also in greenhouses or greenhouses. Such varieties are considered to be the most fruitful: "Pomegranate", "Zagorye", "Roksana", "Early Maherauha", "Desnyanka", "Pavlovchanka". As well as varieties of foreign manufacturers: Gigantella, Bogotá, Cardinal, Troubadour.
Pest and Disease Control
The most common pests for strawberry seedlings is a transparent strawberry mite that damages leaves. It is easy to determine, since when it appears strawberry leaves curl and turn yellow, and the berries on the bushes become small. To combat it, spraying karbofos is used. For this, a solution is prepared: for 10 liters of water, 3 tablespoons of malathion. This processing method also eliminates insects such as weevil, strawberry beetle and whitefly.
Also, the Colorado potato beetle and the May beetle larvae, which must be removed from the plant, often attack strawberries. It is undesirable to use chemicals as a control against these pests, as they are long-term and not suitable for strawberries, which ripen quite quickly.
Pests, millipedes, snails can become pests for strawberries. Most often, they settle on plants with waterlogging of the soil. It is necessary to fight them with the help of the preparation "Metaldehyde". This is a granular powder that does not require dissolution in water. Its granules are distributed on the soil.
Planting strawberries in a pipe has long established itself as a rational method of using the usable area and obtaining high yields per square meter. This method is quite cheap and affordable even for a beginner gardener.