Modern technologies are not spared and gardening. In this article we will introduce you to a promising technique by which the frigo strawberry seedlings are grown and stored. Subject to all the rules of planting and caring for the plant, you will be able to collect aromatic and tasty berries throughout the year.
What does strawberry frigo mean?
Frigo technology translates as "cold." It was invented by Dutch specialists for year-round berry cultivation. Very quickly, this technique became popular in the world. It is important to understand that “frigo” is not a strawberry variety, but a type of seedling harvested in a special way. In other words, frigo strawberries can be of many different varieties.
The essence of the technology is that artificial conditions are created for the seedlings to rest. The technique is also attractive because it allows you to harvest a lot of seedlings, which can be used in any period.
Growing and harvesting seedlings
In order to obtain seedlings, in the tunnel shelters or in the open beds uterine bushes are planted in sandy loam and sandy soil. Peduncles that form on them are removed so that the plant directs all forces to the formation of offspring. During plant growth, young bushes actively feed. As soon as strawberry seedlings enter the dormant phase, they dig it up.
The readiness of sockets is usually checked by the rhizome - it becomes evenly colored brown with light tips. Another indicator of "hibernation" are the leaves - they darken and acquire a brownish tint. This usually happens in November, when the temperature is set between 0 and -3 ° C. Before, the plant should not be disturbed, since in this case the planting material will die during storage.
The dug young plant is transferred to a cool room in which the temperature is maintained from +8 to + 12 ° C. The roots are well shaken off from the remains of the soil (do not wash!) Cutting them is also strictly prohibited. Then all large leaves are removed, leaving only the youngest leaves at the growth point.
To avoid the appearance of rot, the prepared frigo seedlings are treated with fungicides - these are Vincit Forte, Fundazol, Hom, Topaz. After that, they are sorted by the size of the root collar, and by grades, and then tied into dense bundles, usually 50-100 pieces.
How is seedling stored?
Beams prepared in this way are placed in small plastic bags. For storage, you can use the boxes, lining them previously inside the film. It matters and its thickness - 0.5 mm. Practice shows that fricco strawberry seedlings die when stored in a film thicker than 10 mm. From 350 to 700 seedlings are placed in each box - the number depends on their size.
Frigo harvested strawberries are stored in special refrigerators, in which the temperature is maintained from 0 to -2 ° C around the clock. In addition, the chamber must have a very high humidity - 90%. Moreover, control sensors are installed around the perimeter of the camera. The most minor fluctuations in these parameters lead to the death of seedlings. For example, when the temperature rises to + 0.5 ° C, it will provoke the awakening of strawberries, and at -3 ° C the plants will freeze. Strawberry "frigo" in such conditions is stored from two weeks to ten months.
Recently, cases of maintaining the viability of plants over three years have been recorded. Experts note that if the seedlings are stored for too long in the freezer, their productivity is slightly reduced. This is especially true for large-fruited varieties.
Classification
The productivity of strawberry “frigo”, subject to the rules of planting, largely depends on the quality of seedlings. In European countries, strict standards have been developed that regulate the class affiliation of the plant in accordance with the diameter of the root neck of the plant.
Class A
In such seedlings, the neck diameter is from 12 to 15 mm. They have one or two generative kidneys. Such a frigo strawberry comes into fruition in the year of planting. On each bush, about 20 berries are formed.
Class A +
The root neck is from 15 to 18 mm, it already has three buds (shoots). In the year of planting, three peduncles are formed, on which up to forty berries ripen. Despite the fact that the frigo strawberry varieties of this class are more expensive, they are very popular for large plantations, since they allow you to collect up to ten tons of berries per hectare.
Class wb
This class includes elite seedlings that give record yields. The diameter of the neck is from 22 mm or more. Such seedlings can only be obtained by growing sockets on the beds on which additional agricultural work has been carried out. In the year of planting, the plant forms five peduncles. The crop is guaranteed to be from 450 g and above. Each hectare is removed up to 20 tons of berries.
Class Tray Plants
Its advantages are controlled crop load, provided that it is planted in modern greenhouses and technological requirements are observed; a very powerful root system, a significant supply of substances, resistance to high temperatures characteristic of the moment of planting; high productivity and excellent quality.
Regardless of which class the frigo strawberry belongs to, it significantly surpasses traditional seedlings in all basic parameters - the size of leaves and berries, the size of the bush, and the number of generative shoots. The frigo method, as a rule, is used to propagate the most promising and high-yielding varieties - Sonata, Alba, Clery, Elsanta, Honeoye.
Preparing seedlings for planting
In the open ground, this strawberry is planted in May-June. In the greenhouse - all year round. For the process of growing berries to be continuous, this must be done at intervals of fifty to sixty days. Frigo strawberries go on sale in frozen form, so before planting it should be “awakened”.
Initially, seedlings must be thawed in a closed package during the day, while too sharp a temperature difference must not be allowed so as not to cause heat stroke of the planting material. To speed up defrosting, open the packaging container and pour the seedlings with warm water. Remove the thawed bushes from the package and place their roots in cold water for three hours. This will help make up for moisture lost during the storage period. It is advisable to add a root system growth stimulator to the water - Getorauxin, Zircon, Kornevin.
Try not to let the solution get on the leaves, as this can lead to a delayed development of the aerial part of the bush.
Choosing a place to land
Frigo strawberries are planted on a flat, well-weed-free, well-fertilized area. Ridges create a height of about twenty centimeters. Specialists believe that siderates are the best predecessors: for example, autumn crops of mustard, legumes, rapeseed, followed by plowing of green mass in spring. It will become a wonderful fertilizer of the soil.
In the fall, you can make manure. This measure is especially effective on light depleted soils. Mineral fertilizer should be applied before planting. Gardeners believe that the most convenient to use "Azofoska". Granules do not need to be deeply embedded in the soil: the fertilizer dissolves well and easily penetrates the soil with rain (or watering). It can be applied when cutting furrows, and superficially - from 800 g to 1.5 kg. The dosage depends on the soil and therefore whether pre-applied green fertilizer or organic matter.
Landing time
Let's talk a little more about the timing of planting, since this issue is of interest to many gardeners. We have already mentioned that berries from such strawberries can be obtained year-round, or at a convenient time for you. For this, it is only necessary to calculate the number of days before full maturity.
If you plant seedlings in mid-May, then in thirty days flowering will come, another month later, fruiting will come. Delayed for two weeks planting for a week reduces the time to fruiting. However, it is better not to delay the landing especially: the weather during this period is still not very hot, which allows the seedlings to take root better. Delayed planting adversely affects class A + seedlings. Given the fact that this seedling has the greatest potential, it is better to plant it at an earlier date.
The longest storage periods are distinguished by class A seedlings, which can be planted without much risk until mid-June. Planting at a later date is fraught with a sharp drop in productivity, the peak of which occurs at the very end of August - early September. At this time, nights become cool, which leads to a decrease in the quality of berries: their taste deteriorates due to poor accumulation of sugars, they become smaller, softer and the risk of rotting increases.
Planting "frigo" (seedlings) of strawberries in the ground
An important rule: do not leave seedlings open for more than fifteen minutes. After soaking, frigo strawberries are immediately planted on the prepared site. For spring planting, the soil is prepared in the fall. And in the summer, the soil is dug up a month before planting, so that it is compacted enough. It is possible to form two-line or ribbon or beds. The distance between the bushes should be at least 30 cm.
Planting is done in well-moistened soil. It is necessary to shorten the roots of seedlings to ten centimeters. A special tool has been developed that makes landing easier. Its length is 20 cm, and at the end there is a recess for trimming and deepening the plant.
The roots must be well spread, you can not bury them in a bunch. In pre-prepared holes, the roots of the seedlings are lowered vertically, it must be ensured that there are no creases. The soil is pressed tightly and watered immediately to ensure good contact with the rhizome.
Frigo strawberry seedlings do not have leaves, so it is especially important to ensure that the rosette is above the soil surface and the root neck is covered with soil. Failure to comply with these rules can lead to the death of the plant.
Advantages and disadvantages of the technique
Strawberry frigo has a number of undeniable advantages, but it also has drawbacks. The obvious advantages of such seedlings include:
- continuous berry growing throughout the year;
- compactness of planting material;
- excellent survival rate;
- high productivity.
The cultivation of frigo strawberries also has disadvantages:
- high price (from 15 rubles per piece);
- expensive equipment for storing seedlings;
- growing difficulties in the northern regions.
Reviews
Today, frigo strawberries are not too common among gardeners. Responses of owners of small plots indicate that wholesale deliveries of seedlings involve packaging from two thousand seedlings, and it is problematic to purchase such seedlings in retail.
Such seedlings are ideal for farms that have the necessary refrigeration equipment and greenhouses, and the open area allows you to grow frigo.
To summarize
Preparing seedlings using Frigo technology is quite difficult - it undergoes special processing and is stored in certain conditions. This significantly increases the cost of seedlings. However, more and more farmers and gardeners give preference to such strawberries, as it can significantly increase productivity, and in greenhouses it can be grown throughout the year.