It is not surprising that strawberry is the most common berry crop that grows in our gardens. Its sweet, juicy and aromatic fruits give pleasure to children and adults in fresh, frozen form, with sugar and sour cream, in the form of preserves, juices or compotes.
Description of strawberry garden
Garden strawberry is a perennial plant, stunted, the height of the bush is not more than 25 centimeters. The leaves of large strawberry bushes are located on long petioles. White flowers have five leaves. Fruits are aromatic, with a pronounced sweet and sour taste.
Strawberry garden, the description of which is presented above, is truly an amazing berry. Despite all its sweetness, it reduces the amount of sugar in the blood when consumed. One glass of strawberry juice, drunk in the morning on an empty stomach, will help alleviate the manifestations of gallstone disease. And any pharmacy vitaminka can envy the list of useful substances and vitamins contained in this berry. It contains carotene, phosphorus, acids (malic and citric), sugar, manganese, potassium, iron salts.
Varieties of garden strawberries
Depending on the ripening period, strawberry varieties are divided into early, middle and late. The size of the fruit allows you to distinguish the following varieties:
- Small-fruited, whose fetal mass is less than five grams. A new and well-established variety in this category is Alexandra. The size of the fruit is one centimeter, which, however, is larger than that of other similar varieties.
- With the size of the fetus from five to fifteen grams. In this weight category, the Komsomolka, which has ribbed shiny berries, tolerates cold, but demanding care, has proven itself well. The Early Maherauha shows itself well in our latitudes. It has an average winter hardiness and good resistance to diseases. Here is a hundred to mention Vityaz, Zenit, Zenga-Zengana.
- Large-fruited strawberries have berries weighing fifteen grams or more. Of course, the beloved Gigantella and Maxim belong to this category. These powerful dense bushes with frosted leaves are difficult to confuse with other varieties. With sufficient watering, the fruits are really gigantic. A large harvest and subsequent smaller ones than the previous varieties, berries will please Festivalnaya, Relay, Cinderella.
Moreover, garden strawberry has many repairing varieties, that is, giving harvest several times a year.
By choosing several varieties that differ in terms of ripening, you can extend the fleeting period of fruiting strawberries. A careful approach to selection will ensure the duration of the harvest in six months.
Planting strawberries: choosing a place
Garden strawberries, planting and care in the spring of which should be thorough, prefers smooth, well-lit surfaces, slight deviation is possible. Steep slopes are not suitable, since from them in the winter the wind blows off all the snow, and in the summer it drains the soil. The hollows and lowlands are unsuitable due to the possible stagnation of water in them, which the strawberries will not tolerate. The groundwater level should not be higher than one meter underground. Moreover, in such places, cold air accumulates, damaging the flowers of wild strawberries during spring frosts.
Predecessors for wild strawberries: favorable and not very
When choosing a place and soil, attention should be paid to what grew in the selected area in previous years. Favorable predecessors for wild strawberries among vegetable crops will be garlic, onions, radishes, parsley, carrots. Do not plant strawberries after pumpkin and cruciferous crops, as they are susceptible to root rot.
Potatoes, flax, beets can provoke a nematode infection. Unsuitable predecessors will be sea buckthorn, raspberries, felt cherries, which are subject to verticillum wilting.
Suitable substrate for garden strawberries
Growing garden strawberries is possible in almost any substrate, but it should be well fertilized, not overdried and not too wet. Too acidic soil will require liming. It should be remembered that the root system of strawberry garden is demanding on oxygen nutrition, that is, the soil must be breathable, loose.
Preparing the soil for planting
In areas with closely spaced groundwater it is necessary to raise the beds to a height of 30-35 centimeters. On dry soil they can not be formed.
Planting strawberries in the garden in spring requires preliminary preparation of the substrate, which should be done in the fall. Soil preparation consists in digging it and applying fertilizers under the top layer. What should be done depends a lot on the substrate. You need to add compost or manure to the loamy soil. Sandy soil requires peat, sawdust, humus, soddy soil, clay and peat substrate - sand, humus, sawdust.
Dig the soil on one bayonet shovel. Excessive weed rhizomes and larvae found should be removed. Then the beds are leveled. A thin layer of sand is poured on top of the already prepared soil, which helps protect the planting from pests and rot.
Immediately before planting, the soil can be treated with copper sulfate solution and watered.
How is garden strawberry propagated?
Garden strawberries propagate, care in the spring of which cannot be ignored, in the garden in several ways:
- through seeds;
- division of bushes;
- mustache shoots.
Each of the methods has its own nuances. Let's talk about the most simple and acceptable for most varieties of strawberries. This is reproduction by dividing bushes.
You need to choose the most fruitful bushes, in this case, and from the shoots you can expect a good harvest. Seedlings of garden strawberries are taken from a bush aged two to three years. This must be done after the harvest. In this case, the sprouts closest to the mother plant should be chosen. They are considered the strongest. The uterine bush can be additionally fertilized with a growth stimulator.
Planting strawberry seedlings
A suitable planting material should have several leaves and roots five centimeters in length. To separate the seedlings from the uterine bush, it is better to choose a cloudy, cool day. If the weather is hot and dry, then the seedlings should be shaded from the sun with grass, covering material or, in extreme cases, newspapers.
To plant seedlings, dig a small hole. Pour water there, plant a bush before all the water goes into the ground. The roots must be straightened down.
When landing, it is important not to bury the heart in the ground. Strawberry is planted in spring. Care and top dressing she needs thorough. Especially if the soil around the bushes is not mulched. The optimal spring time for landing is March-April, autumn - August-September. Mulching makes it easier to care, increase the yield of strawberry, reduce the ripening time. Care for garden strawberries in early spring in the future is to rake the mulch from the garden in the aisle during sunny days. They do this in order to warm up the earth around the bush as soon as possible. During the summer, the layer of mulch is sprinkled, its thickness should be an average of 7-8 centimeters.
It will take two to three weeks for the bushes to take root. If the bush has taken root, then it must be removed and a new one should be planted in its place, otherwise it may cause the disease of the remaining bushes.
Post-planting care for wild strawberries
A generous harvest of strawberries can be obtained with good care. The first spring sun, melting snow, warm soil ... All plants awaken, including garden strawberries. Care in the spring, especially early, the bushes are a must. If you ignore this, then the harvest will not please.
In the first year of planting, care should be aimed at successful development and favorable wintering. In the case of well-fertilized soil, top dressing of the bushes will not be needed for several more years.
Strawberry garden, care in the spring of which will provide the gardener with a good harvest, requires the removal of dry and drooping leaves, as well as last year's peduncles. This should be done not with hands, but with garden shears or secateurs. It is better to remove old leaves after the appearance of young leaves.
If seedling is not planned, then the growing tendrils must be cut. Otherwise, the bushes lose their strength, and the beds are a neat look. Carefully loosen the soil between the rows. Otherwise, the yield may decrease.
At least two-year-old strawberries are fed with wood ash. Leaving in the spring with such fertilizer will protect the bushes from being defeated by bare slugs.
The roots exposed during the winter should be sprinkled with humus from leaves or mulch. Strawberry garden, reviews of which among gardeners are encouraging, requires good watering at a time when young foliage is actively growing, and after flowering, as a shallow root system can dry out very quickly.
To spray strawberries before flowering, you can use Bordeaux liquid, it will help protect the bushes from various fungal diseases and spotting.
Garden strawberry, planting and spring care for which are described in the article, has been growing in one place for no more than five years. After this period, the bed must be updated by planting young bushes on other beds. Have a good harvest!