Flowers, parsley and onions have long been grown on window sills. However, not everyone knows that it is possible to grow strawberries at home. Strawberries are considered the queen of berries. It is a dietary product and has a wound healing, anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic and diuretic effect, regulates metabolism, improves blood consistency.
You can long list all the useful properties of strawberries that make this berry not only a real storehouse of vitamins and biologically active substances needed by a person, but also a favorite treat of children and adults. Unfortunately, strawberries can only be sold on sale from May to June, since in our country the “strawberry business” is only in its infancy, strawberries are still grown only in open ground, while in other countries, for example, Holland, It has long been grown all year round in greenhouses and greenhouses, many practice growing strawberries at home.
The method of strawberry-free cultivation was developed back in the days of the Soviet Union and was kept in strict confidence, and then went to the West. Today, many Russians are already trying to grow strawberries at home. For this, any room is suitable: a veranda, a free room, a garage or a barn. The main thing is to be able to withstand the temperature regime during the year.
Strawberries at home are grown in plastic bags, which can be bought in a store or cooked from a plastic film better than white and 0.2 mm thick. The diameter of the bags should be 16 centimeters, and the height - two meters. The bags can be of other sizes, the main thing is that they should have a small diameter - this will make it possible to use the area more rationally, that is, to install a larger number of bags on the same area.
To grow strawberries at home, you need to fill the bags with a special substrate - a mixture of peat and perlite, an alternative is a mixture of earth and fertilizers. But it is best to take peat, humus, sawdust, soddy ground and sand in equal parts to prepare the soil mixture. All components must be thoroughly mixed and filled in sealed bags.
Along the bags you need to make cuts - planting holes in which strawberry bushes are planted. The incisions must be made in a checkerboard pattern in 4 vertical rows at a distance of 25 centimeters from each other. Bags are installed on the floor in rows. If the height of the room allows, then strawberries at home can be grown in two levels, that is, the upper ones are suspended above the lower bags, in which the seedlings are planted according to the same pattern. For one square meter on each tier, no more than three bags can be installed.
To feed the plants, ordinary droppers will be needed - three for each bag, which are distributed in the upper, middle and lower parts. All droppers are connected to a common distribution pipe. A bag per day will require about two liters of nutrient. During the flowering period, strawberries produce artificial pollination in one of two ways: manually, using a brush and using a household fan. The second method is used on large areas.
Growing strawberries at home requires good lighting. In order for the light to be evenly distributed over the entire surface of the plant, it is better to place fluorescent lamps horizontally, although a different arrangement is possible. The plantation needs to be illuminated 14 hours a day, and to reduce the cost of electricity, sheets of tin, aluminum foil or just white paper are attached to reflect the light along the walls.
Growing strawberries at home in the future may become a promising business. And you can start today.