In Russia, in almost every garden, there will certainly be a bed (and sometimes a whole meadow) with strawberries. The cultivation of this plant is a rather laborious process, but the result is a juicy, sweet, fragrant, beautiful berry. The strawberry variety Bogota, according to gardeners, produces very large and fragrant berries.
The only problem is that the fruits are uneven, so it’s difficult to stack and transport them. Based on this, the variety is recommended for cultivation on personal plots, as farms with such berries are too much trouble.
Definitions
In Russia, the berry, which is referred worldwide as pineapple strawberry ( Fragaria ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier), is called strawberry, sometimes even "Victoria" (from the first variety imported from England).
The plant was bred by cross-pollination of Chilean strawberries - Fragária chiloensis (brought from Chile by the French traveler Amede Francois Frezier in 1714) and virgin strawberries - Fragária virginiana (variety introduced to Europe in 1623, planted in Paris). The famous French botanist Antoine Nicolas Duchenne, who received Chilean strawberries, planted it just next to the Virgin strawberry, after a while received a new plant with the qualities inherent in two ancestors: winter hardiness (from Virginia) and large-fruited (from Chilean).
Historically used in Russia, the name strawberry has long been associated with all gardeners exclusively with pineapple strawberries ( Fragaria ananassa Duchesne ex Rozier), in England it is called Strawberry, in France - Fraise.
Strawberry Bogotá: variety description
Reviews of amateur gardeners about the cultivation of this plant vary, which is easily explained by the characteristics of the variety. Strawberry "bogota" freezes even in relatively warm winters in the Non-Black Earth region. The state registry grade is recommended for cultivation in the North Caucasus region.
The height of the bushes can be up to thirty centimeters, although the plants are quite compact. When cultivating, it should be borne in mind that dense, rather heavy berries can hang and lie down, so the compactness of the bush in this case does not provide a basis for a close planting. Plants should be placed in a row at a distance of not less than thirty centimeters from each other, or even more (in the case of well-fertilized moist soils). The distance between the rows should not be less than sixty centimeters. For amateur farms, you can recommend the chess method of planting: a cell measuring 40x40 centimeters, a bush in the center.
The large, rounded leaflets of the Bogotá strawberry are tilted at a slight angle to the central stem. Bright green wrinkled leaves are firm and leathery to the touch. Petioles of leaves are pubescent with soft hairs. Elastic and thick pedicels rarely grow above the leaves, remaining almost on a par with the bush.
Berries of Strawberry Bogotá: Description
Red fruits, called berries, strawberries ( pineapple strawberries ) have nothing but an overgrown receptacle. And the fruits, small brown nuts, are located on the surface of the berry itself.
With good, steadily hot weather and an established irrigation system, it is the size of the berries that attracts Bogotá in strawberries. Reviews gardeners paint a colorful picture of the taste, aroma and juiciness of the berry. When cut, the color of strawberries is pink almost to the core. The aroma is firmly strawberry, pronounced. The taste is gently sweet, with a slight acidity, the finish is long, not sugary.
The shape of the fruit is a comb-like truncated cone in the largest fruits, while in smaller berries, it is simply a slightly truncated cone.
Too different sizes of fruits distinguish berries of Strawberry Bogotá. The variety description would be incomplete without mentioning this feature. The weight of berries is on average from 13.5 to 15 grams, large specimens can reach 100-120 grams. When harvesting, it is this feature (too different sizes) that does not allow laying berries for normal transportation, although the fruits have very good elasticity and, accordingly, keeping quality.
Strawberry Bogotá is recommended for fresh consumption.
Features of cultivation and care
Strawberry "Bogotá" - one of the latest ripe varieties. This makes it possible for the berry to ripen in favorable hot conditions (in fact, this was intended when breeding). But dry weather can easily affect the size and juiciness of the fetus. Debugged watering is the main feature of growing the Bogota strawberry variety. Reviews of gardeners leave no doubt about the need to comply with the timing and volume of irrigation.
Caring for strawberries of the Bogotá variety is no more difficult than for everyone else. Loosening, weeding from weeds, top dressing and mulching (if necessary) before fruiting, loosening and trimming (not tearing) of whiskers - during fruiting, top dressing, loosening, removal of damaged (old) shoots - before wintering.
Winter preparations
In the warm winters of the North Caucasus region, shelter is not required for the Bogotá strawberries. When grown in the middle zone of the Russian Federation, when the temperature can drop for a long period below twenty-five degrees with low snow cover, the plant needs shelter. It is best to close the bushes before wintering with spruce branches or cut plants, but you need to cover them only after a steady (but small - to minus one or two degrees) temperature drop below zero. If you close the bushes in advance, the strawberries will begin to get wet and then rot. But even a shelter will not be able to give guarantees against freezing. Planting, followed by shelter in polycarbonate greenhouses, provides a fairly good result, which is usually used by owners of small plots, getting a large crop of Bogotá strawberries (large and heavy berries) almost a month earlier than from grown in natural conditions without shelter.
How to plant strawberries: general recommendations
A good crop of strawberries "Bogotá" will give in the presence of the sun for at least eight hours a day. It should be grown in well-lit places, forming ridges, ridges, and furrows. If the land allotted for the berry is dry, furrows can be formed without raising them high above the ground. If the soil holds moisture well or is close to groundwater, it is possible to form high beds with sides from boards or ridges.
In the absence of space on the site, you can try to grow Bogotá strawberries on a vertical ladder or pyramid.
For mulching, cut hay is ideal, mowed grass not more than ten centimeters high, pine litter, non-woven material, worse - a dark film. A layer of mulch inhibits moisture evaporation, creates a microclimate that maintains moisture and creates ideal conditions for plant nutrition.
Soil and Fertilizer Requirements
Strawberry berries can not be created on lands whose predecessors were tomatoes and potatoes - it is impossible to use such soil for four years.
From this point of view, sawdust cannot be used as mulch, since they change the acidity of the soil, which “Bogota” strawberries categorically cannot tolerate, however, like all other varieties.
Manure for strawberries is considered the best fertilizer, but it can be applied only in the early spring, when the plant is still almost asleep.
It is strictly forbidden to add mineral fertilizers before planting a mustache in August.