All varieties, which were called "strawberry remontant," have one excellent feature: they can be harvested several times during the growing season, which can stretch from early July to autumn. On average, three waves of harvest fall during this time. And most of the berries you can get during the second wave of fruiting (up to 70% of the total).
Strawberry Albion: Description
Few strawberries endure transportation as well as Albion. This quality makes the variety one of the most popular for sale. No one will buy a berry if it "flows" and has a non-commodity appearance. The strawberry variety Albion tolerates hot, arid weather, so it is found everywhere in the south of Russia. The leaves of the plant are three-fingered, wide. Peduncles grow on powerful stems (bushes 35-45 cm high), so the berry does not creep on the ground and is out of reach of slugs, wet soil and other "charms" that spoil strawberries. Strawberry Albion remontant has very large dark red berries. The pulp is dense, this can be guessed by how well this strawberry tolerates transport. The taste is sweet, the aroma is incomparable. This variety was bred by crossbreeding in 2006.
Garden strawberry Albion is immune to many diseases that affect other varieties of whole plantations. Blight, gray rot, rot of the core, anthracosis (white spots on the leaves) - all these diseases are not terrible for this variety. Strawberry Albion reviews collected the most positive.
Summer seating
The only way to get a crop from remontant strawberries all year round is to constantly renew (plant) their plantations (beds). The best time for this is the last week of July - the first week of August. Just after the first wave of fruiting.
From the uterine plants you need to take the best, already rooted mustache. After planting on young plants, peduncles may appear. It is necessary to pluck them mercilessly, you can not let the strawberries tie berries, otherwise she will not have time to gain strength over the winter. At the end of August, you need to repeat the seating and also pick off the peduncles. After frosts, old bushes should be removed. It is important to calculate how many bushes you will have planted in the first place, and which - in the second, so that you do not lose the next year.
Spring planting
The seedlings you buy should have a fibrous root system (the main root is not clearly identified, a large number of subordinate). The diameter of the neck (the core from which the stem grows) should be at least 6 mm. Before planting, cut the roots to 10 cm in length, so you will intensify the growth of new shoots. Plant better overwintered processes - they are more enduring. The earth must be loose and moist. The holes should be placed at a distance of 25-30 cm, and the distance between adjacent rows should not be less than 60 cm. Make sure that the soil does not cover the basal neck. You can plant it in the spring, immediately after frost, then you will get the crop this year, but you can also harvest in the fall - and then the strawberry Albion remontant, which has gained strength for six months, will please you with a large crop.
The soil
All gardeners are well aware of how important the soil on which the planted plant is. Strawberry Albion is no exception and also makes demands on its habitat. It is best planted on light, fertile soils with neutral acidity. If the soil on your site is acidic, then reduce the acidity with lime. Do not plant strawberries in the lowlands: little sun and high humidity are not the best conditions for this variety. In lowlands, groundwater can come to the surface and your berry will be oversaturated with water. If you plant the berry on clay soil, then the strawberries will grow small, but sweet (this is typical for many varieties, not only for Albion). If there is a lot of sand in the soil, then the number of berries can be simply overwhelming, but, as you know, sweets are not enough for everything. If the soil is not fertile enough, it is best to fertilize it with humus and semi-mature manure in the fall.
Albion on the crest
If you intend to sell strawberries, then you can not do without new and not very new technologies. One of these is ridge cultivation using agrofibre. A comb is the soil from which trapezium is formed using technology. The height of the trapezoid is 15-35 cm. This shape ensures that excess water will drain from the bed. Consider an irrigation system, most likely it will be drip irrigation. Mulch the entire bed with straw or wood shavings. Top with agrofiber. Agrofibre is a dense black film that retains heat and prevents moisture from evaporating. Plant strawberries in small cross-shaped incisions in the film. Weeds under a layer of mulch and film die without the sun and make the soil even more fertile. Such beds require watering only in the hottest weather. The life of such a film (agrofibre) is about 3-4 years, you just need to fill it with leaves for the winter.
Strawberry Care
Until the young bushes take root, they don’t need any special care, just enough watering on time.
You can treat the bushes with some kind of remedy for May beetle larvae in early May . "Nemabakt", "Antichrush", "Zemlin" - domestic chemistry offers a wide selection of insecticides. These larvae are a real scourge of strawberry plantations. They settle in the roots of plants and devour them. You will immediately find out which of the bushes is struck - next to its green counterparts, it will look withered and dead. And if you dig a bush, then in the roots you will find a nest of Maybug larvae.
It is desirable to water it with settled water from the tank (it has already warmed up). Very cold water, for example immediately from a well, harms plants. It is better to transfer the watering to the early morning or evening. About once a month, strawberries can be fed with manure, bird droppings, mineral fertilizers or infusion of crushed nettle and yarrow. Moreover, it is better to prepare litter and manure in advance, fill it with water and let it brew for at least a week. Bird droppings should be dissolved in water in a proportion of 1:15, and cow manure in a proportion of 1:10.
It is necessary to loosen carefully, until the mustache does not grow much. If you do not want to mess with weeds, it is better to mulch the soil. The material for mulching can be different: straw, hay, sawdust, forest substrate - all this will do. Mulch beds will require 2-3 times less water for irrigation. The berry will not lie on the ground (the top layer of mulch dries quickly).
It is required to clean strawberries from overgrown mustache in a timely manner. Leave, except for the uterine (main) bushes, only rooted mustaches, which you plan to use as summer seedlings.
Diseases and Pests
Strawberry care includes pest and disease control. Although Albion is a fairly stable culture, there are several diseases dangerous to it. Strawberries Albion can be infected by brown spotting from other varieties. Therefore, for treatment and prevention, spraying is carried out with an iodine solution. Strawberry mites and aphids are the main pests of strawberries of this variety. Spraying karbofos or treatment with a 70% sulfur solution (before flowering and again after the formation of berries) will help from a tick. In the fight against aphids, your helpers are soap and ash-soap sprayings. Some spray Coca-Cola and say that aphids die in colonies from this pop. If folk remedies do not give an effect, then the preparations "Iskra", "Intavir", "Thunder-2" can help you. During the fruiting period, it is better not to spray strawberries at all, but simply to rinse the aphids with a stream of water.
You can prophylactically treat the bush with phytosporin, but this is not necessary, as mentioned above, the strawberry Albion is resistant to late blight.
Autumn and winter preparations
Back in late August, we begin to cut flower stalks with wild strawberries planted in summer. So we leave her the opportunity to gain strength before the winter. If your strawberry Albion was mulched, then the mulch will have to be removed in order to thin out the strawberry bushes well. Leaves and mustaches are not cut off immediately, but before the onset of frost. We check the holes: all roots must be underground, the soil is loosened and covered with a layer of fallen leaves. On top of the beds it is better to cover with any film.
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