Strawberry is a well-known horticultural culture with many varieties. One of them is First Grader. She is appreciated the taste of berries ripening earlier than other garden crops of this species. How to plant strawberries and care for them, read the article.
Strawberry First grader: grade description, photo
Reviews about this culture are good. Gardeners loved it for its high productivity, frost resistance, large and tasty fruits. This berry with a medium-late ripening period was bred by breeders at the end of the twentieth century. For crossing strawberries Torpedo and Fairy were used. The new variety has been successfully tested and has been approved for cultivation in Western Siberia.
The strawberry is first-grader a non-permanent culture. Variety characterization begins with a bush. He is squat, erect, not tall, with an average degree of development. The thickness of the numerous mustaches is medium, they have a dark green color. On the bush there are a lot of medium-sized leaves of weak-ribbed shape and dark green color. The top of the sheet plate is covered with a wax coating. The thick petiole is very pubescent. The flowers are distinguished by bisexual structure, rounded shape and cream color. Semi-spreading inflorescences contain flowers, the beauty of which is devoted to many reviews.
Strawberry First grader, the variety description and photos of which are presented in this article, reveals its best qualities when choosing the right place of growth. Prefers well-lit areas, but can grow in the shade. In this case, it bears fruit later, the berries are small and sour. It responds well to top dressing, cultivation, watering.
Fruit characterization
The first berries on the bushes are in the form of a barrel. In subsequent fruits, it is obtuse, the neck is absent. Strawberry First grader has berries, painted in bright red color with shine. On the surface are longitudinal grooves. The largest are the fruits of the first harvest. They weigh forty grams each berry.
The fruits of each subsequent harvest are smaller, their average weight reaches seventeen grams. They begin to fade only at the fourth or fifth gathering. But their color and shape are preserved. The density of the pulp is medium, it is red with yellow achenes and a sweet and sour taste. Sugar content is five times greater than acid.
Landing technology
The best grade for growing in the garden is Strawberry First Grader. Planting and caring for any variety of this crop is a troublesome business. But subject to the rules, all costs are offset by a high yield of delicious berries. Strawberries are planted by the tape method, that is, four rows of plants (this is one meter of area) are separated by a sixty centimeter wide corridor. It is needed so that during care there is the possibility of a free approach to the bushes. Between the rows there must be a shadow from the plants, otherwise on hot days leaves and berries can get burns from the rays of the sun. The distance between the bushes leave ten to twenty centimeters.
However, the most common is a one-line landing method. Plants are planted at a distance of fifteen to twenty centimeters in a row. The distance between the rows is seventy centimeters. For planting, a good seedling is chosen with three developed leaves and a growth point - the apical bud. Plants should not be too deep or, conversely, planted high. The growth point should be flush with the ground. Bushes immediately watered. In the future, watering is carried out once every two to three days, until the strawberries take root.
Autumn landing
In most cases, first grader strawberries are planted in the fall. Planting of seedlings begins in the second decade of September. The soil must be moist. The earth around the trunk is compacted for less subsidence. If this is not done, the roots may be on the surface, and the bush will die in winter. The plant will suffer the same fate if, on the contrary, the top of growth is covered with earth. Bushes immediately watered. This will make it possible to better compact the earth. The advantage of autumn planting is to get a good harvest of berries next summer.
Spring planting
First-grader strawberry planted at this time gives a harvest of berries only after a year, and even then if the plants suffer spring back frosts. Therefore, in the spring they try not to plant berries. But there are times when this is necessary. Planting beds should be prepared before winter.
To do this, humus or manure, superphosphate and potassium salts are applied to the soil in a proportion of one square meter of area: ten or five kilograms, one hundred and fifty grams. The earth is well dug up. If it was not possible to prepare the land in the fall, you need to fertilize the soil with humus and ash during spring planting, adding one or two handfuls to each hole. Planting technology is the same in spring and autumn.
Mustache Reproduction
Strawberry First grader, being a non-permanent variety, propagated by a mustache. During the fruiting period, large bushes with large berries should be selected and marked. When the harvest is over, rosettes from the intended bushes are planted in a pot and attached.
You need to leave a large mustache, and remove the rest. When four or six leaflets appear on the rosettes, the remaining mustache is cut off, and the rosettes are transplanted for continuous growth in the place reserved for them. Earth from the roots does not shake. After the transplant, the bushes should be watered with warm water.
Strawberry Growing
Gardeners, engaged in the cultivation of this culture, have the only goal - to get a good strawberry First grader. Features of cultivation in the first year after planting are to provide plants with comfortable growing conditions. In order for the root system to gain strength, you need to remove the peduncles and mustaches. For adult plants, care begins in early spring. First of all, the garden bed is cleaned of old mulch, and the stalks of blackened, old and dry leaves. Aisles should be loosened. Subsequent care is regular watering, weeding of beds from weeds, loosening of the soil, fertilizing and processing plants.
How to water?
In order not to harm the plant, everything needs to be done in moderation. With insufficient moisture, the roots dry out, and with excessive moisture they rot. The first watering after the winter cold occurs in late April. Per square meter, you need ten to twelve liters of warm water with a frequency of irrigation once every ten days. In the intense summer heat, watering increases up to two times a week. This procedure is carried out early in the morning until the sun has risen. Water should not fall on leaves and inflorescences.
Top dressing
Adult plants need additional nutrition. Early in the spring, after a cold winter, the soil is fertilized with nitroammophos. The solution is made: a tablespoon of the drug in a bucket of water. Instead of this solution, you can use another: mullein infusion in a proportion of 1:10.
During the formation of buds and fruit ripening, the plant needs potassium. Ash, nitrate or chicken droppings are introduced into the soil. When the strawberries give their fruits, the vegetative part should be cut and an aqueous nitroammophoska solution should be added to the soil, calculated as two tablespoons per bucket of water. Urea is fed in August: thirty grams per ten liters of water.
Pruning
During the entire vegetative period, you should monitor the condition of the leaves. If they turn yellow or dry, they must be removed. To do this, choose a cloudy day, it is better to start pruning early in the morning or late in the evening. Cutting off damaged leaves, you need to leave the stem up to ten centimeters in length. This will preserve the growth point from which shoots will begin to grow.
Advantages and disadvantages
Has many advantages strawberry First grader:
- Productivity is good, eighty centners of berries per hectare.
- Resistance to diseases and pests is high.
- The palatability is excellent.
- Winter hardiness is high. In severe frosts, the bushes do not freeze.
- Drought tolerance is good.
- Berries are transported without loss of quality.
This culture has many advantages, but there are also disadvantages:
- Uneven fruiting. Harvested up to seven times a season.
- During rains, the culture is susceptible to damage by gray rot.