We harvested strawberries, what to do next. How to care for strawberries after harvest: watering, pruning, top dressing

30.08.2017 12 142

Care for strawberries after harvest - what not to forget to do ?!

The harvest of strawberries (garden strawberries) directly depends on your diligence and how fully you follow the recommendations when caring for it. Often, gardeners ignore the maintenance of the berry after fruiting, which is a mistake.

Many inexperienced gardeners believe that after fruiting, garden strawberries do not need care, and they can be "preserved" until the next season. However, with this approach, one should not be surprised that next year there is no harvest or it is completely scarce. After all, preparation for a new stage of fruiting begins immediately after picking strawberries and continues most season. In this article you will find the most popular tips for how to care for strawberries after harvest.

strawberry care in july

An important component of the July strawberry care is mustache trimming. The fact is that strawberry bushes, which are 3-5 years old, after fruiting actively grow mustaches and spend on it a large number of nutrients. Therefore, they are removed with secateurs to facilitate the development of the plant.

In no case do not cut off the mustache, as this can easily damage the strawberry bush, and the plant will spend a lot of energy on recovery.

Before removing parts of the strawberry bush, it should feed. For 1 sq.m, add a mixture of superphosphate (40-60 g), ammonium nitrate(20-30 g) and potassium chloride (15-20 g). loosen soil between rows to a depth of 10 cm and next to strawberry bushes.

Oxygen for the roots is no less important than water and top dressing, so regularly loosen the soil near the strawberry bushes

Healthy strawberries that will enter the phase active growth after 5-7 days, it should be fed with a mixture of nitrophoska (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water) and wood ash (1 cup). For young plants of the first year of fruiting, spend 1 liter of the solution, and for those that are older - 1.5-2 liters.

Closer to mid-July, strawberries should be fed fresh chicken manure . It is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:15-20. Plants are watered from a watering can, trying not to fall on the leaves. 10 liters of solution is enough for 6-8 bushes of adult strawberries and 20-25 young bushes. Fertilizer should be applied after rain or a couple of hours after watering.

In a timely manner pull out the weeds removing them after watering and rain. Also regularly loosen the soil to saturate the root system with oxygen.

Caring for strawberries in August

Without knowing, how to care for strawberries in august, you risk losing your crop next year. The last summer month is often dry and hot. Therefore, it is important to carry out watering at least 2 times a week. The plants themselves "signals" the need for watering - the bushes droop, and the foliage dries up.

You can water strawberries both by sprinkling and under the root - the sun is no longer so aggressive, and there will be no burn on the leaves

If the leaves continue to dry out, become stained, weaken, they should be carefully cutting down and leave only 3-4 healthy leaves for the improvement of the "green mass". The same goes for mustache, which are removed if they are still growing, or if you forgot to do it in July.

Plants can feed with a weak solution of mullein(1:10) or bird droppings(1:20) and loosen the soil. One bucket of 10 liters should be enough for 10-12 bushes. Around the beds, you can form earthen "sides" up to 15 cm high and fill them with water to the top.

And it is also in August that it is recommended to plant new strawberry bushes on the site. It is best to do this in the evening or on a cloudy day. Seedlings should have three true leaves and a developed root system. It is planted in a pre-prepared wet hole.

September strawberry care

Autumn strawberry care differs from summer activities slightly. However, they should not be neglected either.

Strawberries of some varieties continue to form flowers even in September. The berries on them will not ripen before the onset of cold weather, therefore such "single" inflorescence follows cut off. The same applies to mustache strawberries.

Removing inflorescences from varietal strawberries in the fall will help protect them from anthracnose and white spot

Even if the forecasts promise mild winter, feed the bushes. Great for this Ammophos(the contents are added at the rate of 30 g per 1 sq.m). For "warming" they also bring in rotted chicken manure, diluted in water in a ratio of 1:15. Under each bush pour 1-1.5 liters of the composition. Sometimes they use cow dung, diluted in water in a ratio of 1:10 with the addition of 1 cup of ash. Strawberries are abundantly watered with the resulting composition at the rate of 1.5-2 liters per bush.

For the last time before winter, inspect the strawberry bushes and reject diseased and affected specimens, as well as remove excess whiskers and withered leaves. Don't throw away the "bad" plants, but put them in the compost heap.

Now you know, how to care for strawberries in september. Armed with this information, next year you are guaranteed to get a bountiful harvest.

Caring for strawberries after pruning leaves

Care for strawberries open ground implies not only the removal of mustaches and inflorescences, but also leaves. However, you do not need to "bare" the plant completely, because by picking healthy leaves, you reduce the likelihood of the formation of peduncles and fruits, reduce yields and doom strawberries to difficulties during the wintering period. First of all, remove dry and withered leaves affected by strawberry mites. If the fruit-bearing plant is affected almost entirely, then it is easier to cut it with a pruner just above the growth point and burn the remains.

If you need seedlings for propagation, then you should not remove the mustache, you need to give them the opportunity to take root and grow a strong outlet

After cutting loosen the ground and water it. Treat the bushes with a weak solution potassium permanganate and sprinkle ash. To provide good growth kidneys, feed the strawberries universal fertilizer at the rate of 10 g per 10 liters of water. Also suitable ammonium nitrate and nitrogen fertilizers(use according to instructions).

Toward the end of September, strawberry bushes can be overlaid straw to protect them from coming frosts. In the aisle, spread the freshly cut grass- it will be the first spring fertilizer.

Caring for remontant strawberries

From mid-September, start caring for the fruiting bushes. Loosen the soil to hide the root system and protect it from the cold. As a rule, at this time, the plants are covered with a "blanket" of cut green manure or mulch the soil with straw, hay, fallen leaves and mowed weeds. Remove the remaining flower stalks so that they do not weaken the plants, but withered cut the leaves after the first frost.

As you can see, caring for garden strawberries after fruiting is easy. Just enough to do necessary complex standard events, and grateful plants will give you a bountiful harvest.

Care for strawberries after harvest

Strawberries need to be cared for all year round. Immediately after picking berries, plantings need Special attention. Proper care during this period leads to an increase in fruiting by 30%. Self-grown berries with proper planting care are noticeably different from store-bought ones: they are larger and more fragrant.

Caring for strawberries after harvesting in July

July is the time for the growth of leaves, the formation of horns, the development of mustaches, and the laying of buds.

Source: Depositphotos

Strawberries require gentle care after harvest

What do we have to do:

1. Trim the whiskers so that the plant does not waste energy on their growth.
2. Remove dried, yellowed leaves.
3. Remove old mulch.
4. Weed the ridge.
5. Enter top dressing with minerals - per 1 sq. m 30 g of fertilizer deep into 6 cm.
6. Loosen the soil 10 cm deep, spud the bushes.

For trimming, use sharp scissors or secateurs. Do not cut off leaves and mustaches - harm the plant. Remove old, dry, reddened, twisted young leaves immediately, otherwise pests will appear and multiply. To prevent the appearance of a tick, treat the plant with acaricidal agents.

Yellow leaves, thick short petioles - a sign of infection with nematodes. Dig up the plant, treat with boiling water, remove from the site.

For fertilizer, use humus, scatter it over the surface of the soil. Its quality will improve, fertility will increase.

dry hot weather water the beds until the end of the season, 1 bucket per 1 sq. m.

Cover the soil with grass, straw, peat mulch.

How to care for strawberries in August

For a fruitful subsequent year, take proper care of the plant in late summer.

What to do in August:

1. Cut off old leaves.
2. Change your mustache. Stepping back 10 cm from the base of the bush, cut off the antennae. There will be new foliage, horns. Plant strong shoots with new rosettes, fresh roots to form new bushes, and remove weak ones. After harvesting, leave a strong mustache from which a new plant will emerge. This procedure is carried out once every 3 years.
3. Prepare strawberries for winter. For prevention from pests, stains and diseases with a fungus, spray it with "Karbofos", "Azotsen", lime solution, blue vitriol. Feed the plant with humus, cover the surface with mulch to increase frost resistance and the possibility of bud formation.

Strawberries need constant care, especially after picking the berries. Plants are worn, branched, prone to disease. Careful care will help increase the yield, improve the quality of the berries.

If you think that garden strawberries (strawberries) can be left alone after fruiting, then you are deeply mistaken. Many people wonder when to prune strawberries. Just after the harvest garden strawberries and you need to pay maximum attention, since it depends on your actions during this period how juicy, tasty and sweet the berries will be next year. The main thing is to make a thorough and complete processing of strawberry plants. And if you do everything right, then you are guaranteed an increase in yield next season (it can range from 35% to 40%, which is not bad at all). And it is necessary to start taking care of the future harvest when it is already necessary to cut the strawberries after harvesting immediately.

Caring for strawberries after harvest

In July, you harvested a wonderful harvest of berries, fully enjoyed their taste and made preparations for the winter: now you need to think about how to “thank” the strawberries so that they regain their strength and stock up on new ones. To make this happen, we do the following:

• we remove dry foliage and the old mulching mass from the beds: after all, those pests and pathogens are located in it various diseases, which are so detrimental to plants;
• weed out weeds;
• trim the mustache and old leaves;
• we dig up bushes with a nematode and mercilessly destroy them (so that the disease does not spread further);
• we loosen the soil not only in the beds, but also in the aisles;
• water (as needed, that is, only when there is no rain for a long time);
• we carry out treatment from diseases and pests;
• we fully feed the plants;
• we mulch the soil (for example, with peat).

On a note! It is not necessary to cut off or mow all the foliage from strawberry bushes: you can overdo it. Only unnecessary (that is, already yellowed and flawed) foliage is subject to removal.

And now let's dwell on each stage in more detail.

The crop is harvested: we prune strawberry plants

Some people are hesitant to trim the strawberries, maybe "it will do." There can be only one answer: of course, it is necessary. After the crop is harvested, without fail we weed the beds, removing withered foliage and all weeds. We burn the cut leaves immediately and in no case send them to the compost. It is also not worth arranging a layer of mulch from them. The thing is that pests can remain on the leaves, and they themselves can be infected with diseases. When to prune strawberry leaves? In July, right after the final berry picking.

Important! We do not recommend making a complete (total) pruning of leaves from the bushes (we do it only if the strawberry plantation has undergone a fungal infection or pest infestation). It is necessary to cut off selectively (only old and drying leaf blades).

Young bushes, which are only one year old, should not be touched at all: let them grow and gain strength.

As for the mustache, it is imperative to remove them, because if this is not done, then all the forces of the bush will be directed to the growth of new mustaches and flower buds: but we do not need this, because then we will not wait for the berries. And we cut off the mustache as close as possible to the center of the outlet. But if you have plans to propagate strawberries, then you can easily do this by digging in some whiskers.

On a note! When to prune strawberries (i.e. remove their leaves and whiskers)? The procedure must be repeated several times per season.

Cut strawberries correctly

On how well you trim the bushes and choose the right moment for this (that is, when it will be most effective to cut strawberries after picking berries), its fertility in the next season depends. We remove old leaves as follows:

• we cut them or mow them at a height of 8-9 cm (to avoid damage to growth points and healthy leaf mass) using a garden knife, pruner or scissors;
• comb out the cut leaves with a rake.

Advice! In no case do not cut off the leaves with your hands: by pulling the leaf, you can pull out either the entire bush or part of it, thereby violating the root system. Such actions will lead to the fact that the damaged plant, having become ill, will recover for a long time and is unlikely to produce a large number of berries.

When is it best to prune strawberries after harvest? Most likely, this is 8-11 days (no less) after the completion of fruiting.

Reasons why you need to cut the leaves of strawberries without fail

At the end of the fruiting of strawberry bushes, the second wave of the formation of new leaves begins, when it is simply necessary to cut the leaves of strawberries. Otherwise, all the forces of the plant will be spent only on their growth, and not on laying new flower buds. As a result, next summer you will have a lot of green leaves and very few berries.

In addition, pests try to quickly crawl from old (“tasteless”) leaves to new (“tasty”) ones and settle there. Why not? In general, we repeat once again that the most suitable moment when it is worth starting to cut strawberries is the July days (immediately after fruiting).

We loosen the soil

Advice! At the end of loosening, you can please your "favorites" and spud them with fresh soil (about 20 mm high). Moreover, special attention should be paid to bushes in which the root system is bare (most often this applies to plants whose age is 2-3 years). But be careful: the soil should not fall into the center of the bush.

Processing strawberries does not hurt

Chemical treatment of plants during this period will not interfere in any way, since during the picking of berries it was completely excluded (by the way, weeding was not recommended either). Especially if, when processing strawberries, you notice that some leaves look like corrugated paper: this is a sure sign that he is not dozing, but is doing his dirty work. In this case, we treat the plants with anti-mite devices (“Thiovit Jet”, “Fitoverm”, “Aktellik” or colloidal sulfur diluted with water), strictly following the instructions on the packages.

If brown spots are found on the leaves, then, most likely, the plants picked up viral diseases. We process them with Bordeaux solution.

If the berries rot, then the plants are affected by gray rot: we spray the bushes with copper oxychloride (a popular fungicide).

Advice! Before chemical treatment bushes, we recommend removing all diseased, old and pest-infested leaves from the garden.

Upon detection of yellowish leaves (located in the central part of the plant), the thickness of the petioles of which has increased significantly, we conclude: the bushes are affected by the nematode. It is useless to take any measures in this case, sometimes even spraying does not help. It is easier to get rid of diseased plants.

Advice! After removing the affected bushes from the garden, we strongly recommend that you shed the soil with very steep boiling water.

But it is better, as you know, to prevent a disease than to cure. Therefore, as preventive measures the following can be suggested:

• constantly inspect the bushes and, if sick are found, immediately remove them;
• spray the bushes and soil in the garden with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

Feeding strawberries after harvest

Well-rotted compost (or biohumus) is excellent for feeding strawberry bushes, which is poured onto the beds directly to the roots. Ash, which is scattered between the bushes, can also serve as a good top dressing (based on the calculation: 2-liter jar per 1 m² of plantings).

Important! Due to the fact that wood ash does not combine well with fresh manure, you should not use them together.

Mineral top dressing, consisting of a mixture of ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium sulfate (in a ratio of 1: 3: 1), diluted in water, is also not forbidden.

Getting ready for winter

After all the work has been done, when it is no longer necessary to cut the strawberries, you can think about winter preparations. And they consist, first of all, in the fact that in October to bring or peat) under the plants with a layer of at least 50 mm. Then, in November, cover them with spruce branches or raspberry branches so that the snow cover does not put much pressure on the plants.

Finally

To get the maximum yields of strawberries (garden strawberries), it must be properly looked after. Agricultural technology can correct many mistakes made during planting, as well as reveal all the advantages of the variety. At improper care strawberries give small sour berries, and varietal differences are reduced to nothing.

These strawberries have been properly cared for.

Introduction to strawberries

Strawberry is perennial grown for berries. The plantation gives high yields for no more than 4 years, then the berries become smaller, their taste becomes sour. Although the bushes, with proper care, can live for more than 20 years, but there will be few yields from them.

Horns

There are about 30 sockets (horns) in a bush. The older the bush, the more more horns
it consists, their number depends on the care and variety. The growth of rosettes begins after the end of fruiting, every year they form higher and higher above the ground. Strong strawberry bushes have many horns, weak ones have few.

Peduncles appear from the tops of rosettes, respectively, than more luxuriant bush, topics more abundant flowering and fruiting. At the bottom, the rosettes fuse into one small stem, on which adventitious roots form. Powerful bushes lay many peduncles, bloom for a longer time and the yield from them is higher.

Structural diagram of a strawberry bush

Mustache

The strongest whiskers of the plant are produced in the first year of cultivation, every year the whisker formation becomes weaker, while the whiskers become smaller. By the fourth year, strawberries usually no longer grow mustaches. If someone gets vegetative shoots from my 5-6 year old plantation, this is because it was poorly looked after and there are bushes different ages, and whiskers produce young rooted plants.

Vegetative shoots begin to form when the day length is more than 12 hours and the temperature is above 15 °C. The laying of flower buds in rooted whiskers occurs after 2-3 months (therefore, when autumn planting very few buds are laid, they do not have time to mature and the yield for the next year is low).

Berries

Several factors influence the quality of strawberries.

1. Soil composition. Strawberries growing on poor soils have a less pronounced taste than when grown on fertile lands.
2. Weather. The more direct sun hits the bushes, the sweeter than berries. Strawberries growing under the crowns of trees, no matter how you take care of them, usually have sour berries.
3. Sort. Most European strawberry varieties are sweeter than domestic ones.

properties of berries.

• Picked unripe berries turn red during transportation and storage, but they will not be completely sweet.
• The taste characteristic of the berry variety is acquired only when fully ripe on the bush. For disclosure palatability completely reddened berries are not removed for 2-3 days. Such berries are unsuitable for storage or transportation, but their taste is fully manifested.
• To obtain maximum yields, the berries are picked unripe, as this stimulates the growth of the remaining ovaries. As a result, strawberry yield increases.
• Unripe berries of any variety have the same sweet and sour taste.

On a personal plot, where more is valued good taste, rather than adding 300-500 g to the crop, it is better to let the strawberries fully ripen and taste their true taste. But in wet weather, the berries should not be fully ripe, since it is precisely ripe berries affected by rot and mold in the first place.

Advantages and disadvantages of culture

The main advantages of strawberries.

• Strawberries can give good harvests when applying very small doses of fertilizers and easy care. The main thing is to fertilize the soil well before planting the crop.
• Annual harvests. Strawberries do not have a periodicity of fruiting, like some other berries (for example, raspberries).
• Quick first harvest.
• Very simple and easy breeding. A bush for a season is able to give several dozen mustaches, from which the best ones are selected and rooted. During the summer, you can plant a bed of the most valuable variety.
• The unpretentiousness of plants. Strawberries can grow under the crowns of young trees, in flower beds, among weeds (but yields in such thickets are reduced).

Culture deficiencies.

• The defeat of gray rot. Most modern varieties are quite resistant to this disease, but with improper care, you can lose up to a third of the crop. Domestic varieties are more resistant to the disease than European ones.
• Insufficient self-fertility of strawberries. For a good setting of berries, several different varieties are grown on the plot.
• Winter hardiness is the ability not only to endure negative temperatures, but also winter thaws while not being damaged. In domestic varieties, it is quite high, the loss of bushes in the spring is insignificant. In European varieties of strawberries, winter hardiness is lower, plants freeze slightly, and in severe winters they freeze completely. But some imported varieties grow successfully in our conditions; bushes cover for the winter, which somewhat reduces the loss of plants.
• Short fruiting period. The berry gives maximum yields for 3-4 years, then it must be completely renewed.

All the shortcomings of the berry can be overcome, the main thing is not to leave strawberries without proper care.

Features of growing and caring for strawberries

Main Components proper care are:

1. weeding;
2. loosening;
3. water regime;
4. top dressing.

Caring for strawberries is simple, but requires patience and consistency.

Weeding strawberry beds

Planting strawberries should always be free from weeds. This culture does not like competitors and, in case of overgrowing of the plot, produces small sour berries. Weeding is carried out as weeds grow, 6-8 times per season.

Along with the removal of weeds, the mustache is also cut off, especially in spring. If they are removed in time, then the plants will switch to flowering, otherwise all the strength of the bushes will go into mustache formation and there will be no berries.

loosening

Strawberries love loose, well-permeable soil. The roots should always have free access to air. Before flowering, the soil is loosened 3 times, and after picking berries - once every 2 weeks. If the weather is rainy and the earth is quickly compacted, then loosening is carried out more often. The soil is cultivated to a depth of 3-4 cm.

Starting from the second year, strawberry bushes are spudded, as adventitious roots appear on the stem. Hilling stimulates root formation, the growth of horns, the bushes become more magnificent, which gives an increase in yield.

How to water strawberries

The most demanding strawberries for moisture in June, when berries, mustaches and leaves grow at the same time. If the weather is dry, then the plot is watered every 2-3 days to a depth of 30 cm, and if possible, then every day.

Watering is best done between the rows, for which a furrow is made in the middle of the beds during planting, which will collect water when the snow melts and during irrigation. Plants are not watered under the root, since the root system of strawberries is sprawling and the bulk of the roots are located on the periphery of the aerial part of the plant.

After harvesting, the plants begin the second peak of root formation and foliage growth. At this time, the plot is watered 1-2 times a week. If there is no rain, then watering is carried out daily. Before flowering and after it, the bushes can be watered by sprinkling, strawberries are very fond of high humidity air.

Before flowering, strawberry plantations can be watered with "rain".

During flowering and fruiting, only row-spacings are watered, the water temperature should not be lower than 15 ° C. The rest of the time, the plants tolerate watering with cold water well.

In autumn, water-charging pre-winter watering is done. The earth is shed to a depth of 30-50 cm. Moist soil better protects strawberries from frost, so it is necessary that the plot goes wet under the snow.

During flowering and growth of ovaries in case of rainy weather, strawberries suffer from waterlogging. Signs of this are the appearance on the leaves and ovaries of large brown spots(without damaging them). Especially often, waterlogging of a strawberry plantation occurs on dense clay soils. The roots cannot provide normal nutrition to the aerial parts and the bushes begin to shed the largest berries.

When symptoms appear oxygen starvation carry out deep loosening (5-7 cm). If the berry plant experiences constant waterlogging, then the beds are raised to 15-20 cm. When there are no ovaries on strawberries, it does not suffer from waterlogging, but, on the contrary, gives lush foliage and powerful mustaches.

Feeding strawberries with folk remedies (ash, chicken droppings)

Strawberries with berries take out quite a lot of nutrients from the soil, these are not only the main nutrients (NPK), but also trace elements that need to be replenished. The lack of nutrition begins to appear in the second year of cultivation, in the first year the plants have enough fertilizer applied before planting.

Nutritional deficiencies never appear on any one element, so the plot is always brought complex fertilizers containing trace elements. Feed strawberries better organic fertilizers because they are softer and longer lasting.

In the first year of cultivation, if the soil has been properly prepared, fertilizers are not applied. In the second and subsequent years, the berry is fed 2 times per season. In the spring, ash is brought to the surface of the soil around the bushes, and then the earth is loosened shallowly. On infertile soils in May, along with ash, humates, humus or

It is impossible to bring ash along with manure, because it occurs chemical reaction, which releases large amounts of nitrogen, which can damage plants.

To prepare an herbal infusion, the herb is placed in plastic barrel, pour water and leave to ferment for 10-15 days. At the end of fermentation, 1 liter of infusion is diluted in 10 liters of water and the bushes are watered at the rate of 1 liter per plant.

After harvesting, strawberries begin the second wave of regrowth of roots and leaves, and at this time they need nitrogen. Feed with a solution of mullein or bird droppings (1 l / 10 l of water). bird droppings for strawberries it is preferable, now it is sold in garden stores. This is the most concentrated fertilizer in terms of nutrients.

In the case of excessive use of organic matter, overfeeding and fattening of strawberry bushes may occur. At correct application fertilizers, the size of leaves and berries increases, the yield increases.

Excess nitrogen is manifested in the appearance of large leaves and crushing of berries, the yield of plants is significantly reduced. Overfeeding occurs due to the frequent use of grass fertilizer or non-compliance with the application of other organic fertilizers.

To prevent the fattening of plants with organic matter (except for manure and compost), ash is introduced, which does not contain nitrogen and creates a predominance of potassium and phosphorus in the soil. Plants overfed with nitrogen do not tolerate winter well and are more affected by diseases and pests.

Underfeeding for strawberries (and not only for her) is better than overfeeding, since in this case the situation is easier to correct.

Is it necessary to feed strawberries with yeast, iodine, boric acid and ammonia

top dressing folk remedies(yeast, iodine, boric acid, ammonia) is highly undesirable for culture.

Firstly, it is a mono-fertilizer that does not provide plants with the entire set of microelements.

Secondly, the bushes can be easily overfed, (especially with ammonia), which will cause significant damage to the plantation.

Thirdly, iodine, boric acid and ammonia are volatile solutions that evaporate quickly, they must be immediately washed into the lower layers of the soil, which, when large area plots are impossible.

Fourth, yeast is an excellent protein food for animals, but does not contain any plant nutrients.

Strawberry plantation fertilizer should be systemic, fully provide plants necessary elements, and no experiments with top dressing are allowed.

Care of a strawberry plantation

Regular care is the basis high yield. Strawberries at proper agricultural practices in the first year can give up to 300 g large berries from the bush. On the garden plot you need to have four plots (beds) of strawberries: the first, second, third and fourth years of fruiting.

How to care for strawberry seedlings

When planting seedlings, no fertilizers are applied. The soil must be fertilized in advance. A freshly planted mustache is shaded from the sun, otherwise the seedlings wither, since the roots cannot yet make up for the loss of water, which is lost when it evaporates from the leaves. Wilting is not very dangerous for seedlings; when the evening coolness sets in, they will straighten out.

For shading, the mustache is covered with newspapers, a white cloth, or some grass is thrown over them. After 2-3 days, the shelter is removed, by this time the plants have already taken root and can independently extract water from the soil. In the first days, the planted mustache is well watered. In the future, the ground under the young bushes should always be wet. In the case of a warm and dry autumn, strawberries are watered once a week.

It is important to prevent weeds from overgrowing strawberries. If this is not done in the year of planting, then in the future the fight against them will become much more complicated. Weeds will grow through the bushes and it will not be possible to remove them without damaging the crop.

Young strong whiskers after rooting themselves begin to give whiskers, which must be removed, as they weaken the plant and interfere with its preparation for winter.

Preparing strawberry beds for winter

European varieties require special care when preparing the plot for winter, since they are less winter-hardy. In autumn, if the weather is dry, water-charging irrigation is carried out. Water well protects the rhizomes from freezing, conducting heat from below to the roots of plants.

It is better to warm strawberries for the winter.

For a better wintering, strawberries are insulated by laying fallen leaves and needles under the bushes and between the rows. They cover only bare ground, the plants themselves do not need to be covered, since they leave before winter with leaves, which in themselves are a heater.

The main thing in winter is to prevent freezing of the roots. If there is no insulation, then in the aisles and under the bushes they pour the earth with a layer of 3-4 cm.

Spring strawberry care

In the spring, after the snow melts, dry leaves are cut off from the bushes, the heater is removed from the bed (if it was used), weeded from the first weeds and loosened. Old bushes, which have a small lignified stem with adventitious roots, are additionally spud so that they are more powerful. In large plants better flowering and higher productivity.

Loosening is carried out to a depth of 2-3 cm, since the roots of strawberries are shallow. With this treatment, the earth warms up faster and the plants start to grow.

The main task in spring is to ensure that the soil warms up quickly so that the plants quickly grow foliage and begin flowering. With an early start of the growing season, flowering will occur in more moist soil. For the fastest warming up of the earth, you can put a black film between the rows.

Some gardeners, on the contrary, do not remove the insulation for a long time, fearing frost damage to strawberries. But, firstly, she is not afraid of frosts in the spring, and secondly, strawberries bear fruit from mid-June to mid-July (depending on the variety), and in May she needs time to prepare for flowering. The better it is prepared, the larger the berries will be.

Dry leaves should be removed in the spring so that the earth warms up faster.

Old dry leaves, along with last year's mustache, are removed, but young foliage does not need to be cut. Pruning green leaves in spring delays flowering by 2 weeks (until new ones grow), the plant spends a lot of energy on growing foliage, because of this, the berries become smaller.

In a dry warm spring, when the earth dries up quickly, watering is carried out. After the growth of young leaves, do spring top dressing.
If the plants are weakened after winter, grow poorly, they are sprayed with the Zircon or Epin growth stimulator.

What should be the care of strawberries after harvest

After fruiting, the spring leaves look yellow and spotty and are removed along with regrown mustaches and weeds. It is impossible to mow all the foliage, because the roots growing at this time require starch, which comes just from the leaves, if they are removed, this will slow down the preparation of strawberries for winter.

After harvesting, a second top dressing is necessarily carried out to replenish the batteries taken out with the berries.

In the second half of summer, mustaches begin to grow more actively in strawberries. In no case should they be allowed to take root. They compact plantings and weaken the bushes, which leads to a decrease in yield and taste of berries.

If the bushes are intended for fruiting, then all emerging mustaches are cut off from them. The plot is inspected every 4-5 days, since the whiskers appear until October, and the spears of the shoots that have just appeared are removed.

Strawberries have a balance between mustache formation and fruiting: if the plants are not allowed to form mustaches, then it enhances fruiting and vice versa, if they are not cut off, the yield is greatly reduced.

The plantation should always be clean of weeds, fertilized, the bushes should be trimmed with mustaches.

In the autumn, water-charging irrigation is carried out, if necessary, a heater is laid out between the rows.

Plantation care in the last year of cultivation

At spring top dressing you can give a little more nitrogen, the bushes will not have time to get fat, and the yield will not decrease from this. With dry soil, watering is carried out. Immediately after fruiting, the bed is dug up. This year you can plant on it early cabbage, which will have time to mature before the onset of cold weather (for this, increased doses of nitrogen were given).

Mulching strawberries

When caring for a plantation, mulching materials are used to protect berries from dirt and decay, to warm bushes in winter period and protection of the soil from premature heating in the thaw. and prevents the formation of soil crust after rains or watering.

The use of mulch when growing strawberries is The best way keeping the plot clean, which greatly facilitates its care. To prevent undesirable effects during its use, mulch is applied subject to certain conditions.

Sawdust, straw, dry moss, fallen leaves, needles are used as mulching materials. Their disadvantage is the binding of soil nitrogen, which causes nitrogen starvation of plants. Therefore, the mulch is applied in autumn as a heater between the rows, by spring the process of decay of fiber (of which it consists) will be completed and nitrogen binding will not occur.

In the spring, the insulation is removed to better warm the soil, then it is returned as a mulch, and a fresh portion of the material is added to it. When making mulching materials in the spring, they must be impregnated with a solution of humates, mullein or bird droppings.

To do this, they are either soaked in a barrel with a fertilizer solution (sawdust), or watered with these fertilizers very abundantly so that the mulch is completely saturated with the solution. Then the binding of soil nitrogen will not occur, and the plants will not experience nitrogen starvation.

Mulching strawberries with sawdust. Sawdust strongly acidifies the soil, watering them with urea as a nitrogen fertilizer increases acidification. This effect gives excellent results on leached chernozems. On the acidic soils this cannot be allowed. To prevent acidification of the soil, sawdust is first soaked in a barrel with humates or chicken manure, after which they become an excellent mulching material. Scattered on the beds with a layer of 6-10 cm. Sawdust is stronger than hay and straw inhibits the growth of weeds.

Straw as mulch.

Mulching with grass and straw. Hay and straw consist of almost the same fiber and bind soil nitrogen very strongly. They are brought in in the fall. When used as hay or straw as a mulch, add manure crumbs along with them in the spring or irrigate the freshly laid mulch nitrogen fertilizers(humates, mullein, herbal infusion). In this case, nitrogen fixation does not occur and the yield does not fall. They are laid out in row-spacing with a layer of 5-7 cm.

Leaf mulch. The foliage of deciduous trees is desirable to be introduced in the fall, laying out a layer of 15-20 cm between the rows. In winter, it will be a heater. During spring use, freshly spread leaves are irrigated with humates, mullein, or herbal infusion.

Mulching strawberries with needles. Pine and spruce bark and needles protect plants well from diseases, as they contain phytoncides. The material is taken only healthy trees, scatter in the aisles and under the bushes with a layer of 7-10 cm. Since this material strongly acidifies the soil, it is applied with manure crumbs.

Peat as mulch they do not use it on strawberries, since it has a number of significant drawbacks:

• strongly acidifies the soil;
• has a very high moisture capacity, which is why it is almost impossible to soak it with a nitrogen solution;
• in wet weather, it gets wet and interferes with the normal breathing of the roots;
• in winter it can become covered with an ice crust, which leads to the damping of plants.

Proper use of mulch not only helps to simplify the care of the plantation, but it itself is a good fertilizer.

Protecting berries from dirt

The berries lying on the ground are polluted by the ground, moreover, they are more affected by gray rot. So that the berries do not come into contact with the soil, you can make various supports for the bushes: from wire, plastic bottles, planks, films, special rings on legs are sold in stores. But all this is suitable for a small plot.

On a large plantation, plucked lower peripheral leaves are placed under green berries. If the bush is healthy, red berries may lie on the ground for some time without being damaged.

When growing strawberries, it is not necessary to maintain a plantation with a more productive fruiting period. The berry picker should move around the site in frequent rotation.

Other useful articles about growing strawberries:

1. What pests can threaten your plantation and how to deal with them effectively.
Are you going to try strawberries? Then this is the very first article you need to read.
2. . In order for strawberries to grow large, they will have to be carefully looked after.