Ripe berries of garden strawberries are a favorite treat for children and adults. That's just in order to harvest a decent harvest from berry bushes, you have to work hard. The first step will be planting saplings and caring for young plants.
Remember that only weeds grow on their own. Strawberry seedlings for successful growth require care, and the bushes that leave the trees need timely treatment.
Table of contents
The timing of planting strawberries
There is no strict time limit on planting strawberries. You can perform this operation both in spring and in autumn. If desired, individual bushes are planted in the summer.
Spring landing seedlings are carried out from the end of February - mid-March to the beginning of May, when the soil is saturated with moisture from the melted snow cover. For each region, their time. If you miss the moment, the earth will dry up. Young bush will be difficult to take root, the growth rate will slow down.
Summer landing and cultivation is carried out, as a rule, dropping, purchased seedlings into the holes that have become empty after the destruction of the bushes. By June-July on sale will be hardened seedlings of berry bushes.
The main condition will be planting seedlings in the eveningafter rain or in cloudy weather. Requires abundant (moderate) watering, temporary protection from direct sunlight.
Autumn start from mid-end of August. You should not over-tighten with this procedure, as the mustache should have time to root well before hibernating in the garden. For the climatic zone of the middle zone, it will be optimal to complete the planting until the middle of the second decade of September.
The benefits of growing in spring and autumn
Each gardener will have to decide on the right time of year for planting strawberry seedlings independently. Both methods are used in the cultivation of garden berries and have their own advantages and disadvantages.
When landing in spring:
- The shrubs have time to root and grow well over the summer, which significantly increases their chances of successfully overwintering and giving a bountiful harvest for the next year;
- Ridge under the spring cook in the fall;
- When planting early seedlings hiding or tempering requiredlong-term care;
- To the huge list of spring works added planting berries.
When planting in the fall:
- You can use your own planting material, taken from the mother plants;
- Berries on the bushes will appear next summer;
- Ergonomic use of the site. In the summer, you can grow vegetables in future strawberry ridges and plant strawberries after harvesting.
Important rules when disembarking
When planting young bushes berry it is necessary to observe the following rules:
- Never post strawberry planting after plants of the family of melon (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, etc.);
- Change the location of the strawberry plantation on the site at least every 3-4 years. In the soil accumulate pests and diseases characteristic of this garden culture;
- Do not plant the plants close to each other. Reflect on the quality of the crop;
- To carry out all the arrangements for the preparation of a place for seedlings (fertilizer, disinfection, moistening, loosening, weeding);
- Responsibly consider the choice of quality seedlings and the right place for their planting.
Care after planting and harvesting
In the first days after the landing of a young plant to a permanent place, it is necessary water regularly and care properly. Wet soil around the bush contributes to the rapid formation of new roots.
It is important not to overdo it with watering, since an excess of moisture in the area can provoke root rot and the spread of various diseases: gray and root rot,powdery mildew, etc.
Due to the layer of mulch, many parasites whose larvae develop near the surface of the earth cannot lay in the upper layers of the soil. It is desirable to carry out several times a year (3-4 times).
Care of autumn saplings and seed-bearing bushes is quite simple. Produced by weeding, loosening the soil around the bush.
It is necessary to remove all old foliage (pruned). For the winter, the bushes are covered with a layer of fallen leaves or other improvised means.
In the spring strawberries need more attention:
- Sanitary treatment of plants (Fitosporin, Fitotsid).
- With young plants remove all whiskers and flower stalks. Cut off last year's leaves;
- In several stages, spend complex feeding plants with mineral and organic fertilizers (compost, humus).
How to plant
Berry is grown both in the open and in the protected ground (greenhouses, greenhouses).
There are a lot of ways to plant strawberries:
- The easiest, but not the most popular way - carpet. Strawberry sprouts creep and rooted unhindered in the entire area allocated for it. The harvest from such plantations is low, and the berries themselves are rather small;
- The most common way is landing in rows. Plants are planted in one (several rows) with a distance of 15-20 cm between the bushes. The next row is planted in front of not less than 30-40 cm from the first;
- Planting individual bushes provides that the distance between plants will be at least half a meter. Timely removal of all creeping shoots will eliminate the possibility of weaving the berries.
- Gnezdovy the method looks like a uterine plant surrounded by several ingrained whiskers (up to 5-6).
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- Carpet landing
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- Landing in rows
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- Separate bushes
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- Nest method
Seedlings preparation
They can be purchased in the nursery, or grow independently, rooting a mustache with well-established uterine bushes.
Young plants should be healthy:
- leaves (4-5) smooth, shiny no damage and stains;
- root neck in diameter not less than 6-7 mm;
- developed root system of about 10 cm (longer roots can be pruned).
Before planting, seedlings with an open root system are pickled in 10% manganese solution. Wash with water. Sprinkle with growth promoters (soaked in the root) and put on a permanent place.
Location selection
The best option for a strawberry ridge will be sunny plot of your garden, protected from the wind.
The most favorable are the slopes with a slight slope of 2-3 degrees on the south or south-west side of the garden. For a berry with a well-developed root system, groundwater poses a serious threat, coming close to the surface (less than 60 cm).
Choosing a plot for strawberries do not forget the nuances of crop rotation. The culture is not too demanding on the soil, but prefers light and fertile substrates with low acidity. The plant is responsive to the application of organic fertilizers and fertilizing to the soil.
Landing
Plot under the ridge of berry bushes previously dug up, choosing all the roots of weeds.On heavy soils with dense ground before digging, they are poured with baking powder (sand, sawdust). Fertilize ridges with humus, compost, ash, azofoskoy.
Planting seedlings produced in the hole with a diameter 15-20 cm and deep up to 10 cm. If the soil in the garden has not been prepared in advance, you should put the nutrient mixture immediately in the planting hole.
The well is spilled with a solution of manganese. The seedling is lowered into the hole, straightening the roots (with an open root system), and sprinkled with earth. Watered, slightly compacting the soil around the plant, and mulch sawdust.
Otherwise, the plant will die:
- at high position - will freeze in winter;
- with strong penetration in the ground - it will get wet and rot.
It is difficult to overestimate the impact of activities on planting young plants and the subsequent care of them. It is at these crucial stages in the life of the berry bush and laying the foundation for a bountiful harvest.
The taste and size of berries, ripening terms are determined by the characteristics of cultivated varieties, the rest depends on your diligence. Be sure that a bountiful harvest of fragrant berries will more than reward all gardener's work.