What to do when the strawberry is harvested. When to prune strawberry leaves after harvest (is it necessary at all?)

Probably, you will not find such a gardener who would not grow strawberries in his garden. After all, both children and adults love her. Fragrant juicy berries are not only tasty, but also very healthy, as they are rich in vitamins and minerals.

That is why everyone who grows it wants to get a rich harvest. But to achieve this, strawberries need to be looked after not only when they bloom and bear fruit. Post-harvest strawberry care is essential. This is directly related to the laying of future berries, therefore experienced gardeners pay special attention to strawberries during this period.

The berries are harvested - why do you need care now?

Some people think that regular autumn harvesting is enough for strawberries. But the fact is that strawberries stop bearing fruit very early, and there is still a lot of time left until autumn. Over the summer, the beds can become so overgrown with weeds that autumn harvesting will be very difficult, therefore, care for the strawberries after harvest is required.

In addition, the bushes that have finished fruiting must again replenish their strength, accumulating them for the next season, which will be almost impossible to do in the vicinity of the weeds.

Among other things, it is at this time that strawberries begin to form young leaves and again lay flower buds. Numerous mustaches appear, which also weaken the mother bush if they are not cut off in time. Against the background of this process, the old foliage is slowly dying off, interfering with the normal development of the new one.

All these factors already indicate that post-harvest strawberry care is necessary. But that's not all.

Various pests and pathogens that have accumulated over the season on old leaves are trying to move to new young leaves. And they may be quite enough. After all, everyone knows that during fruiting, strawberries are not recommended to be weeded, much less treated with chemicals.

So, in addition to the accumulated dying old leaves, it is required to loosen the aisles. Since the roots of strawberries are already shallow, the resulting adventitious roots may even end up on the surface of dense soil. And this is just at the moment when strawberries need enhanced nutrition.

In fact, it turns out that it is still far from the feeding, carried out in the fall, there are not enough nutrients in the soil, and the strawberries remain on a starvation diet. But, as already mentioned, the better it gets stronger and sets more flower buds, the more berries can be harvested next year. Here are some more reasons why you need to process strawberries after harvest.

What activities should be done with strawberries after harvest?

Based on the foregoing, it becomes necessary to carry out complex measures, of which the proper care of plants will consist.

It is as follows:

pruning old leaves and removing whiskers;
weed control and soil loosening;
timely watering;
treatment against pests and diseases;
top dressing.

Pruning old leaves or mowing?

Many people ask the question whether strawberries are mowed after harvest. In most cases, yes. Because thanks to this, strawberries can be freed from old leaves and open the way for new ones, which just during this period are growing. Only this must be done very carefully.

This procedure should be started when at least a week has passed after picking strawberries. The leaves are mowed at a height of 7‒8 cm so as not to damage the growth points, after which they are removed with a rake.

Within a few days, the strawberry bushes will begin to be covered with young leaves, and soon the garden will take on its original appearance.

If you are not a supporter of mowing and are interested in when to trim strawberries after harvest, then you can also do this after 7-10 days.

Old leaves are pruned to the same height without affecting the growing point. Each bush is treated this way. This method is suitable when you need to trim the strawberries after harvest in a small area.

In addition to young leaves, strawberries begin to throw out a mustache in summer. If you want to propagate it, then some mustache can be dug in. The rest should be disposed of, since they take a lot of energy from the plants.

How to tidy up the beds?

After you've renewed your strawberries after harvest, what do you do next? Of course, tidy up the beds.

Destroy all the weeds that managed to occupy it during ripening, once again go through the rake, removing the remnants of the leaves, and you can start hilling each plant with a hoe. During this period, some of the bushes begin to protrude the roots, which leads to their drying out, and the plants cannot grow normally. This is why hilling is necessary. Just be careful not to sprinkle earth on the heart.

After that, it remains only to loosen the aisles well.

Watering strawberries

Caring for strawberries after harvest requires watering. Since the soil in the beds must be well moistened. It should be watered abundantly, but infrequently, given the weather conditions. To retain moisture, the soil must be mulched, for which peat is suitable. A crust must not be allowed to form after watering. Therefore, you need to loosen the soil around each bush and between the rows.

Spraying strawberries

The summer period, when the berries are picked, is the most best time to take care of plant health. Treatment of strawberries after harvest from diseases is carried out with various preparations.

Which of them to use depends on different plant diseases, determined by their appearance:

if damage to young leaves appears, then an earth mite is to blame. Spraying with colloidal sulfur, diluted water or such preparations as Fitoverm, Actellik and Titovit Jet helps to get rid of it;
the presence of brown spots on the leaves indicates viral diseases... In this case, they are treated with Bordeaux mixture;
if rotting of berries was observed, then the plants were struck by a fungus - gray rot. To eliminate it, you need to spray the bushes with a solution of a popular fungicide - copper oxychloride.

Processing strawberries after harvest is also about prevention.

First, the affected leaves must be removed immediately, carefully examining the bushes.

And secondly, manganese is a reliable assistant in this case. Dilute a weak solution and not only spray the bushes with it, but also water the soil in the garden.

Feeding strawberries

Not sure how to feed strawberries after harvest, and why do it? First of all, so that next year it will bear fruit well. Indeed, as mentioned above, it is at this time that flower buds are formed, which determine the next harvest.

Complex fertilizers produced specifically for strawberries, such as Rubin, Ryazanochka or Agricola, are perfect for summer feeding. They must be brought in according to the instructions, combining this procedure with watering and loosening the soil.

If you are interested in how to feed strawberries after harvesting, you can also use humus, wood ash or ammofoska for this purpose.

Preparing for winter

This business is simple, but obligatory, since the harvest of the next year will depend on this stage as well.

You have already figured out how much attention a strawberry needs after harvest, what to do with it during the summer. It remains to figure out how to prepare it for winter.

Don't be surprised, but you have already done some of this preparation. After all, the best protection against winter cold is healthy, overgrown leaves and the absence of pests. So it was not in vain that you tried all summer, putting the bushes in order, feeding and treating them with remedies for diseases, as well as removing weeds and loosening the beds.

Now you just have to mulch the plantings with sawdust or peat in October, making a layer of no more than 5 cm, and in November cover them with spruce branches or raspberry branches so that snow lingers on them later. This will be the best shelter for strawberries.

There is still no definite answer to the questions: "Why and when to cut strawberries?" The opinions on this matter are different. But seasoned gardeners have a "golden" rule - have harvested, get ready for the next one. And this is absolutely true! After harvesting, the bushes need to be given a good rest and feeding.

Pruning strawberry leaves is one of the stages of preparation for the next season.

Choose the correct leaf removal period: 3-4 weeks after the last harvest. It falls in the first half of July, depending on the variety of berries.

Do not be late with this procedure, late dates can lead to loss of yield due to a weak setting of peduncles. Calculate the time so that the sockets are formed in the winter.

Let's see why to do this?

The plant after harvesting needs special care, because the strawberries are exhausted, tired. By cutting off the leaves, you protect it from diseases and pests, of course, they can remain on the stumps and the ground, but the "bare" bed is easier to handle.

Advice!

Removing leaves is a time-consuming job, but you cannot resort to using a trimmer! Pruning is best done with pruning shears or scissors, and sprinkled with alcohol to avoid virus contamination.

Prune old and damaged leaves without affecting the heart and young leaves. If you need a mustache for planting new plants, then leave one mustache with strong rosettes, and be sure to remove the rest.

Important!

Do not throw mowed leaves with traces of disease and pests into the compost pit, it is better to burn them. From plant residues the most valuable ash is obtained - potash fertilizer.

The garden bed, after cleaning from leaves, needs to be loosened and sprayed from pests in one of the ways:

Karbofos 30 g per 10 liters of water;
Bordeaux mixture 30 g per 10 liters of water;
Ammonia 40 g per 10 liters of water. These sprays will protect the planting from pests such as weevil, Chafer, ticks and slugs.

To form strong flower buds, do not forget about the next step - watering and feeding.

Ash is perfect for nutrition: sprinkle between bushes or replace with potassium humate. Watering at this time is very important: at least once a week, abundantly. The second top dressing is with green fertilizers. Pour any herb with water in a barrel, add a liter of manure and leave for 1 week. Water 0.5 l for each root. This is not only a top dressing, but also an excellent tool for the development of beneficial microflora in the ground.

Leaves by season

Leaves garden strawberry are updated three times a year: in spring, summer and autumn. They work actively from 40 to 80 days. Overgrown in the spring, they feed the bushes from April to June inclusive, and then, having aged, they gradually die off. After fruiting, summer ones grow back to replace the spring ones.

The former are important for the fruiting of the current year, the latter for the laying of flower buds and the accumulation of nutrients for the future. Then the so-called autumn leaves that go into winter. With good and stable snow cover, most of them remain until spring. Each gardener must decide for himself whether or not to mow the old leaves. Much depends on the condition of the beds and how much time you are willing to devote to caring for strawberries.

I mow because I think they carry a lot of infection. But not at the end of summer, but right away

after harvest. The timely removal of leaves from the plantation (before the spores fly) significantly reduces the damage from diseases, and also prevents re-infection. It is also important for me that this technique strongly suppresses the growth of the mustache. I do not mow leaves only on strawberry beds of the first year of use.

The procedure itself does not take much time: we take a benzoko-su and mow the bed at a height of 5-7 cm. At the same time, the old leaves are almost completely removed and neither the horns nor the growth points are damaged.

The mowed mass is usually sent to compost. I water the strawberry beds well and feed them with a solution of chicken manure (1:15). Strawberry good

reacts to it and immediately begins to actively recover. For top dressing, you can use any complex fertilizers (15-20 g / m2), it is better if they are with microelements.

No bare roots!

A good technique is hilling strawberry bushes, especially from the 3rd year of life. I also do it after mowing the leaves, combining it with loosening the soil after watering and liquid top dressing. At the same time, I make sure that the heart is not covered with earth.

At the end of August, around each bush, I pour a layer of mulch of 3-4 cm. I use leaf humus for this. It serves not only as a fertilizer, but also as a heater for the winter, and in the spring does not allow the roots to be exposed.

Strawberry drones - out!

Often, weed varieties are found on strawberry plantings.

They either do not yield at all, or they bring low - small and unmarketable berries. Such bushes, not burdened with a harvest, throw all their strength into reproduction. Like weeds, they suppress the large-fruited variety. Therefore, it is important to notice the appearance of these weeds in time and to destroy them.

On a note

Removal of strawberry leaves is indicated for early and mid-season varieties. In the late ones, it is undesirable to mow the leaves, they may not have time to grow them before frost, which will significantly reduce the yield next year. It is also not used for remontant and neutral-day strawberry varieties, which will have a second fruiting in the fall, lasting until late autumn.

Practical advice

Do not leave overripe or damaged berries on the beds. Usually it is they who serve as a source of contamination of plantings with seedlings.

How often to renew your strawberry plantation

I use fruiting strawberry bushes no more than three years, not counting the year of planting. I usually renew my plantation no later than the second half of August. Young rosettes planted at this time manage to form well-developed roots and leaves before winter, but also to lay flower buds in a short day.

I plant strawberries in the garden in one line. In the first year of growing on bushes, I remove all whiskers, except for one or two. In the second year I repeat the same thing. I direct young sockets to free places. From these, self-rooted, the most productive bushes grow. The result is long strawberry ribbons. If I do not plan to replace varieties, then I use the sockets of the second year to create new beds. If there is another planting material I remove all the formed whiskers after the second harvest. On the 3rd and 4th year of cultivation, I remove all the mustache.

Yourself with a mustache!

So that my favorite strawberry varieties do not degenerate, I outline the most fruitful bushes during fruiting, and in the future I take mustaches for laying the future plantation only from these "mothers". I separate the sockets immediately after rooting and plant them on a separate bed. Those that were soaked for 10-12 hours in a zircon solution (1 ml per 2 liters of water) are very well accepted.

Note

The most powerful rosettes in the garden usually give bushes little loaded with berries. In abundantly fruiting, they grow more modestly. Therefore, in order to obtain high-quality seedlings, it is better to plant the mother plants on a separate bed and remove the peduncles from them. Or take sockets only from the intended copies.

Who disfigures the strawberry bushes

The transparent strawberry mite is the most dangerous pest of strawberries. Most often damages leaves, especially young ones.

As a result, they curl and acquire a yellowish-oily hue, the peduncles become dwarf, and the berries become small. The more pests, the uglier the bushes. Warm and humid weather contributes to the reproduction of ticks.

It is good to use infusion against strawberry mites. onion peel: 200 g pour 10 liters of warm water and leave for 4-5 days, then strain the infusion and use for spraying.

You can also prepare an infusion from the onion itself: chop 100 g of onions, place in a tightly sealed container, pour 10 liters of water and leave for 6-7 hours.

Another way is reliable: weed the affected plantation, removing the extra mustache and diseased leaves (they must be removed from the plants together with the petioles, it is at the base of the leaf petioles that adult female ticks winter), then abundantly sprinkle the bushes with an infusion of mashed garlic 0.5 kg pour 3 l of water, use 300 g of extractor hood per watering can.

After harvesting, chemical treatments are also carried out. The plantation is sprayed after mowing the leaves with one of the preparations: fufanon, kemifos, fitoverm.

You can finally get rid of the pest by laying the beds in a new place. All seedlings (after washing the roots from the soil and tying them into bundles) are immersed in a container with water heated to 45'C before planting.

It is kept in it for 13-15 minutes, after which the sockets are immediately cooled in cold water.

The first two weeks, strawberry plantings will look ugly, but then they will noticeably cheer up.

N. SOLONOVICH, scientist agronomist

I have met different opinions as to whether it is necessary to cut the mustache and leaves of garden strawberries after they have borne fruit. Advise how to proceed?

D. Dymova Lipetsk region

The post-harvest period requires special attention, since it is very important in the life of strawberries. At this time, the growth of leaves, horns, roots resumes, flower buds are laid, i.e. the next year's harvest is being formed. Therefore, timely and high-quality care of plants is now needed (weeding, feeding, watering, removing whiskers, loosening the soil, fighting pests and pathogens).

When the strawberries are harvested, the mustache is best removed from the bushes so that they do not deplete the mother plant and do not interfere with the establishment of flower buds. However, the mustache with the rosettes with which you are going to propagate the variety must be left, and remember that the first and second rosettes closest to the mother plant are considered the strongest.

Whether to remove the leaves along with the mustache is an ambiguous question.

In the southern regions, removing leaves immediately after harvesting berries is an agricultural technique that increases yields. This is due to the fact that in the south, the post-harvest period is long and favorable for plant development.

If you cut off the leaves before July 15 and feed and water the plants well, then leaves and roots will begin to actively form, flower buds will begin to form. By the fall, such plants will develop strong aboveground and root systems, which will have a positive effect on next year's harvest.

In the northern regions, mowing strawberry leaves during this period gives negative results, since the plants do not have time to prepare well for the next year's harvest. So in the middle lane, this technique should be carried out only if the plants are severely damaged by the strawberry mite.

Then mow and burn the leaves as quickly as possible, immediately after picking the berries. If the strawberry is not damaged by a tick, then you should not remove the leaves after harvesting in the central regions of the non-chernozem zone, otherwise the plants will not have time to develop a sufficient leaf apparatus and lay flower buds before the onset of cold weather.

To get the maximum yield of strawberries (garden strawberries), it is necessary to properly care for it. Agrotechnics can correct many mistakes made during planting, as well as reveal all the advantages of the variety. With improper care, strawberries produce small sour berries, and varietal differences are nullified.

This strawberry has been properly cared for.

Introducing strawberries

Strawberries are perennial grown for the sake of obtaining 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 the harvests from them will be small.

Horns

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

Peduncles appear from the tops of the rosettes, respectively, the more luxuriant the bush, the more abundant flowering and fruiting. At the bottom, the rosettes grow together into one small stem, on which adventitious roots are formed. Powerful bushes lay many peduncles, bloom for a longer time and yield higher.

Diagram of the structure of the strawberry bush

Mustache

The strongest whiskers of the plant give in the first year of cultivation, every year the formation becomes weaker, while the whiskers become smaller. By the fourth year, the strawberry usually no longer gives a mustache. If someone gets vegetative shoots from their 5-6 year old plantation, it is because it was poorly looked after and there are bushes of different ages, and the whiskers give young rooted plants.

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

Berries

Several factors affect the quality of strawberries.

Soil composition. Strawberries grown in poor soils have a less pronounced taste than when grown in fertile lands.
Weather... The more direct sun hits the bushes, the sweeter the berries. Strawberries growing under tree crowns, no matter how you look after them, usually have sour berries.
Grade. Most European strawberry varieties are sweeter than domestic ones.

Properties of berries.

Berries plucked by unripe berries turn red during transportation and storage, but they will not be completely sweet.
The flavor characteristic of the variety is acquired only when fully ripe on the bush. To reveal the taste, 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 yields are increased.
Unripe berries of any variety have the same sweet and sour taste.

On a personal plot, where good taste is more appreciated than an increase in yield by 300-500 g, it is better to let the strawberries fully ripen and taste their true taste. But in wet weather, berries should be removed that are not fully ripe, since it is ripe berries that are affected by rot and mold in the first place.

The merits and demerits of culture

The main advantages of strawberries.

Strawberries can produce good yields with very low fertilization and easy maintenance. The main thing is to fertilize the soil well before planting the crop.
Annual harvests. Strawberries do not have a fruiting frequency like some other berries (such as raspberries).
Quick first harvest.
Very simple and easy reproduction. The bush is capable of giving several dozen whiskers per season, from which the best are selected and rooted. Over the summer, you can plant a bed of the most valuable variety.
Unpretentiousness of plants. Strawberries can grow under the crowns of young trees, in flower beds, among weeds (but yields in such thickets are reduced).

Disadvantages of culture.

Defeat with gray mold. Most modern varieties are quite resistant to this disease, but with improper care, you can lose up to a third of the harvest. Domestic varieties are more resistant to disease than European ones.
Insufficient self-fertility of strawberries. For a good set 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 without 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, the plants freeze slightly, and in severe winters they freeze completely. But some imported varieties grow successfully in our conditions; for the winter, the bushes are covered, which somewhat reduces the loss of plants.
Short fruiting period. The berry yields maximum yields for 3-4 years, then it must be completely renewed.

All the disadvantages of the berry are surmountable, the main thing is not to leave the strawberries without proper care.

Features of growing and caring for strawberries

Main components proper care are:

weeding;
loosening;
water regime;
top dressing.

Strawberry care is simple, but requires patience and consistency.

Weeding strawberry beds

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

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

Loosening

Strawberries love loose, well-permeable soil. There should always be free air access to the roots. Before flowering, the soil is loosened 3 times, and after picking berries - once every 2 weeks. If the weather is rainy and the ground 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 spud, since adventitious roots appear on the stem. Hilling stimulates root formation, growth of horns, bushes become more luxuriant, which gives an increase in yield.

How to water strawberries

Strawberries are most demanding for moisture in June, when berries, whiskers 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, every day.

Watering is best done in the aisles, for which a furrow is made in the middle of the bed during planting, which will collect water when the snow melts and during watering. The plants are not watered under the root, because root system Strawberries are spreading and the bulk of the roots are located on the periphery of the aboveground part of the plant.

After harvesting, the plants begin a second peak in 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 and after flowering, the bushes can be watered with sprinkling, strawberries are very fond of high humidity.

Before flowering, strawberry plantations can be watered.

During flowering and fruiting, only the aisles are watered, the water temperature should be at least 15 ° C. The rest of the time, the plants tolerate watering with cold water well.

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

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

When signs of oxygen starvation appear, deep loosening is carried out (5-7 cm). If the berry is constantly waterlogged, then the beds are raised to 15-20 cm. When there are no ovaries on the strawberries, it does not suffer from waterlogging, but, on the contrary, gives lush foliage and a powerful mustache.

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 basic nutrients (NPK), but also trace elements that need to be replenished. Lack of nutrition begins to manifest itself in the second year of cultivation, in the first year the plants have enough fertilizers applied before planting.

Lack of nutrition never manifests itself for any one element, therefore, complex fertilizers containing trace elements are always applied to the plot. It is better to feed strawberries with organic fertilizers, as they act more gently and lastingly.

In the first year of cultivation, if the soil has been properly prepared, no fertilizer is 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 soil is shallowly loosened. On infertile soils in May, humates, humus or

It is impossible to bring ash along with manure, since there is chemical reaction as a result of which a large amount of nitrogen is released, which can damage the plants.

To prepare the herbal infusion, the herb is placed in a plastic barrel, poured with water and left 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 a second wave of regrowth of roots and leaves, and at this time they need nitrogen. Feeding is done with a solution of mullein or bird droppings (1 l / 10 l of water). Strawberry bird droppings are preferred and are now sold in garden stores. It 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. With the correct application of fertilizers, the size of leaves and berries increases, and the yield increases.

Excess nitrogen is manifested in the appearance large leaves and chopping berries, the yield of plants is significantly reduced. Overfeeding occurs due to the frequent use of herbal fertilizers 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 them) is better than overfeeding, since in this case the situation is easier to fix.

Do I need 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 trace elements.

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 out into the lower soil layers, which is impossible with a large plot area.

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

Fertilization of a strawberry plantation should be systemic, completely provide the plants with the necessary elements, and no experiments with feeding are allowed.

Strawberry plantation care

Regular maintenance is the basis for a high yield. Strawberries with proper agricultural technology in the first year can give up to 300 g of large berries from a 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 beforehand. The newly planted mustache is shaded from the sun, otherwise the seedlings wilted, since the roots cannot yet make up for the loss of water that is lost when it evaporates by the leaves. Withering 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 a little 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 early days, the planted mustache is well watered. In the future, the land under the young bushes should always be moist. In the case of warm and dry autumn, the strawberries are watered once a week.

It is important not to overgrow the strawberries with weeds. 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 germinate through the bushes and can no longer be removed without damaging the crop.

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

Preparing strawberry beds for winter

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

It is better to insulate strawberries for the winter.

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

The main thing in winter is to prevent the roots from freezing. If there is no insulation, then soil is poured into the aisles and under the bushes 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, insulation (if used) is removed from the garden, weeded from the first weeds and loosened. Old bushes, which have a small lignified stem with adventitious roots, are additionally huddled so that they are more powerful. Larger plants have better flowering and higher yields.

Loosening is carried out to a depth of 2-3 cm, since the roots of the strawberry 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 grow foliage and begin flowering sooner. At 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 in the aisles.

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

Dry leaves must be removed in 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 off. Pruning green leaves in spring delays flowering for 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 young leaves grow back, spring feeding is done.
If the plants are weakened after winter, grow poorly, they are sprayed with a growth stimulator "Zircon" or "Epin".

What should be the care of strawberries after harvest

After fruiting, spring leaves look yellow and spotty, they are removed along with regrown mustaches and weeds. All the foliage cannot be mowed, since 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, it is imperative that a second feeding is carried out to replenish the nutrients taken out with the berries.

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

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

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

The plantation should always be weed-free, fertilized, and the bushes should be trimmed with mustaches.

In the fall, water-charging irrigation is carried out, if necessary, a heater is laid out in the aisles.

Plantation care of the last year of cultivation

With spring feeding, 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 early cabbage on it, which will have time to ripen 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 insulate bushes in winter period and protecting the soil from premature heating in a thaw. and prevents the formation of soil crust after rain or watering.

The use of mulch in strawberry cultivation is The best way keeping the plot clean, which greatly facilitates its care. To prevent undesirable effects during its application, the mulch is applied under 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, mulch is introduced in the fall as a heater in the aisles, by the spring the process of disintegration of fiber (of which it consists) will be completed and nitrogen binding will not occur.

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

To do this, either they are soaked in a barrel with a fertilizer solution (sawdust), or they are watered very abundantly with these fertilizers 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 should not be allowed. To prevent acidification of the soil, sawdust is first soaked in a barrel with humates or chicken droppings, after which they become an excellent mulching material. Spread on the beds in a layer of 6-10 cm. Sawdust is stronger than hay and straw and inhibits the growth of weeds.

Straw as mulch.

Mulching with grass and straw... Hay and straw are almost the same fiber and bind soil nitrogen very strongly. They are brought in in the fall. When used as mulch, hay or straw, in the spring, crumbs are added with them, or watering with nitrogen fertilizers (humates, mullein, herbal infusion) is carried out on the newly decomposed mulch. In this case, nitrogen fixation does not occur and the yield does not drop. They are laid out in the aisles with a layer of 5-7 cm.

Leaf mulch. It is advisable to apply the foliage of deciduous trees in the fall, laying it out in the aisles with a layer of 15-20 cm. In winter, it will be a heater. In spring use, freshly decomposed leaves are watered with humates, mullein, or herbal infusion.

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

Peat as mulch they are not used on strawberries, since it has a number of significant disadvantages:

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 damp weather, it gets wet and interferes with the normal respiration of the roots;
in winter it can be covered with an ice crust, which leads to damping off of plants.

The correct use of mulch not only makes it easier to care for the plantation, but it is itself a good fertilizer.

Protecting berries from dirt

Berries lying on the ground are contaminated with soil, and moreover, they are more strongly 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, boards, 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 can lie on the ground for some time without being damaged.

When growing strawberries, you do not need to maintain a plantation with a more productive fruiting period. The berry must move through the plot in frequent rotation.

Summer and autumn pruning - which is more needed?

Often people are perplexed when they hear about pruning strawberry bushes in the summer, immediately after flowering. They believe that this is how the whole power of the bush and its effectiveness is reduced to naught. However, in reality, everything is completely different.

The cut bushes have time to build up fresh green mass by the fall and save strength for the winter. This applies to the complete pruning of the bushes, which has to be done in the event of their defeat by various fungal diseases. In the normal case, it is enough to rid the bush of the entire mass of the whiskers growing to the sides, leaving only some for reproduction. Unless, of course, it is included in your plans. That's the whole point of summer pruning.

Pruning in the summer is only not remontant varieties strawberries, remontant varieties require a completely different care

Autumn is the removal of damaged and diseased leaves, which have become a target for various fungal spores and pests. Damaged parts are taken far to the side and buried or burned. The bushes themselves, after pruning, are treated with insecticides in combination with the Bordeaux mixture.

No experiments, only proven techniques (video)

Considering that any pruning for a live plant is a shock therapy, there is no room for experimentation here. You should not try in practice a variety of new ways of pruning bushes, when there are already proven and approved options for how to do it for a long time.

There is a category of people who are convinced that strawberries do not need any pruning. They explain this by the fact that leaves are the main source of photosynthesis in a plant, and without them it will lose its strength and will not be able to survive wintering. In addition, this method does not work against pests either - they will simply move from the leaves to the ground and will wait for their chance next season.

If you do not cut off the strawberry leaves in time, it is very likely that such spots may appear on them, signaling the disease.

One can argue with this, because leaving the leaves in place after harvesting, you can often observe their reddening, browning and other color metamorphoses, which are not at all pleasant for the plant. Pests and spores of fungi are very fond of settling on old leaves, and from there spread to young ones, gradually destroying whole bushes. In addition, no one has canceled soil treatment with fungicides and pest control agents, so they are unlikely to be so comfortable in the ground while waiting for new food.

It is recommended to trim the strawberry whiskers in the summer - this way you give the plant the opportunity to direct all its forces into the leaves and prepare for cold times. Most of the mustaches will simply have to be thrown away, but the strongest and most reliable can be used to propagate strawberries.

As for the cultivation of the land, water with potassium permanganate and ash of different tree species can be an excellent combination. This technique is used in the case of transplanting a diseased bush or when a healthy bush is planted in the place where diseased plants grew. The same should be done after the usual pruning of the bushes.

Best time

Another topic of controversy is the time to trim the strawberries. Often people agree that this time comes somewhere around July 20th. In fact, there is no special specifics here and should not be. Only one fact is important - by winter the bush should have time to form well, overgrow with greenery. And this despite the fact that all the leaves were cut out from him. It is often sufficient to simply cut off old leaves, as well as those that have a weak and painful appearance.

Another term is associated with the beginning or middle of August, when the fruiting period is completely over. At this time, they choose a quiet day without a bright sun, moreover, morning or evening.

Only the sharpest tool is selected for trimming, whether it be scissors, pruning shears or whatever. This way you can carefully cut the leaves without damaging the bush. By the way, only leaf blades without petioles are cut off, so that ten centimeters of the bush remain above the ground. Thanks to this approach, the growth points of strawberries are preserved, and next year you can safely wait for healthy flowering, and then fruiting strawberry bushes.

For pruning, it is best to choose a pruner or scissors. The main condition is that they must be well sharpened.

Processing and feeding after pruning

After pruning, the earth is necessarily loosened, and moisture is introduced on an ongoing basis. Since the peak of the growing season of strawberries (namely, the growth of whiskers and leaves) occurs in the spring, it is then that you should take special care of it. At good care the bushes will quickly grow green mass and begin to bloom.

If a weevil or other pests have been seen on the plants, use the Intavir preparation, which is treated twice.

To support the plants after pruning and to speed up the setting of flower buds, it is enough to feed the bushes with universal fertilizers that can be found in any garden store. Dilute them in water at the rate of 10 ml per 10 liters of water. Nitrogen compounds together with ammonium nitrate will also be a good help to plants.

Photo gallery of strawberry care products

"Intavir" destroys a significant number of pest species Universal and useful potassium permanganate Charcoal for dusting bushes and earth
Wood ash for dusting bushes and soil

Triple feeding

Experienced gardeners argue that it is necessary to carry out three feeding after harvest. The first run is carried out immediately after pruning and it consists in applying liquid nitrogen fertilizers to a large number... In the process of feeding, a kurnik is introduced under each bush in the amount of one matchbox in a dry equivalent. Then the soil is immediately loosened to a depth of ten centimeters. The second run consists of a mixture of organic matter with phosphorus and potassium and is carried out two weeks after the first. The third is based on the introduction of mullein solution or compost infusion in mid-September.

A timely and properly cut strawberry bush will have time to build up a new green mass before winter and will pleasantly surprise you with a good harvest next season

Thus, competent pruning and care of strawberry bushes is carried out, which allows you to save them from diseases and pests, and at the same time prepare well for the winter seasonal These activities are by no means superfluous, as every gardener who has grown strawberries on his site at least once can be convinced of.

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