Content
Strawberries are tasty, healthy and very beautiful berries. This is a real storehouse of vitamins and microelements, and if we consider that only honeysuckle ripens earlier, then its importance in the diet of a person weakened by winter avitaminosis can hardly be overestimated. They eat fresh and frozen strawberries, make jams, compotes from them, prepare marshmallows and juices. In recent years, varieties have been developed that are suitable for growing in winter on a windowsill, bearing fruit in autumn, and also pleasing to the eye with pink, red and crimson flowers.
The berry most often grown commercially is the strawberry. It is planted in greenhouses, in strawberry fields and more than 4 million tons of berries are harvested annually. Today there are more than 2,500 varieties, and their number is growing every year. Summer residents also paid attention to strawberries. Growing it is troublesome, knowledge of agricultural technology and hard work are needed, but there is nothing tastier than a fragrant sweet berry plucked from your own garden. Today we will tell you how to properly plant strawberries in the fall.
Strawberry or strawberry
Strictly speaking, the berry that we call strawberries is large-fruited strawberries. Strawberry is a dioecious plant, it has female plants that bear fruit after flowering and male ones that give only flowers. Its berries are small, only slightly larger than those of wild strawberries, never completely colored, but very sweet and aromatic.
Large-fruited (garden) strawberries originated about 300 years ago in France from the accidental cross-pollination of Chilean and Virginia strawberries. Suddenly, a rather large berry grew from the planted seeds. Its large-fruited nature was genetically fixed, and an accidental hybrid later became the progenitor of all varieties of cultivated strawberries.
The berry came to Russia from England, at first it was called "Victoria", then the name "strawberry" became widespread, as it is known today. We will also call garden (also called cultural or pineapple) strawberries strawberries, so as not to confuse.
What you need to know when buying seedlings
There are many varieties of strawberries. Inexperienced owners are tempted by colorful advertisements or reviews from relatives living in other areas and plant berries that are not intended for growing in their region. Naturally, they do not get a good harvest.
Another danger when buying planting material is weedy varieties that are passed off as elite. The blind man's buff does not produce berries at all, Dubnyak does not even bloom, Bakhmutka or Suspension will delight you with a meager harvest of small fruits.
Unscrupulous traders who did not manage to sell their products on time dip the roots of strawberries in boiling water, which makes the leaves (as well as flowers and fruits on remontant varieties) seem fresh. Naturally, such seedlings will not take root.
It is best to buy berry seedlings from large garden centers or well-known producers. Of course, they are more expensive than on the market, but by multiplying the variety, it will be possible to exchange with neighbors or acquaintances.
When is the best time to plant strawberries
It is difficult to unequivocally answer the question of when is it better to plant strawberries, our country is large, climatic conditions are different. Let's take a closer look at this issue.
Planting dates for strawberries
The berries are planted in spring or autumn. Usually, plantings carried out at the end of summer are also called autumn.For the Middle Lane, the optimal time in spring is mid-April - mid-May, and in autumn - the period from August to mid-September. In the southern regions, when the weather is favorable, strawberries can be planted as early as March, but sometimes they finish rooting at the beginning of November. In the Northwest, spring plantings work best - this way the berries have more time to adapt and root.
But these terms are very conditional, it all depends on the weather. You cannot plant strawberries:
- in spring, until the snow melts and the ground warms up a little;
- in summer, if hot days are expected ahead (in the southern regions, in general, we are not talking about summer landing);
- in the fall, just before frost.
Planting in spring
The main thing is not to rush and not to hurry with planting strawberries in the spring. The best planting time is the beginning of field work, when the soil is well supplied with moisture accumulated in the winter-spring period. Late is fraught with the death of a large part of the plants, even with sufficient watering. But for the northern regions, it is spring that is the best time to plant this berry.
Of course, this does not apply to planting material sold in containers.
Planting in autumn
Planting strawberries in the fall will allow you to get a good harvest of berries next year. This is the best rooting time for seedlings in most regions. Distinguish:
- early autumn landing - from August to mid-September;
- mid-autumn - from mid-September to mid-October;
- late autumn - ends 2-3 weeks before the onset of frost.
Each owner can determine the timing of planting strawberries in autumn based on their climatic conditions and weather forecasts. Berries take root best in early autumn and mid-autumn planting. Before the onset of frost, they take root well, next year they fill fruitful strips 20-25 cm wide and give a high yield.
With a sufficient amount of snow in winter, autumn planting has a significant advantage over spring planting. In autumn, seedlings dry out less, and this is very important for successful rooting. In addition, the lower air and soil temperature than in spring, which provides better conditions for its development, positively affects the survival of the berry. Planting is best done with the onset of rains.
Late late autumn planting, which is carried out before the freezing of the soil, is rather a forced measure, it does not provide good rooting. Often, poorly established bushes bulge out of the ground during sharp temperature fluctuations, which are especially common in the southern regions. Such plants with a bare root system often die from drying out and freezing in early spring. However, practice shows that even under conditions of rather late planting, strawberries are satisfactorily preserved until spring, if there is shelter and sufficient snow cover. Under a 15 cm layer of snow, the berry can withstand frosts well, even at minus 30 degrees.
Planting strawberries in autumn
Now we know when to plant strawberries in the fall and can move on to the rules for planting them.
Place for the berry
In one place, berries can grow and bear fruit abundantly for up to 5 years. But since we often plant two-year-old bushes, this period is reduced to 4 years, then the fruits become smaller and there are fewer of them.
You need to grow strawberries in a well-lit, wind-protected place, even or with a slight slope. On shaded beds, it will also bloom and bear fruit, but the berries will be sour and small in comparison with those growing with full lighting, and the harvest will be poor.
When choosing a place for a berry garden, consider which crops have grown in the garden before. Plant strawberries after:
- legumes;
- mustard;
- umbrella;
- onions or garlic;
- greenery;
- beets.
Bad precursors to berries will be:
- nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers);
- cabbage;
- cucumbers;
- Jerusalem artichoke;
- many decorative flowers.
Soil preparation
Strawberries are not very demanding on the soil, but it is best to grow them on slightly acidic loamy or sandy loamy ones, rich in humus soils... Cold clayey or wetlands without domestication are unsuitable for the berry. In humid places, strawberries are planted on high ridges. On sandy soils, the yield is low, the berries are small, and besides, they do not retain moisture well. It is necessary to add humus (humus, compost) and clay for digging.
At least 2 weeks before planting strawberries, dig up the area to the depth of a shovel bayonet, carefully select the roots of weeds. Usually, before planting strawberries for digging, a bucket of humus, 30 g of superphosphate and a liter can of ash are introduced. It is imperative to do this only during carpet planting (when the strawberry grows, it covers the entire garden). If you are going to grow the berry in separate bushes or strips, to save money, you can apply fertilizer at the root before planting the seedlings.
Planting strawberries
There are many ways to plant berries, for example:
- Carpet planting - on a garden bed up to 1 m wide, the bushes are planted according to the 20x20 scheme and allowed to grow freely so that over time they cover the entire area.
- Line - the berry is planted at a distance of 15-20 cm in strips, separated from each other by 0.8-0.9 m. Over time, continuous "lines" are formed, whiskers that are knocked out of their limits are removed.
- Strawberries are often planted in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 30-50 cm from each other (the interval depends on the size of an adult bush). In the future, the mustache is regularly cut off.
Immediately before planting, soak the roots of the seedlings for 30 minutes in water with the addition of epin, humate or any growth stimulant. Leave 3-4 leaves on each strawberry bush, carefully tear off the rest, cut off the excessively long roots to about 10 cm.
If you have not previously applied fertilizers, before planting strawberries in the fall, add humus, ash and superphosphate to the holes or furrows, mix with the soil, spill well with water and let it absorb.
When planting, the roots of the berries should go vertically downward and in no case bend. Make sure that the hearts (the center of the bush with the growth point) remain at ground level, their protrusion or deepening are signs of improper planting. Fill the hole with soil and gently squeeze the soil. Pour the berry liberally. Mulch the planting with peat, needles, humus or well-rotted sawdust.
Strawberry transplant
It is best to plant strawberries in the fall. Old bushes bear fruit poorly and only take up space. Healthy one- and two-year-old berries are taken from the old plot and planted in a new bed as described above.
Planting a strawberry mustache
The whiskers are taken from plants that produce the best berries. Few? What to do, later they will give a good harvest. This is the selection on a single personal plot.
We offer for viewing a video dedicated to the autumn planting of strawberries:
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Shelter for the winter
Strawberries winter best under the snow cover, which, as noted above, allows them to survive 30-degree frosts. In the absence of snow, the berry can die already at -12 degrees.
In cold snowless regions, strawberries in autumn can be covered with spruce branches, corn stalks, covered with dry leaves of fruit trees or straw. With a short-term decrease in temperature in places where temperatures below ten degrees of frost are rare, you can temporarily cover the berry beds with agrofibre or spunbond. Proper planting of strawberries in the fall will not protect them from freezing; the owners should take care of the safety of the plantings.
Conclusion
Strawberries are a whimsical culture, but if you plant them correctly and take good care of them, they will certainly delight the owners with fragrant sweet berries. Have a nice harvest!
