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More recently, most amateur gardeners and summer residents were not very interested in strawberry varieties for growing in their gardens. The main thing is that there is at least some kind of harvest and that the bushes are not particularly capricious to care and weather conditions. They multiplied what grew in the gardens before them, or bought on the market what was offered by local sellers, and were quite happy with what was grown. But in recent years, due to the huge number of new varieties bred by breeders, it has become fashionable to get and try all the new items in a row. It is especially difficult to pass by remontant varieties that are capable of several waves of fruiting during the season. And when grown indoors, you can get berries from them all year round. The most famous among them is the Albion strawberry.
Description and characteristics of the variety
Strawberry variety Albion was obtained quite recently in 2006 at the University of California, USA, as a result of crossing two varieties: Cal 94.16-1 and Diamante. Of course, according to its requirements for the growing conditions of this strawberry, the climate of the United States is more suitable, but in our temperate latitudes it is also quite capable of giving decent yields with proper care.
The bushes of this variety have a rather powerful appearance with dark green, medium-sized leaves. The flower stalks are strong, high enough and do not lie down, thus, the flowers themselves with the resulting berries are located on top of the leaves and may not touch the ground at all, which is very convenient for collecting them. It also reduces the likelihood of contracting various diseases. In stolons, you can observe dense pubescence, which has an anthocyanin color.
The strawberry variety Albion is a light-neutral plant type, which means that its fruit-forming ability is independent of the season and the length of daylight hours.
During the entire period of growth, strawberries usually bear fruit 3-4 times, although the latter often do not have time to ripen in our climate. But the Albion strawberry variety is ideal for growing in indoor conditions, including industrial ones.
The appearance of the first fruits can be observed the next year after planting. The yield indicators of this variety are really impressive - after all, it can be from 0.5 to 2 kg per bush for the entire season. Such large discrepancies in figures can only indicate that maximum results can be achieved only under practically ideal conditions, both from an agrotechnical and from a climatic point of view. At the same time, the highest quality and largest harvest of berries is usually harvested in August. It is by this time, in our conditions, that the Albion strawberry is able to reveal its full potential.
Unfortunately, the variety does not have good frost resistance. In any climatic regions of Russia, it is necessary either to grow it indoors, or to cover the bushes for the winter with straw or agrofibre.
The description of the Albion strawberry variety will be incomplete without touching on its resistance to various infections. Strawberry Albion shows good indicators of resistance to late blight rot and verticillary wilt. It also resists anthracnose well. But before brown and white spot, the Albion strawberry is completely defenseless - it must be treated with biofungicides against these diseases.
Characteristics of berries
It is the berries that are the pride of any strawberry, and especially this variety. What characteristics do they differ in?
- The berries are rather large in size, although their size has some dependence on the frequency and size of dressings. It is possible, therefore, that the largest berries are not the healthiest. The average weight of one berry is from 30 to 50 grams.
- Outside, the strawberries of this variety are bright red, but inside they have a pink tint.
- Ripening of the berry goes from the top to the stalk, and if it is insufficiently ripe, a whitish spot can be observed at the base of the sepal.
- Strawberry Albion has a predominantly cone-shaped berry. The variety has an interesting feature - fruits from one ovary may well have slightly different shapes: oval, heart-shaped, elongated.
- From insufficient watering among the berries, various deviations can occur, characterized mainly by the presence of voids inside the fruits.
- The taste characteristics of Albion strawberries are beyond praise - the berries are very tasty, sweet and fragrant.
- Due to their high density, the berries of this variety are quite suitable for storage and transportation over long distances.
Growing strawberries Albion: features
For planting bushes of Albion strawberry seedlings, the autumn months are best suited. If you want to plant Albion strawberries in the spring, then the plants may not have time to take root well and will yield an order of magnitude less than expected. But when planting in the fall, next summer Albion will thank you with a sufficient amount of sweet and large berries. When planting seedlings, a handful of humus is necessarily introduced under each bush.
The distance between the plants should be left about 30-40 cm, with a row spacing of 40 cm. This variety forms a moderate number of mustaches, so it is quite easy to track them. On the very first whiskers, as a rule, the strongest rosettes with a high fruiting potential are formed. It is they who are best left to take root in the same bed not far from the mother bushes.
Since the Albion variety is quite a valuable and expensive variety, it makes sense to try to root all of its rosettes. But those that are formed on the subsequent mustache, it is better to cut and grow on a special separate bed - in the nursery. If peduncles appear on the outlets of the first year, then they should be removed so that the bushes can grow more roots and leaves by winter and the next season. If these conditions are met, next year will be able to please you with a good harvest.
Watering for this variety is of decisive importance - it must be regular and abundant enough. That is why the best option for growing Albion strawberries is a drip irrigation system.
In early spring, immediately after the snow melts, it is very important to feed the strawberry bushes with any organic fertilizers. Subsequently, several times it is necessary to feed with the use of complex fertilizers containing microelements in a chelated form. It is especially important for strawberries to have a sufficient amount of iron chelate. If necessary, during the flowering period, you can carry out foliar feeding of strawberry bushes with fertilizer containing iron. The main feeding is also carried out during flowering and during the formation of the first ovaries.
To protect Albion strawberries from various fungal infections, primarily from rot, it is necessary to carry out preventive treatment with a solution of biofungicides: Fitosporin or Glyocladin several times. The first treatment is carried out after the snow melts, the second - during the flowering period.
A good remedy for the prevention of diseases is spraying Albion strawberry bushes with iodine solution.For these purposes, 30 drops of iodine are diluted in 10 liters of water.
To retain moisture and protect strawberry crops from weeds it is advisable to cover the aisles with a layer of straw or hay. The use of black film is not always rational, as it can provoke outbreaks of fungal diseases.
It is necessary to understand that in the climatic conditions of Russia, it is possible to get 1-2 kg of berries from the Albion variety bush only when it is grown in greenhouse conditions or in film tunnels. In open field conditions, the real yield is likely to be 500-800 grams per bush per season.
Reviews of gardeners and summer residents
Gardeners' reviews of the Albion strawberry variety are mostly positive, everyone recognizes its good yield and the real sweetness of the berries.
Strawberries Albion undoubtedly deserve to settle on your site if you want to feast on sweet berries throughout the warm season.
Of course, it is quite demanding on the conditions, but if you wish, you can always achieve a good harvest.
