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For what have not been used lately plastic bottles. Craftsmen make of them interior decorations, toys, various accessories for the home, garden and vegetable garden, and even furniture, and larger structures such as greenhouses and gazebos. It is good that all these plastic products are in demand and are becoming fashionable, since this allows them to be minimized, and, therefore, improves the natural habitat. It is especially pleasant if the judicious use of plastic bottles can be combined with such a pleasant and useful activity as growing strawberries... After all, strawberries are, without exaggeration, a welcome guest on every garden plot. And growing strawberries in plastic bottles can help solve several problems at the same time: increasing the usable planting area, and protecting berries from many diseases and pests, and even decorating the site.
Advantages and disadvantages of this method
Why is the cultivation of strawberries in plastic bottles able to interest gardeners and summer residents? What are the advantages of such an unusual method?
- First of all, the use of vertical structures can significantly increase the area for planting strawberries. Even if your plans do not include the construction of capital structures from plastic bottles, then containers with strawberries can simply be placed in any place, including on concrete and crushed stone areas.
- It allows you to decorate in an original and original way both individual elements of the house: a wall or a fence, and create a unique atmosphere throughout the entire site.
- Eliminates the need for weeding from weeds and loosening, therefore, it allows you to reduce labor costs for strawberry care.
- Reduces the risk of damage to berries by pests and diseases, and, therefore, allows you to do without additional measures for the processing of strawberry bushes.
- The berries come out clean in every sense of the word, in addition, they are very convenient to pick.
Of course, as in any technique, one cannot fail to note the possible difficulties that a gardener inspired by this idea can expect.
Since any plastic containers have size limitations, the soil in them can dry out many times faster than in the ground. In addition, it can overheat excessively in direct sunlight.
When it comes to drying out the soil, there are several solutions to this problem.
First, a special hydrogel can be added to the soil before planting. Being in the ground, it will absorb excess moisture, and then gradually give it to the strawberry bushes.
Secondly, for constant and regular moistening of the soil in plastic bottles, various drip irrigation systems can be arranged. The simplest such design will be considered a little later.
Finally, for planting in plastic bottles, you can use special varieties of strawberries with special drought tolerance. That is, the yield and taste of the berries of these varieties will not depend on the irrigation regime.
Examples of such varieties include:
- From early ripening varieties - Alaya, Alisa, Vesnyanka, Zarya, Early dense, Marshal.
- From mid-season - Nastenka, Holiday, Evi-2, Yuzhanka.
- Of the later ones - Arnica.
These varieties are considered the most unpretentious, drought tolerant and able to withstand some neglect. Of course, their berries are smaller than those of ordinary strawberries, but they bear fruit constantly throughout the year and only need watering and feeding.
The most famous and common varieties in this category are:
- Alexandria;
- Ali Baba;
- Baron Solemacher;
- Snow White.
Also, some problem when growing strawberries in plastic bottles can be the fact that the volume of soil in bottles is small and plants will need enhanced and regular nutrition throughout the growing season. This problem can be dealt with if, when making a mixture for planting, long-playing complex fertilizers in granules are mixed into the soil. They will gradually dissolve as a result of watering, and supply the plants with nutrients.
One of the problems that often worries gardeners considering this unusual way of growing strawberries is the need to protect the strawberry bushes from freezing in the winter. Here, too, there are several options for solving this issue:
- Firstly, if you envisage a long-term cycle of growing strawberries in bottles, then the bottle structure should be light enough so that it can be transferred to a frost-free wintering room, for example, a basement or cellar.
- In addition, bottles with strawberry bushes before winter can be buried in the ground and overlaid with spruce branches and straw for insulation.
- Moreover, if there are not very many bottles, then they can be transferred to the living room or onto the balcony and admire and feast on delicious berries for a long time.
- Finally, if you are using neutral day varieties for bottle growing as best suited to these conditions, then it is optimal to grow them in annual culture. Since the plants receive such a load, bearing fruit for almost 9-10 months, they are unlikely to be able to please you with a good harvest next year. The scheme for growing remontant strawberries in an annual crop will be described in detail below.
- Often when growing strawberries in plastic bottles, they face such a problem as lack of lighting. After all, bottled strawberries are often grown on balconies or near walls and fences, and not always on the south side.
Despite the general love for the light of this plant, with all the variety of varieties, there are quite shade-tolerant among them. These include, for example: Seasons, Kipcha, Supreme.
Various designs
There are several design options, mainly of the vertical type for growing strawberries.
Option 1
Any plastic bottles from 2 to 5 liters are suitable for this option. In the side wall of the bottle with a sharp knife, it is necessary to cut out a square window with a side equal to 8-10 cm. In the bottom of the bottle, pierce holes with an awl to drain water. After all, strawberries really do not like waterlogging of the soil, so drainage holes are required. The soil is poured through the window, strawberry seedlings are planted in it and watered well. A bottle of planted strawberries is fixed vertically on a support or simply suspended from horizontal bars, thus creating a kind of curtain of bottles.
If you make a hole longer in length and place the bottle horizontally, then two strawberry bushes can be planted in it. Do not forget to just make sure to make drainage holes in the bottom of the bottle.
Option 2
This option provides for the creation of a structure with the simplest irrigation system, in which the soil near the strawberry roots can be kept constantly moist, but without overflow.
Prepare a 2-3 liter bottle, cut it in half. The lid must be screwed on, but not completely so that water can seep through it. Then, in the vicinity of the neck, make several holes with an awl or nail. After turning it over, earth is poured into the top of the bottle.
Then a strawberry bush is planted in the ground, and the entire upper part of the bottle is inserted into its lower part. The result is a fairly stable structure that has a number of advantages:
- Watering is carried out through the bottom of the bottle, from where moisture itself, if necessary, flows to the strawberry roots. Therefore, watering is no longer a problem - strawberries can be watered much less often by simply pouring water into the sump.
- When watering, water does not pour out, which means that the structure can be placed anywhere, including indoors - this way you can avoid excess water and dirt after watering.
This structure can be placed both on any surface and on the weight, creating vertical beds. As a vertical support, you can use wooden slats, metal mesh, as well as a solid wooden fence or any wall.
Also, in this version, you can plant strawberries in 5-liter bottles - in this case, two or even three strawberry bushes will fit in one bottle.
Option 3
There is another interesting option for creating a vertical structure from plastic bottles for growing strawberries. For him, in addition to bottles, you will definitely need a support, the role of which can be played by a wooden shield or a metal fence.
First, a plastic bottle is taken and the bottom is cut off. The plug is not screwed in completely so that water can easily seep through it. The bottle is turned upside down and a cutout-window is made in the upper part, about 5-7 cm deep. The neck of the bottle is filled with earth a centimeter below the cutout. A strawberry bush is planted in it.
The next bottle is taken, all of the above operations are performed, and it is lowered with a cork down into the previous bottle. So, it can be repeated several times depending on the height of the support. Each bottle is fixed on a support so that its cork does not touch the ground surface of the bottle below it. In this design, when watering from above, water gradually seeps through all containers without stagnating. At the bottom, you can make a pallet where it will accumulate.
Growing strawberries in an annual crop
It is quite possible to proceed as follows if you do not want to get involved in the dismantling of your vertical structures for the winter. And in the middle lane, this is inevitable, since the ground in small containers will freeze completely during the winter.
In early spring, seedlings of remontant strawberries of the neutral day variety are bought. It is these varieties that, under favorable conditions, are able to bear fruit practically without interruption for 9-10 months. Examples include such varieties as Queen Elizabeth 2, Brighton, Temptation, Elvira, Juan and others.
Seedlings are planted in containers made from plastic bottles according to option 2 described earlier. The containers are placed in any bright and warm place and are watered moderately. It is possible to immediately place them on the balcony if it is insulated. In this case, in the future, there is even no need to move them anywhere, they will be on the balcony all the time, and please you regularly with their harvest.
If you want to grow strawberries on your site, then with the onset of warm days (usually in May), the seedlings can be transferred to the site and place the bottles as your imagination tells you: either on a vertical support, or on weight, or placing on any horizontal surface.
All summer until the very frost, you will harvest strawberries from the bushes. A month before frost, you need to carefully separate the rooted sockets from the mother bushes and plant them in separate containers. This is your main planting stock for the next year. They can be stored either in a frost-free basement or on a balcony. In winter, it is only necessary to periodically moisten the ground, making sure that it does not dry out completely.
With the onset of frost, the main strawberry bushes are either simply thrown away, or the strongest of them are transported to home conditions to extend the harvest period for a month or two.
In the spring, everything is repeated, but the seedlings obtained from their own strawberry bushes are already used.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is nothing too complicated in growing strawberries in plastic bottles, rather, it is just an unusual process for many. But he provides many opportunities that must be used in order to fully enjoy the result of his labors.
