Content
Today there are many berry and vegetable crops that gardeners would like to grow on their plots. But the area does not always allow this. Growing strawberries in the traditional way takes up a lot of space. Summer residents came up with an original way of growing it vertically or horizontally in a variety of containers: barrels, bags, in a kind of "fences".
In recent years, more and more gardeners are interested in strawberries in tubes PVC. For novice gardeners, this method raises many questions. First, how to use the pipe. Secondly, what strawberry varieties most suitable. Thirdly, how to care for such plantings. We will try to answer the most common questions.
Benefits
Before talking about the technology of making a "bed" from a plastic pipe, it is necessary to find out what is the advantage of growing strawberries in such containers:
- Saving the usable area of the site. The structures installed vertically or horizontally allow you to grow a large number of strawberry bushes and get a larger berry yield compared to the traditional method.
- vertical or horizontal structures can be moved to a new location at any time.
- Plants do not shade each other.
- Strawberries in a pipe do not require weeding and loosening of the soil.
- Pests and diseases practically do not damage plants.
- The harvest is clean, since the fruits do not come into contact with the ground. Collecting berries is a pleasure.
Manufacturing technology
Tools
To make a bed, you need to stock up on:
- PVC pipes of large and small diameters and plugs of appropriate sizes.
- Electric drill with attachments.
- Corks, knife.
- Burlap and twine, fasteners.
- Expanded clay, soil.
- Saplings.
Pipe manufacturing procedure
Before cutting out the holes, you need to decide in what position you will install the plastic structures. What you have to do:
- Cut the plastic pipe of the required height, install a plug at the bottom.
- In the narrow tube, the holes should be small and opposite the larger holes where the strawberries will be planted. Holes are drilled in a circle with a drill.
- To prevent the soil from clogging the holes, they are wrapped in burlap and secured with twine. A plug is also installed at the bottom of the narrow tube.
- In a wide pipe, holes are drilled in a checkerboard pattern with a drill with nozzles. The lowest hole should be at least 20 cm from the edge of the pipe.
- When assembling the structure, a narrow tube is inserted into a large PVC pipe, the space between them is first filled with expanded clay or gravel (drainage), and then the soil is filled up.
Before planting strawberry bushes, polyvinyl chloride "beds" are installed vertically in a chosen place and fixed in a stable position using reliable fasteners.
If you grow strawberries horizontally, then plugs are placed at both ends. And the holes are cut out only in the upper part of the pipe, and their diameter is made larger than for a vertical structure.A narrow sprinkler pipe is brought up for convenience. In the bottom, it is necessary to provide another hole through which excess water will flow out.
Preparing a horizontal bed:
Suitable varieties of strawberries
Growing strawberries in PVC pipes is fun and profitable. Not every variety is suitable for planting in vertical or horizontal structures. It is best to use remontant plants, with reusable ripening waves. Gardeners who have mastered this method perfectly advise beginners to use for vertical plantings:
- Alba and the Queen;
- Marmalade and Homemade delicacy;
- Gigantella and Oscar;
- Queen Elizabeth and the Yellow Miracle;
- Pomegranate and Desnyanka.
For planting strawberries in horizontal containers, the best varieties are:
- Troubadour;
- Honey;
- Baby elephant;
- Queen Elizabeth.
Planting rules
Soil features
The soil can be used from a store or you can prepare it yourself. They take equally soil from the garden, sod land and peat.
You can improve the structure of the soil with sand and sawdust. Some gardeners add foam balls to the soil. The introduction of wood ash will save the root system from putrefactive processes. Strawberries are a lover of acidic soils, so add 10 ml of vinegar to one liter of water and water the soil.
How to plant strawberries
The pipe is filled with soil up to the first hole. Strawberry roots are gently straightened, directed downward and inserted into place. Then the next layer of soil is poured.
After all the seedlings are planted, the vertical or horizontal PVC pipe must be shaded for several days.
How to care for plantings
Strawberries grown in pipes do not require any special rules during their care. It all comes down to timely watering, feeding, and pest protection. But the yield of such beds is much higher. Firstly, gray rot does not form on the berries, since they do not come into contact with the ground. Secondly, such landings are not afraid of mice, slugs, snails.
If the gardener does not have time to visit his garden every day, you can install an autonomous irrigation system on the pipe beds. Strawberries respond well to drip irrigation.
How to feed a strawberry garden before flowering:
- manganese sulfate;
- zinc;
- cobalt nitrate;
- boric acid.
Gardeners have different opinions about the mineral fertilization of strawberry bushes during the fruiting period: some believe that they are necessary, others tend to use only organic matter.
You can watch a video about the rules for caring for vertical and horizontal plantings of strawberries in a PVC pipe.
In autumn, when the plants stop bearing fruit, the vertical and horizontal pipes with the plants need to be covered. In the southern regions of Russia, this is not a problem. But in the middle lane you will have to think about a serious shelter. It is best to remove the pipes indoors so that the soil does not freeze. And already in it, pile spruce branches, earth or sawdust on top.
