Mulch for beds with strawberries

Contents of

Why is this growing technique necessary?
Which material should I prefer?
Mulching strawberries with foil
Strawberry mulching cloth
Needle application
Straw straw mulching

If you want to increase the yield of strawberries and enjoy tasty big berries, then in addition to the obligatory watering and care of the plant, you need to use some more agro techniques. Mulch for strawberries is used as an effective means of controlling weeds, and is also used as a useful fertilizer for growing crops. This method is not particularly difficult, so anyone can use it without any problems. Such tricks of cultivation help not only experienced gardeners, but also beginners, who are eager to get a big harvest.

It is worth noting that you can mulch strawberries as soon as the first ovary is formed on the bushes. During this period, gardeners are preparing various materials, through which further processing of the soil. How should one properly conduct such agro-practices and the better to mulch the strawberries? These questions will be considered below.

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Why is this growing technique necessary?

Mulching is very popular abroad, where it is used to grow crops on large farmlands. Over time, the technique became widespread, and ordinary summer residents also began to use mulching to increase the number of crops.

The essence of the method is to cover the soil with special auxiliary materials, such as straw, cloth, film, or useful organic fertilizers. Use mulching in order to:

Reduce the evaporation of moisture from the ground. Mulching material prevents the evaporation of water, thereby allowing less attention to watering the plants.
Get rid of a significant part of the harmful weeds. Particularly harmful is the growth of weeds mulching strawberry tissue and growing with the use of a special film.
film fabric
Promote effective soil warming. Any covering material holds heat inside the soil, thus preventing it from cooling down. This is especially important in the spring, when strong cooling can occur at night.
Saturate the plant with useful substances and microelements. Using organic material, we effectively fertilize the soil, and this positively affects the quality of the fruits obtained.
Prevent contamination of strawberries. Mulching material eliminates the contact of berries with the ground, so in the end the grower receives a clean strawberry without any contamination.
Protect berries from gray rot. This disease often affects the strawberries in the case when the berries lie for a while in the ground. Mulch prevents the contact of the plant with the soil, so the risk of the disease is significantly reduced.

Which material should I prefer?

Mulching not only allows to increase the yield, but also significantly reduces the amount of necessary care for the plant. The villager will not need to constantly monitor the strawberry irrigation or carry out systematic soil weeding to get rid of all the weeds.

All mulching material is divided into two types:

Organic. These can be various fertilizers for the soil, such as needles, sawdust or straw.
Inorganic. To it carry an artificial fabric and a film.

Ogorodniki usually prefer organics, because it does not require financial costs and is much more useful for strawberries. However, it is artificial materials that allow much less time to care for beds. Therefore, those who have money for this, choose a mulching film for strawberries or a special fabric.

Mulching strawberries with

film

The blade is made of special polyethylene material, which is intended for planting plants. There are options with pre-made holes for more convenient use. Experts advise choosing a black film, which is better than other materials capable of retaining heat in the ground. It must meet the following requirements:

not to let out the sun's rays;
material should be strong and elastic, so that the mulch tightly adhered to the surface of the earth, and the weeds could not damage its integrity.

Before beginning the mulching it is necessary to prepare beds, remove all weeds from the soil and properly level the soil. Special fertilizers are then used, which are mixed with the soil.

Ogorodnik should consider a system of drip irrigation. To do this, take a hose with small holes along the entire length and stack it between rows of bushes, pressing the product deeper into the earth for 5-8 cm.

Then prepare the proper film size and if it does not have special holes, they do it with scissors themselves. Between the rows, the distance should be at least 50 cm, and between the holes - about 30 cm.

Prepare the bed with a film, then press the mulch with bricks or sprinkle it with earth around the edges. Then, strawberries are planted.

Strawberry under mulch is saturated with all the necessary nutrients, so in 2 months you will get the first crop.

Strawberry mulch

Instead of polyethylene film, you can use a special fabric for strawberries called spandbond. The product has nothing to do with the usual material made of textiles. In fact, it is the same polyethylene mulch, but it is manufactured using a special technology.

When compared with a conventional film, the mulching fabric has one very important advantage: it freely passes water during the watering of the soil, but effectively prevents further evaporation of moisture. Therefore, using spandbond, you will not need to prepare a drip irrigation system without fail. Otherwise, the installation process is similar to the method of laying an ordinary polyethylene film.

Needle application

Do not know how to mulch strawberries with needles? This method does not require you to financial costs and is easy to perform. All you need is to collect a large amount of organic material in the nearest forest, after which the needles are laid between the strawberry bushes.

You can use organics in pure form or in advance add to the mulch other useful plant components. However, experienced gardeners believe that the needles, like sawdust, can strongly acidify the soil. Although some experts refute this opinion, we advise you to still be safe to exclude the possibility of oxidation of the earth. To do this, add a layer of humus or old foliage to the soil, and then lay mulch from the needles.

Mulching Strawberry straw

Having learned more about how to mulch strawberries with straw, even a beginning gardener can easily use such a simple method. This option is often used by gardeners in private plots.

Mulch from straw or grass is excellent for growing strawberries and strawberries because such organic material does not acidify the soil at all. As soon as the straw rotates, it becomes a useful fertilizer for berries, saturating the plant with all the necessary trace elements and substances.

Instead of straw, gardeners often use sawdust, hay or bark of trees to grow strawberries. However, it should be borne in mind that mulch from sawdust takes all necessary nitrogen from the soil, so it is better to use such material in a diluted form.

Before laying the grass or straw between the bushes of the plant, the organics must be dried thoroughly beforehand. Freshly laid fresh material can undergo rapid decay.

A layer of mulch from straw should be about 5 cm thick. It should be laid during the beginning of flowering of the strawberry. Pre-prepare beds, clean the area of all pests and weeds, and then mix the soil with useful fertilizers.

Growing strawberries under the straw has a beneficial effect on the quality of the harvest, so soon you will be able to enjoy the juicy and very sweet strawberries.