How to prepare the soil for strawberries

For full development and abundant fruiting of strawberries, it is necessary to properly prepare the soil for its planting. The land should contain the right amount of nutrients, then the bushes will give large, juicy and fragrant berries. Otherwise, their yield may decrease, the plants become ill.

Preparing the soil for strawberries is important to achieve a high level of its yield.

It is necessary to know that this culture does not like the following types of soils:

• Clay.
• Peat.
• Sandy.
• Sod-podzolic.
• Light gray.

So, the roots in sandy soil are prone to drying out and overheating. In addition, there are very few nutrients in the sand. Heavy clay soils are also not suitable for strawberries, since in such a land the roots will not have enough oxygen, the crop will experience difficulties in growth and development and risks permanently being in a waterlogged condition.

little oxygen, there is a risk of waterlogging little nutrients and moisture

Soil preparation for strawberry

• Correction of soil composition.

If the soil on your site is mainly sand, this does not mean that you should abandon the cultivation of delicious and healthy berries. In this case, in the garden, which will be planted strawberries, you should make humus in large quantities. So you can do with any other less suitable soils.

if the soil is sandy fertilize it with humus

• Acidity.

When preparing the land for strawberries should pay attention to the acidity of the soil. The best option is a weakly acid reaction. If the land on the site is acidic, then lime and organic fertilizers should be added to it. If alkaline, then it can be acidified with a sufficient amount of mineral fertilizers and gypsum.

• Excess soil moisture.

Often in the areas located in the lowlands, in winter and autumn time, water stagnation is observed. Such conditions are in no way suitable for growing strawberries, so in this case it is required to plant it on high ridges, or to organize several drainage ditches, over which the water from the beds will flow.

• Shadow.

Everyone knows that strawberry is a light-loving plant. Since it is usually planted in autumn or spring, when the leaves of the trees have already thinned out or have not yet turned around, gardeners may erroneously calculate that they have chosen a fairly bright place. However, when the summer comes into force and the leaves on the trees blossom, it may turn out that the strawberry is planted in the shade.

If there is a lack of sunlight, this culture will not bear fruit and try to get a mustache to the solar patch. In addition, the shaded and raw strawberries are more susceptible to various fungal diseases and pests.

• Perennial weeds.

So, the place for planting is selected. How to prepare the soil for strawberries? Firstly, it is necessary to clean the site of perennial weeds, as they will clog and choke young plants, and it's very difficult to fight them when strawberries are planted.

We can use the following methods to control weeds:

1. Deep soil digging and careful selection of weed grass roots by hand.
2. Using a black dense film, under which all the weeds die within three weeks.
3. Use of continuous herbicides.
   tearing weeds manually agrofibers prevent weeds from growing
   
   

Composition of

What kind of soil is needed for strawberries? Optimal is considered black earth, rich in potassium. In this regard, experienced gardeners contribute to the soil wood ash, which contains potassium and many other useful nutrients.

Before landing( two weeks before it), it is necessary to feed the soil with several kinds of fertilizers, first of all - organic substances( for example, humus or last year's compost).Also, the land before planting should be enriched with complex mineral fertilizers.

humus compost

What other soil does strawberry like? These can be loamy or sandy loam soils. Fertilizing such areas with humus, you need to consider that its content in them should not exceed 3%.

Peat soils for planting strawberry crops are undesirable, because they contain a large amount of organic substances that cause disease bluetongue. This is due to the fact that this disease, as a rule, develops with an excess of free fluoride in the ground.

peat soil causes disease Strawberry blight

The most fertile land for strawberries is soil containing 3% humus. With this composition, the amount of moisture in the soil will be optimal. If the soil does not contain enough humus, then it is necessary to bring in it mullein.

Useful tips for optimizing the soil

To have fertile soil on your site, it is not necessary to buy tons of land. Ensure a good harvest can be and with the help of small tricks, for example, self-preparation of the soil.

1. With the onset of spring, as soon as snow falls from the ground, one must go into the forest and collect the layers of earth( sod) there. The thickness of the turf should be approximately 8 cm.
2. Then the sod should be folded into a 80 cm-wide and 1-m-wide shoulder. Every 2-3 layers must be very well impregnated with water. When the whole bunk is laid, you need to water it again abundantly.
3. Further, the film is stacked on top of the roll so that air can enter under it.
4. After three weeks, all organic matter, along with pathogens, viruses, insect larvae, mold and weed seeds, contained in the bead, will begin to burn out.
5. Two months later the film can be removed, the resulting soil can be sifted and used to grow strawberries. After what plants can you plant strawberries?

   Most experts recommend starting soil preparation for planting for another year. In this case, the land will have time to "brew" and become the most suitable for strawberries. So, in the area where it is supposed to plant this berry, it is desirable first to grow any of such crops:

   • Garlic.
   • Dill.
   • Radish.
   • Peas.
   • Salad.
   radish salad garlic
   dill peas
   

   It is believed that such plants are the best strawberry precursors. After they are collected, mustard, oats or beans must be planted in this place. Also a useful predecessor is also parsley, which is very afraid of slugs. It should be noted that strawberries like such "neighbors" as onions, radishes, cabbage and beets, so it is possible to plant these plants near the beds with a sweet berry.

   What other land does strawberry like? Because this crop loves slightly acid soils, it is very fortunate to consider the land that was liberated from the forest.
   If a horticulturist grows his own collection of medicinal herbs on his site, then the neighbors of sage or cucumber grass can be used to positively influence the growth of strawberry bushes.

   Sometimes gardeners are surprised why the strawberries grown on their site are inferior in taste to the berry of the same variety from their neighbor. The case may be that the neighbor knows the secret of growing sweet and fragrant berries: the taste of it improves if the ground under the strawberry is mulched with pine and spruce needles.

   Soil composition is of great importance for the healthy growth and yield of strawberry seedlings, for fruit quality. Therefore, before you start planting, you need to study all the necessary information about what soil is needed for strawberries and how to properly choose and prepare a site for its cultivation. And then your beds will please you not only with a good harvest, but also with the absence of unpleasant diseases. Also, the process of caring for strawberries will be greatly simplified.

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