Fresh strawberries all year round: growing on the balcony

Fans of garden strawberries can enjoy its fragrant fruits and enjoy beautiful flowering almost all year round. To do this, you need to know how to grow strawberries on the balcony so that the crop will please even a budding horticulturist. In this case, it is necessary to take into account a lot of nuances, which we will talk about below.

Choosing seedlings

The best option is the repair strawberry of different varieties. From the usual garden strawberries, it differs in that it does not bear fruit once a season. However, not everything is easy here. So, if you want to collect strawberry crop on the balcony all year round, give preference to seedlings marked "NID", capable of blossoming and bearing fruit even in neutral lighting. Consider the most popular varieties:

1. "Queen Elizabeth" and "Elizabeth II".Both varieties are characterized by an abundance of large sweet berries, but the second bears earlier. Planting them, you can ensure a continuous harvest.
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2. "Moscow delicacy" is characterized by intense early flowering and large fruits weighing up to 35 grams, is great for planting in pots. Planting the same strawberries in the pots, it is better to choose "Home delicacy" with long peduncles and slightly later fruit.
3. "Tuscany" has gained popularity thanks to bright pink or ruby ​​colors, unpretentiousness in the care and small size of bushes. The smaller size of the berries is compensated by the aroma and quantity of fruits.
   
   
   

If you have not found the above mentioned varieties in a specialized store or from well-known holiday-makers, do not despair. The main thing - keep in mind that a variety of strawberries on the loggia should be:

• self-pollinating;
• does not require copious sunlight;
• with shrubs of compact size.

Once the seedlings are selected and brought home, do not forget to keep it in quarantine for 5-7 days in peat cups in a well-lit windowsill in the kitchen, bedroom or any other room except the loggia.

peat pots seedlings in peat pots

Are seedlings healthy? Then it's time to talk about how to plant a strawberry on the balcony the most ergonomic for you and comfortable for plants way.

Soil selection

For cultivation of garden strawberries at home, a universal, sufficiently dense soil mix is ​​suitable. If you do not want to buy it in the store, prepare it yourself. To do this, you will need:

1. Mix the forest( deciduous) soil with biohumus in the same proportions and put aside half of the mixture obtained.
2. Dry river sand and peat mix 50/50 so that a volume equal to the above half is obtained.
3. Mix and mix all three mixtures thoroughly.

1. Soil treatment in the now popular sleeve for baking in the microwave. The undoubted advantage of this method of getting rid of pathogenic bacteria and larvae of parasites is that moisture remains in the soil, thus adding the effect of steaming with boiling water.
2. Calcining the soil mixture in the oven. To do this, spread on a baking sheet a layer of earth no more than 5 centimeters thick and send it for half an hour in a preheated to 85-90 degree oven.
   soil disinfection in oven soil disinfection in microwave
   
   
3. Steaming in a water bath is a little more laborious. You will need a large saucepan with slowly boiling water, a colander, a dense natural cloth, a lid and 30-40 minutes of time.

Treating the soil in a thermal way, it is important not to overexpose it, otherwise useful microorganisms will die, nitrogen will be mineralized, and the soil will become infertile.

Of course, there are also simpler methods of disinfection with the help of special, growth-inhibiting harmful bacteria, drugs or the same manganese. But how does this affect the taste of berries? Probably negative. Since we are talking about how to grow strawberries on a balcony, and large volumes of soil are not supposed, you can work a little for the sake of an irreproachable result.

Tare selection

The easiest way to plant is in a long drawer on the windowsill. But in this case, it will not be possible to collect a large crop, since no more than 10 bushes can be placed in such a container. Much more effective cascade containers, pots and pendant structures, which can be purchased at any specialized store. Or make by yourself:

1. .Take 4-5 pots of different diameters, insert the largest cylinder( for example, a piece of plastic pipe) and fill the empty space with drainage and soil, put the next pot on the top and so on.
2. Vertical trellis beds. Fold a piece of metal garden mesh into the cylinder and fasten the edges. Place a bag of special agrofiber inside, attach it and make holes for water drain at the bottom. For stability, place the resulting construction in a pot, fill it with soil and make staggered holes for seedlings( the distance between them is not less than 15 centimeters).
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3. Suspended bags can be made from spunbond orOther agrofiber, which transmits moisture and air. Dwells for seedlings do according to the principle mentioned above. The resulting vertical beds can be hung to the ceiling or placed on a wall.
   
   
   

The place for growing is ready, and you can go directly to the planting of young bushes.

Rules for landing

After you have observed all the above rules, the planting of strawberries on the balcony will not be very difficult. However, do not forget about the following conditions:

1. Once again make sure that the seedlings are healthy and viable. It's good to see a new kidney in the center of the bush. Also do not forget to examine the roots. If the tips are dry or sluggish, trim the damaged areas neatly.
   
   
   
2. Do not bury the bush too deep. The base should be on the surface, otherwise the young shoots will rot and the plant will die.
3. The very hole must be deep enough to prevent the roots from bending upward. This condition is especially important when planting in vertical beds.

Features of care

Because the volume of soil in the containers for growing strawberries on the balcony is not too large, plants require frequent additional fertilizing. If you do not have the time or sufficient experience, you can buy ready-made liquid fertilizers for fruit-bearing plants. But the harvest is not environmentally friendly.

It is not difficult to prepare your own feeding. Too "smelly" slurry and chicken litter at home use uncomfortable, so they can be replaced with infusion( 50/50) on water biohumus. If you want to get more and bright flowers( for example, for Tuscany), add to the infusion of potassium-rich foods( banana peel, potato peelings).Feed strawberries at least once every ten days.

potato peeling banana peel

With regard to the frequency of watering: the most intensive moisturizing homemade strawberries requires during flowering and tying berries. Make sure that the soil is constantly moist, but do not fill the plant.

It is best to water the strawberries grown on the loggia so that the water does not fall on the foliage. Firstly, with insufficient circulation of air on a moist surface, mold fungi and harmful bacteria can develop. Secondly, under direct sunlight, water droplets act like a magnifying glass, and the leaves will get burned.

To obtain high-quality large berries, it is necessary to remove the mustache that selects a lot of energy from the bush in time. Crop them is recommended 15-20 days after planting. Especially it concerns large-bred varieties( Elizabeth II), which can be left half of new shoots.

Useful advices for

Reflecting on how to grow strawberries on a balcony, beginners should first of all carefully consider the sequence of the process:

1. How to place on the loggia the designs for seedlings so that it is convenient for them to look after.
2. Choose varieties and get the right amount of seedlings. And take into account the fact that some of it may be substandard, so it's better to take a little more than planned.
3. Prepare to take care of the necessary little things: prepare containers for self-made fertilizers( for example, five-liter bottles from under water) and the ingredients needed for them.

In addition, remember that even experienced gardeners are sure to face the problem of plant disease. So, balcony strawberries often suffer from gray mold - in this case, you need to react instantly. First remove the damaged leaves and treat bushes with "Zircon" or a biologically active drug "Polyversum VP".

zircon gray rot

It is best to make a complete "first aid kit" for growing strawberries on the loggia. As mentioned above, you need to act quickly, otherwise you will have to resort to chemicals, which will definitely affect the quality of the fruit.

With proper care, the repair strawberry on the balcony will delight you for at least a couple of years. So, as they say, the sheepskin is worth making. Attach enough effort and enjoy the fruits of your labors.

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