How to grow strawberries in bags all year round

There are few people who would refuse fresh strawberries. Unfortunately, the fruit bearing season is short, and for most of the year it is necessary to be content with frozen or canned berries. About the cultivation of strawberries all year round in bags is exactly what this article tells. To have a fresh product on the table at any time, it's enough to plant bushes in special beds.

Features of cultivation of garden strawberries in bags

You can grow strawberries in bags both horizontally and vertically. In the first case, sacks with seedlings are placed on racks, forming beds. In the second they are hung on supports or placed on shelves. If the area of ​​the room where the berry will be located is small, you can stop on the vertical method. In greenhouses, a horizontal landing is usually used.

The technology of cultivation is quite simple. The main thing is to organize good lighting, the necessary temperature, humidity and timely care.

1. To begin with, choose the room in which the plantation will be equipped. If strawberries are grown only in the summer, bags with seedlings can be placed on a balcony, a loggia or in an unheated greenhouse with a good ventilation system. If the year-round harvest is expected, it will require a closed room, in which it is possible to maintain a constant temperature. For this purpose, a shed or garage is suitable. The most suitable option for mass planting is a heated greenhouse.
2. A small number of bags can be placed on the floor. For a large number of beds you will need to equip shelves or supports for hanging.
3. The room where the strawberries are in the bags should be well lit. If there is not enough light, then you need to install lamps over the berry. They must work at least 8 hours a day. Ideally, the bushes should be under the lamp for 14 hours. The best light for plants is yellow light, since it is softer. To make the strawberry light evenly, the bag should be rotated from time to time.
4. Garden strawberries will grow well only in warmth. The optimal temperature for normal plant development is 21-23 degrees. In addition, bushes need good aeration, that is, air exchange. The room should be regularly ventilated. If it is too hot, the roots of strawberries can be stained, and the plant will die.
   Humidity of air and soil plays an important role. Lack or excess water will lead to the death of the berry.
5. You can organize the necessary conditions for strawberries at home in a variety of ways. Everything will depend on the size of the berry plantation and, to some extent, on the weather conditions. In case there are few shrubs, the microclimate can be created manually using a fan, a heater and a simple air humidifier. If the bags with strawberries occupy a significant area, then to create a microclimate will require more expensive devices, such as an external extractor and a steam generator.
6. When equipping a berry plantation, the distance between the seed beds should be observed. To ensure that plants receive sufficient light and to facilitate their care, it is recommended that each square meter of the room has about three bags. The same density is observed when they are placed in tiers.

How to prepare a strawberry growing bag

To start work, you need to prepare the seed beds. You can buy them in the store, use kapron tare from sugar, cereals or potatoes, and also make it yourself from polyethylene film. The seed from the bag is made as follows:

• A rectangle is cut out of dense polyethylene. Its width should be 15-20 cm, and height - 1,5-2 m.
• The edges of the rectangle must be tightly joined( it is best to solder) so that a long bag is formed.
• At the bottom of the bag a drainage cushion is made of expanded clay to prevent waterlogging and, as a result, decay of the root system.
• Then the container is filled with a mixture of garden soil, peat and fertilizer. You can buy a primer in a specialized store and mix it with ash and wood chips.
• The filled bag is pulled by a rope, and then it is installed or placed on a shelf or suspended. The second option is most convenient, especially if such bags are made several times. Usually they are arranged in 2 rows on the wall.
• In staggered order at a distance of 20 cm from each other in the bag are made vertical incisions. The length of each is from 8 to 10 cm.
  Cuttings are made from four sides, if the containers do not touch the wall. Otherwise - only from three.
• One strawberry bush is planted in each slot. Two more plants can be placed in the open upper part of the bed.

Care of strawberries in bags

Feeding. They are carried out during flowering and fruit formation. Feed strawberries with fertilizer in the form of a solution. It can be potassium fertilizer or chicken litter. It is recommended to conduct the procedure once a week.

Regular watering is one of the main conditions for the successful cultivation of strawberries in polyethylene bags. How the irrigation of the berry will occur depends on the way it is grown. With the horizontal method, strawberries can be watered from a hose or watering cans, since it is located in the bag in the same way as on a regular bed.

With a vertical method, watering plants manually is very difficult, therefore a special irrigation system should be used. For this purpose, you can use medical droppers and a two-liter plastic bottle.

1. 3 tubes of different lengths are carried to each bag. One of them is located on top, the other - in the middle, the third - closer to the bottom. The distance between the ends of the tubes should be 50 cm.
2. The opposite ends of the droppers are inserted into the drilled three-place cap of the bottle filled with water. The bottle is hung with a neck down above the bags of strawberries.
3. The gradual supply of water is then regulated.

• When the fruiting is complete, the old dry foliage is removed from the bushes.
• In the containers installed next to the bags, rooted young sockets that appeared on the mustache. In August, the bushes can be moved to a permanent place.
• In the autumn, bags that were in an unheated greenhouse or on a balcony are cleaned in a warm room.
• Strawberry, which is grown in bags, fructifies 2 seasons. After that, remove the old bushes and update the soil mixture.

Dutch technology

To grow strawberries in bags all year round, you can apply well-proven Dutch technology. Let us dwell on its principles.

• Every 2 months you need to plant new seedlings in bags, which will ensure continuous ripening of the crop.
• For cooking soil mixture use steamed peat and perlite. In addition, instead of the usual soil, bags can be filled with coconut fiber or mineral wool.
• Bags with strawberries are suspended or installed in a heated room vertically.
• Plants require drip irrigation, additional lighting and ventilation, as with a conventional vertical method of cultivation.

Its essence is that the seasoned material from the mustache is placed in special conditions for planting. In this case, the seedlings remain viable for 9 months, but its development seems to freeze. It will not be difficult to store it. It is only necessary to find a suitable room and to acquire control and measuring devices.

• For "conservation", a temperature of 0 to 2 degrees Celsius is required. Such a regime is maintained in a conventional refrigerator or in a cellar. It is also possible to equip the compartment with the corresponding indicators directly in the greenhouse. It is important that the temperature does not rise and fall with respect to the set reference point. Otherwise, the seedlings will die or begin to develop before the desired time.
• Indoor humidity should be maintained. It should be maintained at 90%.
• And, finally, you need to constantly monitor the air and gas performance. In the air should be 5% carbon dioxide and 2.5% oxygen.

As you can see, mastering the technology of growing strawberries in bags is not very difficult. Enough to stock up on the necessary material and patience. As a result, you can not only please yourself and loved ones with a tasty and useful product, but also organize a profitable business.

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