How to properly plant, plant, fertilize, water, protect against diseases and pests, and feed strawberries in the spring?
Contents
- How to plant strawberries in spring: step by step instruction
- How to plant or transplant the strawberries in spring?
- How to handle strawberries in early spring from diseases and pests?
- How to feed strawberries in early spring?
- Spring pruning in spring: scheme
- Watering strawberries in spring
- Strawberry - spring care: tips of seasoned gardeners
- How to take care of strawberries in spring: Video
Strawberries are one of the most popular berries that grow on the territory of our country. In order to get a good harvest of this crop, you need to know a few rules for planting and caring for it. In this article we will consider the procedure for planting and growing strawberries in the spring period of the year.
How to plant strawberries in spring: step by step instructions
Here are the main stages of planting strawberries in spring:
Selection of planting material
Experienced gardeners consider that quality seedlings should have the following characteristics:
- Roots in length - 8-10cm( if longer, they should be shortened to the specified value)
- Diameter of the root neck - 6mm
- Number of leaves - 5pcs.
Selection of a site for planting
- The optimal side for growing strawberries in the spring is the south-west direction.
- This crop grows very well on slopes with a small angle of 2-3 degrees, as well as in lowland areas.
- Professionals consider solanaceous cultures to be unsuccessful predecessors for strawberries, as well as strawberry itself, which grows on this site for the last 4 years - it will be best to drop it into the soil in which cereals have grown before.
- Also undesirable neighborhood for this sweet berries are forest plantations and fields, since strawberries can suffer from invasions of May beetles.
Soil preparation
- The optimal time to prepare soil for strawberries for the next spring is August. In this period, it is desirable to remove all the weeds from the planned plot and dig it.
- In the spring, a month before planting the crop, it is necessary to remove all weed plants and disinfect the soil.
- On the eve of planting strawberries, if necessary, it is necessary again to exterminate all weeds and raze the soil with rakes.
- Ideal soil for strawberries is chernozem, fertilized with ash, with an acidity of 5.5-6.5 rN.Sour and peat soils for this berry are contraindicated.
Planting strawberries
- Planting of strawberries can be done in a single line or two-line way.
- Single-line method involves planting plants at a distance of 16cm from each other and 60cm between rows.
- With a two-line method, the aisle equals 30 cm, and the distance between the bushes is 60 cm.
- For the spring planting of strawberries, the two-line method is considered optimal, but even with a single line one can get a good berry harvest.
- The depth of the holes for the bush should be from 7 to 10 cm, as the roots in them will be located vertically.
- If, during the preparation of the site in the autumn, the soil was not fertilized, then after filling the holes in them it is desirable to decompose the ash, humus or chicken manure.
- Planting material on the eve of disembarkation should be kept for 2-3 days in open boxes in the shade.
- If the rhizomes of plants look dry, then half an hour before planting, they are best placed in water( you can add a growth stimulant to the liquid).
- Before planting strawberries, the wells should be filled with water( half a liter of water in each well).
- Place the strawberry bush in the hole so that its core is level with the soil, and the roots are neatly straightened.
- Correctly located, a bush of strawberries must be covered with earth and covered with peat or a 2-3 cm thick humus.
- To make sure that the seedling is safely sitting in the ground, you can slightly pull the plant by the leaf - if it does not slip out of the hole, then the landing was carried out correctly.
- After planting, strawberries must be watered.
- If at the time of transplanting the temperature in the street is not too high, then the beds with strawberries can be covered with a film, and after warming, remove it.
How to plant or transplant a strawberry in the spring?
- First of all, it should be said that you can transplant or plant strawberries in spring, summer and autumn.
- Autumn is considered the best time for transplantation, but summer with spring for these purposes is also suitable.
- If you plant a strawberry in the spring, then you need to do it in early April. Slow growth and development is characteristic of plants transplanted in late April or early May.
- Transplantation is necessary for strawberry bushes, which "sat" in one place for more than 4 years. Such plants are characterized by the beauty of the bush, but the scarcity of the crop - some bushes generally stop giving berries.
- For strawberry transplantation, it is best to choose shaded areas with fertile soil.
- Bad potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, pumpkin, pepper, eggplant are bad predecessors for planting this sweet berry. These crops are able to deplete the soil and contribute to the breeding in it of pest-threatening pests.
- A suitable soil, in which before our berries grew legumes, parsley, radish, celery, carrots or garlic.
- Prepare the ground for transplantation in advance.
- For a month or two before planting, the site should be cleared of weeds, dig, fertilized and thoroughly moistened.
- In order for the moisture to stay in the finished soil as long as possible and promote the development of useful organisms in it, the finished plot can be covered with agrofiber.
- Transplanting strawberries is necessary in a non-sunny, cool day. The air temperature should not exceed 20 ° C.
- If during the day there is a hot, sunny weather, then the procedure of seating is better to postpone for evening time.
- As a transplant, it is best to choose the second or third year of life. You can also use as a seedling developed mustache, located next to the mother's bush. Their root system is much more developed than in less mature tendrils.
- You can transplant strawberries in a two-line or three-line way. With a three-line method, the distance between the bush will be 30 cm, between rows - 40 cm, and the width of the ridge will be 120 cm.
- After the holes in the prepared area are excavated, they need to be carefully moistened. When the water is completely absorbed into the earth, it is necessary to make the actual transplant.
- Seedlings are excavated just before they are dipped into a new well.
- In order to unearth a bush of strawberries, it is necessary to dig a plant from two sides with two shovels 5-6 cm from the bush and separate the desired sprout. Earth clod should remain on the bush.
- The bush must be dug in such a way that its core is at a level with the ground, the roots are under the earth, and the foliage above it.
- Immediately after transplanting, strawberries should be well watered.
How to handle strawberries in early spring from diseases and pests?
Strawberry has a number of enemies and diseases. To combat each of them it is necessary to use completely different methods and preparations.
Preventing many pests and diseases can be the treatment of strawberry bushes in the spring Bordeaux fluid, Topaz or Fufan.
If we consider each problem separately, then the following tools must be used against it:
- Copper chloride, Bordeaux liquid or saw dust mulch will help in the fight against gray rot.
- It is recommended to use black copper chloride or a light manganese solution against black rot.
- Powdery mildew can be overcome with sulfuride, colloidal sulfur, light manganese solution or fungicides.
- With patchy bushes advised to fight with copper chloride, and in extreme cases - sulfuric acid.
- To exterminate an earthy mite, you can try the infusion of dandelions, decoction of tomato tops or Carpobos.
- Spider web is afraid of infusion of wormwood or tobacco, Carbophos( after picking berries) or Fitover( at the end of flowering).
- With strawberry weevil often use a decoction of fresh cheremica or wormwood, Carbophos( after harvest) or Iskra-M.
- Such enemies as lice, slugs or snails are afraid of copper vitriol - it can be sprayed on plants or scattered between rows. Superphosphates( before the appearance of berries) and quicklime are also effective in such cases.
- Many truck farmers to plant nematodes are planted near the strawberry marigold. If the disease still affects the plant, then the sick bushes can be tried to dig and hold in the salt solution( per liter of water 15g of salt) for 15 minutes. Immediately after the procedure, rhizomes should be thoroughly washed and planted shrubs back into the ground.
- In order to exterminate the larvae of the wireworm and the click-stick, it is necessary to bury vegetables between the rows of strawberries. A couple of days, vegetables with pests in them are worth digging.
How to feed strawberries in the early spring?
Experienced gardeners recommend fertilizing strawberries thrice a year - in early spring( mid-to-late April), immediately before flowering and at the final stage of fruiting.
The first top dressing can be carried out with organic or inorganic fertilizers.
Organic fertilizers include:
- ash
- chicken manure
- humus
- manure cow or horse
Organic fertilizers can simply be laid out under strawberry bushes, and you can make water solutions from them. This kind of feeding is good in that it is never a lot, and the fact that it is natural.
Warning! Cautious should only be with chicken droppings, since it contains a large concentration of nitrogen, which can cause burns to the root system.
Inorganic fertilizers for strawberries must necessarily contain nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. To feed strawberries with this kind of fertilizer can be according to the instructions on the package. The seller in a mineral fertilizer store can always tell you what type of fertilizing your strawberry will do, since you need to take into account its grade, age and climatic conditions of the region.
Spring Pruning in Spring:
Opinions of experts as to whether or not it is necessary to trim strawberries in summer and autumn, have long been divided. Many people think that this procedure only harms the plant, while others, on the contrary, are confident that after harvesting wasteful leaves and leaves, the yield of strawberries increases at times.
Whatever it was, but spring pruning strawberries still need. It allows you to eliminate weak links in the whole bush, do not spend plant forces on unnecessary processes and direct all its energy to the development of berries.
Procedure for performing spring pruning:
- With a pruner or hands, we remove from the bush all dead sprouts, damaged or darkened leaves, and also leaves that have spread out on the ground.
- . If the bush is not planned for the next year, then remove its young sockets
- . In parallel with pruning, we performcleaning of bushes from weeds
- Cut loose leaves and stems of strawberries and weeds carefully remove from the site
- With steel rod we loosen the soil around the strawberry bushes
- Pour well the strawberry
- Uwe kindly plant
Watering strawberries in spring
Watering for strawberries is very important, as the entire period of plant life its leaves evaporate a large amount of moisture. In this case, the root system of the strawberry is located in the upper layers of the soil, which does not allow it to feed moisture from the ground.
After planting young seedlings, they must be watered three times a day( 3 liters of water per 1m2) daily during the crescent. When the sprouts reach a two-week period, they should be watered in a day or two. All this time the plant can be sprayed, and already with the appearance of flowers on its stems, it is necessary to ensure drip irrigation.
Strawberry - spring care: tips of seasoned gardeners
Strawberries are a rather finicky and whimsical plant. In addition, it is prone to attack pests and numerous diseases. That is why seasoned gardeners recommend caring for strawberries carefully and scrupulously.
The main points of proper care for these small bushes are:
- correct planting
- frequent watering
- timely feeding
- neatly trimmed bushes
- daily inspection of the plant
- correct control of diseases and pests
Only by following all of the above rules can you grow a healthy plant and get a gooda crop of sugar strawberries.