Strawberry "Queen Elizabeth": characteristics and characteristics of growing

"Queen Elizabeth" - one of the most popular varieties.Many gardeners are interested in agrotechnical requirements for planting and planting strawberries, caring for the plant, resistance to diseases and pests, the views of gardeners.

Berry came to the Rostov region at the end of the twentieth century. It is believed that it was brought from England, but the fact is not proven. There is an opinion that the variety was bred by the USA. Tasters estimate the berry at 4.7 points out of 5. "Queen Elizabeth" has a remontant type of fruiting: the crop happens several times a season.

There are no strawberries registered in the Russian State Registry, and therefore there are no official parameters of the variety. Fixed conflicting statements of gardeners about the rules of agronomy "Queen Elizabeth." Farmers are unable to reach a unanimous opinion about the prospects for obtaining garden strawberries from seeds.

In 2001, the breeder Mikhail Kachalkin accidentally brought out a new variety, “Queen Elizabeth 2”, similar to the original source, which entered the register in 2004.

"Queen Elizabeth" - oboyepoly garden strawberries. Smooth strawberry leaves can be medium to large size. Spring leaves of a light green color, by the summer will get a bright color. Garden strawberries have almost no barren flowers. White flowers of large size with a small terry located under the leaves.

The first fruits of the growing season are round oval. By the end of summer, the glistening bright red berry lengthens, becoming like a cone with a bright tip. Its weight can reach 90 g, average strawberries - 60 g. Garden strawberries are characterized by dense, sweet pulp. The plant has a high, upright, semi-sprawling, powerful bush.

Peduncles are located directly, therefore, unlike other varieties, strawberries almost never touch the ground. Always pure berry does not rot and does not spoil the view from contact with the soil. The repair strawberry loses a lot of strength over the season, so small fruits ripen on old bushes. Plant life span is 2-3 years.

Harvest appears early. In the second half of May, the first berries ripen, because the flower stalks on the bushes remain in autumn. Formed buds begin to thrive with the arrival of the first warm spring days.

Strawberry spends great efforts on tying and pouring berries, therefore it rarely throws out a mustache. During one growing season, only 3 to 5 whiskers are tied, each with about 3 sockets. In a month you can get an additional harvest.

With favorable climatic conditions and good care get a bountiful harvest. 350 kg of strawberries can be harvested from one hectare of land, 10 kg per square meter. Fruits have a marketable appearance, they are stored for a long time, they withstand long transportation.

A distinctive feature of "Queen Elizabeth" is neutrality: independence from the length of daylight hours. For this reason, garden strawberries can be grown in the winter on the windowsill and replenish the body with vitamins year-round. Under the open sky, it can bear fruit over the summer 5 times.

The grade well fructifies under the open sky, in greenhouses, on balconies and window sills. Soil is prepared for 30-35 days before the upcoming landing. For the cultivation of strawberries suitable loamy and sandy soil with low acidity: pH - 5.0-6.0. Heavy and marshy ground is no good.

The prepared illuminated area must be cleared of pebbles, and weeds must be uprooted. The soil is supplied with peat and humus, dug, left to rot for about a month. Holes 15 cm deep make immediately before landing. Bushes should be 30-35 cm apart. The row spacing is at least 65 cm.

Planted plant overcast day. Outside should be dry.

Then the plant will have time to take root before the onset of winter cold. When planting in the fall you need to take care of a good shelter.

The soil is fertilized directly at the time of planting with phosphorus, calcium nitrate (20 grams are required for one pit). The roots of the seedlings must be trimmed, cut off the extra leaves.

For planting it is best to choose the beds on which were grown onions, garlic, carrots, spinach, dill, clover, cereals and cruciferous crops. After cabbage, cucumbers and nightshade, do not advise planting strawberries "Queen Elizabeth."

Phased landing instructions:

• the bottom of the pits is filled with soil in the form of a small hill;
• fed with fertilizer;
• water hole;
• put a strawberry seedling, leveling the roots to the bottom of the hill;
• cover the roots with soil, slightly compacted to avoid the formation of voids;
• do not bury the heart of the socket;
• cover the bush with a plastic bottle with cuts;
• watering after the upper layer of soil dries out (one liter of liquid will be needed for one bush);
• foliar fertilization is necessary until the fruit ripens.

"Queen Elizabeth" loves moderate humidity. With excessive moisture, fruits become watery and completely unsweetened. The variety loves good light. It is recommended to create new beds for planting seedlings of this variety annually at the end of August, as the berry shrinks noticeably from year to year.

Growing strawberries requires constant care: watering, feeding, preventive measures against diseases and pests, mulching, loosening, getting rid of weeds and timely removal of antennae. It is advised to care for "Elizabeth", as for an annual plant.

Fruit “Queen Elizabeth” from May to October, therefore, needs to be systematically replenished.

Chicken droppings, cow dung and yeast are also needed by the plant. From nitrogen fertilizers, sodium and calcium nitrate are best for “Elizabeth”: it clears the soil perfectly.

Nitrogen strengthens the green parts of the bush and promotes the growth of strawberries. Potassium contributes to the development of roots, berries and immunity. Calcium eliminates the soil from unnecessary trace elements, promotes the rapid maturation of the fruit. Potassium chloride and potash salt "Queen Elizabeth" is prohibited to feed.

In the spring, it is best to use urea, phosphoric acid, nitrogen and ammonium fertilizers. In the formation of flowers using organic fertilizer. Litter chickens bred in water 1:20, mullein 1:10 with the addition of ash, humus, grassy infusion. It is also recommended to spray rubin or ovary with the drugs purchased in the store.

You can independently prepare a solution.

• Mix 2 grams of potassium nitrate and potassium permanganate, a gram of boric acid. The mixture is dissolved in a liter of warm water.
• A glass of ash diluted in a liter of boiling water. They are kept for 2 hours, filtered.
• Pressed yeast (1 kg) is poured with five liters of water. A day later, 1 liter of the present liquid is diluted with two buckets of water, sprayed with strawberries.

As soon as the berry begins to ripen, fertilizers are sprayed to the very root of the bush. In order to avoid getting a burn, the plant is fertilized in the early morning or in cloudy weather.

Top dressing of "Elizabeth" is carried out weekly. In August, strawberries are fertilized with potassium. Organic manure in the fall.

For 1 square meter is required:

• agrofoski - 45 g (per bucket of water);
• sodium or calcium nitrate - 30 g (per bucket of water);
• potassium sulfate - 25 g (per bucket of water), potassium sulphate can be replaced with vegetable ash - 500 g;
• superphosphate - 25 g (per bucket of water);
• organics - 5 kg.

Water the strawberries every other day. During flowering and formation of ovaries, it is necessary to irrigate the plant more carefully.During the period of fruiting in order to avoid rotting, watering is reduced.

On hot and dry days, the plant requires constant drip irrigation: no need to bring the leaves to the state of lethargy. The soil should be moistened up to 5 cm deep. Excessive moisture should be avoided. In the period of heavy rains, beds should be covered with non-woven material or film on the frame.

Mulching will serve as protection against an overabundance of moisture and weeds. It is produced by sawdust, humus, crushed cones, coniferous twigs. To strengthen the roots of the soil should be thoroughly gnawed after irrigation and rain. When mulching, non-woven material is watered less often: weeds cannot grow through it.

Dried soil is always loosened. Furrows between the rows should preferably be planted with mustard, which will protect garden strawberries from fungi and help retain moisture. In winter, the soil cannot be left cracked, otherwise the plant will not tolerate frost.

Before the onset of cold weather, the soil should be carefully watered, hilling done, cut off all flower stalks, unripe fruits, old leaves, cover the bushes with needles and agrofibre. Mulching is best done with peat, humus. Straw for this purpose should not be used, as mice will be hibernating there.

Vegetative reproduction is best suited for this variety: dividing the bush or rosettes with roots on the antennae.

• First, carefully examine the root of the excavated plant. In order to avoid damage to the root system, carefully split the "horns". Powder dust ash. You can use crushed activated carbon. Seated bushes are formed in separate pits. On all separated sprouts must be present outlet.
• A bar with a three-leaf rosette and spine pressed to the garden, where a new growing place is planned. Fix the mustache with a flexible wire or pebble. As soon as the plant has taken root, the outlet is separated from the main bush. Top dressing and watering is carried out by spraying. To prepare seedlings for the implementation of the outlet rooted immediately in a suitable container.

Seeds to propagate "Queen Elizabeth" is best in special conditions of breeding stations. At home, they do not sprout badly, may lose their varietal characteristics. An attempt is crowned with success only if the agrotechnical rules for breeding strawberries with the help of seeds are observed:

• for sowing pick a well-lit place;
• seedlings are planted in early February;
• mixed humus and sand in a ratio of 5: 3;
• warm up for 3 hours in an oven at a temperature of 100 degrees for the disinfection of seed material;
• prepare containers, crates, or other suitable container;
• soak the seeds in the Epin Extra stimulator solution;
• fill the cooked pot with a soil mixture, compact it;

• spray the soil with water, lay out the seeds;
• closed with film or glass container;
• first held at +5 degrees, after 3-4 days moved to a place with a temperature of +22 degrees;
• in order to avoid drying out of the soil, regular spraying is necessary;
• the first shoots will begin to appear in about a month;
• when the first two leaves appear, shoots swoop in pots;
• air temperature must be reduced to +15 degrees;
• when 5-6 true leaves are formed, the sprout can be transplanted into the soil.

"Queen Elizabeth" is resistant to diseases and pests. She is not afraid of raspberry-strawberry weevil and fungal diseases. But preventive measures should still be taken. The timely destruction of diseased plants, compliance with the rules of agrotechnology, the presence of strong seedlings and the correct crop rotation is the key to the health of strawberries.

Irreparable harm to "Elizabeth" can cause ticks, ants, slugs, larvae of May beetles, nematodes and birds.Garlic, marigold and calendula are usually planted between the rows to repel pests. At the first signs of the disease of strawberries, it is necessary to take appropriate measures immediately.

• Protect from the attack of the weevil can tobacco dust - a natural organic means to combat pests. She sprinkled leaves of garden strawberries.
• In order to avoid the appearance of gray rot due to prolonged rains strawberries should be covered. For preventive purposes, the plant is treated with Integral or Fitosporin. The appeared gray decay is destroyed by iodine solution. You need to add 10 ml of the substance to a bucket of water, process the plant 3 times every 10 days.

• When the smell of the bedbug from strawberry leaves is necessary to plant a row spacing with a klopogonom. It discourages all herbivorous bugs.
• Spider mite is exterminated with a solution of colloidal sulfur (80 grams per bucket of water). Mealy dew is eradicated in the same way.
• Slugs devour the fruits of strawberries, are carriers of worms. From the slugs can save scattered needles around the bushes needles, cones. Chopped eggshells are a good way to fight slugs. It is advised to plant fennel, rosemary, parsley next to strawberries. Strongly smelling solutions of soda, urea, copper and clove, tobacco or garlic tincture help.
• When strawberry or stem nematode enters the soil, it is necessary to destroy the plant along with a clod of earth, and to treat all the soil with Nematophagin. After that, the beds are sown with oats.

• With strawberry mite, water heated to +70 degrees can cope. Half a liter of liquid will need to spray one bush. In the fight against the tick will help uniform irrigation solution "Agravertina". In a liter of water diluted with 2 ml of the drug. Processing plants onion (200 g husks in a bucket of water) or garlic extract will also save strawberries from pests.
• The most terrible enemies for strawberries are the larvae of the May beetle. For their extermination it is necessary to scatter under the bushes "Trichopol". The plant affected by the larvae is treated with a solution: a teaspoon of ammonia is dissolved in water (1 l).

For complex prophylaxis, they acquire the biological drug Bitoxibacillin. The solution is prepared at home as follows: in a bucket of water, add a teaspoon of oil of fir and iodine, 2 tablespoons of birch tar, 2 teaspoons of ammonia and a little bit of boron.

Guest gardeners testify: the taste of strawberries depends on the amount of light received, heat. Early and late berries are not very sweet. Juicy, fragrant aroma, wonderful honey taste fruits get in the summer months.

Berries are well processed, perfectly amenable to conservation, do not boil soft. After drying and freezing, taste is not lost. Of them prepare pastila, juice, compotes, jam, jam. Fine strawberries are mashed with sugar. The favorite dish of most is the berry with whipped cream.

Gardeners claim that The very first spring harvest from a bush is 0.5 kg, for the whole season - 2 kg. To increase the yield, Queen Elizabeth recommends picking off all her flowers during the fruiting period of other strawberry varieties. Then "Elizabeth" will ripen before the onset of cold weather.

Harvesting is carried out in the evening or early in the morning. Before processing, unwashed berries are stored in a refrigerator for up to one and a half weeks. It is recommended to pluck dry whole fruits that did not have time to rehash. Strawberries ripen well during storage.

"Queen Elizabeth" gardeners appreciate for large fruits, early ripening, resistance to frost and drought, lack of soil, berry ripening in the first year of planting, fruiting duration, abundant harvest, beautiful and neat appearance, good persistence, excellent portability of transportation,exquisite aroma and great taste.

A description of the strawberry variety “Queen Elizabeth” is shown in the following video.