How to plant strawberries?
It has long been known that fruits bring tremendous benefits to the human body, not to mention the fact that they are also very tasty.One of the first we are pleased with strawberries, enriching the immune system with a huge amount of useful substances. This berry is tasty both in fresh form, and as a jam, jam, and not only because there is not much of it. Since the culture is early, it is difficult to buy it in large quantities due to the high price, but you can grow it yourself. Do not do without knowledge of how exactly the process of planting this plant.
Mustache breeding
In order to make a big plantation of tasty berries from a small garden, there are various ways. Each of them is good in its own way, but everywhere there are advantages and disadvantages. Since the strawberry throws out a mustache in the process of growth and development, then the reproduction process can be considered the simplest by just these parts of it. This is a natural option, with the help of which a culture can produce itself, but to get good results, one cannot do without human intervention.
The whiskers that grow on the side of the bush, over time, begin to form their own root system and take root. If this is not obstructed, the plantation turns out to be very thickened, with the result that the berry grows shallow. The advantage of such natural breeding is full transfer of varietal characteristics of the young plant.
To get new bushes by dividing the whiskers, you need to select a few plants that have good appearance and give a stable and tasty crop, and leave them for reproduction.
Those bushes that give life to new shoots will not be able to give an abundance of strawberries, therefore it is not recommended to overload them with this task. The main plantation will be aimed at obtaining tasty fruits, and some plants will prepare young bushes, which in a year will bring the first crop. An ordinary healthy shrub can produce quite a lot of whiskers, which will greatly weaken the mother plant, therefore it is worthwhile normalizing them, leaving no more than seven. The optimal number of processes will make them stronger and form a powerful root system that can take root as soon as possible and give impetus for further development.
Strawberries are capable of throwing out a mustache from the beginning of summer, when the ambient temperature and the duration of daylight will be most suitable, but those shoots that were grown in July best survive. A strong plant gives a mustache not with one rosette, but with three or more, but the most suitable for breeding is the first one growing at the mother bush. In order not to waste his strength, it is worth cutting off the mustache immediately after the first outlet.
If there is a need to grow a large number of seedlings, you can leave two sockets and remove the tip of the process.
The mother bush should be fully concentrated on the process of reproduction, because it is important to monitor the appearance of flower stalks and immediately get rid of them, so as not to waste the power of the culture on unnecessary activities. The process of breeding strawberries with a mustache is carried out according to a specific algorithm.
- Bushes are selected for breeding that can give good material for planting.
- After the appearance of whiskers, their number is normalized, and all flower stalks are removed.
- When the roots are formed on the sockets, they must be pressed to the ground using wire or other means. In this place the fertile soil for rooting is poured. You can use a peat cup, which digs into the ground in the place where the socket is located, after which the rooting takes place in it, and not a single spine suffers during excavation.
- Produce watering a young plant every three days. The soil should be wet and the soil loose.
- Once the outlet is fully formed, have at least four fully developed leaflets and roots about 7 centimeters long, you can transfer to a permanent place. The most acceptable period for seating is considered the end of August and until the second half of September.It is important to work in dry weather without scorching sun, in the morning or in the evening, in order to provide the plants with the most comfortable conditions.
- The outlet must be separated from the parent plant and transferred to a permanent place, having dug it from the ground along with the soil in which it grew. Us trimmed at 10 cm from the parent bush. To young plant was not so dependent, you can notch a mustache in advance, gradually weaning from the original power source.
If everything is done correctly, the new bushes will quickly take root and will have time to get stronger before the onset of cold weather. In order for rooting and development to go faster, it is important to plant strawberries on the prepared bed, where suitable predecessors grew: carrot, radish, beet and herbs.
The soil should be light and nutritious, for which you need to make the right amount of fertilizer. Planting a berry crop in such conditions will give excellent results.
The method of dividing the bush
Work on the cultivation of new strawberry varieties continues to this day, which makes it possible to get not only increased yields and a pleasant taste of the berry, but also a partial or total absence of whiskers, which are wasting plant strength. These include remontant varieties for planting which use the method of dividing the bush. This option allows you to not stop the process of fruiting, which makes it possible not to lose the crop, but at the same time at the right time to get the right amount of new bushes.
Only completely healthy plants with a strong root system can be used for dividing. You should not multiply the bushes, if they have signs of damage by pests, because new bushes will have the same problems, which will adversely affect the quantity and quality of the crop. You can divide the crop with horns, but they are formed in adult plants, 2-4 years of age, because young plantings do not need to be used.
One big full-fledged strawberry bush can give at least five and up to 15 shoots, as long as each of them has a heart and roots.
The division procedure can be done during the growing season, but the most comfortable conditions for this are in early August. The process of reproduction of the bush occurs according to a certain pattern.
- Choose the most powerful and healthy plant, dig it up with the ground, so as not to damage the roots.
- If there are dry or yellow leaves, they should be removed, and the whole bush should be placed in a container with warm water. To disinfect the roots and protect the bush from diseases, you can add potassium permanganate to the water.
- As soon as all the earth comes down from the roots and sinks to the bottom of the tank, you can begin to divide the bush. It is advisable to stick the roots with the help of hands, without using cutting objects. During operation, it is important not to use excessive force in order not to damage the heart. If something needs to be cut off, a sharp object is used that must be sanitized beforehand.
- When the preliminary preparation is completed, the plants are left to dry the roots. At this time, it is possible to inspect them well and remove all problem areas by filling the cut with powder from chalk, activated carbon, wood ash, or cinnamon.
- When everything is ready, the sockets land on the place that was prepared for them. In order to stimulate the growth of the root part, it is necessary to cut the foliage part about half.
It is not always possible to achieve a good capable outlet, because small and weak options are planted in cups and grow one to two months before they are planted in open ground.
Following all the instructions, you can easily plant one bush, getting a lot of new shoots from it, which will rather quickly please with ripe and tasty berries.
How to propagate from seed?
There are quite a few options on how exactly strawberries can be planted, and besides the antennae and the division of the bush, there is another one that is also quite popular. This is reproduction with seeds.To get the seed material from the berries, you need to properly conduct all the preparatory activities, as well as know how to germinate and plant the resulting plants. Often this option is used by breeders who are puzzled by the cultivation of new varieties and hybrids, but anyone can try it.
The advantage of reproduction through seeds is the absence of any possibility of transmitting the disease from the mother plant to the new. The disadvantage is the lack of opportunity to grow a hybrid variety in this way.
To get the seeds yourself, you need to choose a good, large and ripe strawberries, cut off its top layer no more than two millimeters thick, cut into thin strips and put in a dry, warm place to dry. It is important that direct sunlight does not fall on the seeds.
After two or three days, the pulp is removed with the help of fingers from planting material, which is collected in fabric bags or glass jars for storage in a dry and cool place. refrigerator for two months.
The best will be the use of the box for vegetables and fruits, where the temperature is about +4 degrees, and there are no sharp jumps. If the substrate dries out, it should be moistened, maintaining the right conditions for the seeds.
The process of planting seeds takes place in February, for which you need to purchase a universal soil. In order to protect future plants from diseases, some wood ash or powdered chalk should be added to the soil.
Before planting the seeds, it is important to disinfect the ground into which they will be planted, for which boiling water is passed through it, it is calcined in the oven or frozen in the freezer.
When a week is left before the landing, the soil is soaked in a solution of Fitosporin, Trichodermine, Baikal, Aktofit, and then dried well. To plant strawberry seeds, you need to hold a series of activities.
- Soak the seed for 5 hours in a biostimulator. By placing the seeds in the solution, you need to immediately remove those that surfaced, since they are not suitable for germination. To prepare the seeds for different environmental conditions, it is recommended to harden them for a three-day period, laying out in a wet gauze in a freezer at night and in the warmest place during the day.
- Choose a tank in which the landing will be made. These should be wide containers, most of them filled with prepared primer. The first layer is a drainage 1-2 cm thick of expanded clay, then the ground itself, which needs to be moistened and compacted.
- Rows are formed at a distance of four centimeters, into which the seeds will fall. Deepen them worth no more than half a centimeter, not falling asleep above the ground.
- Cover the container with a film or glass and place in a dark, but warm place until the first shoots appear. Every day, the planting should be ventilated for about ten minutes, and the ground should be moistened with a spray bottle when it starts to dry out.
- When sprouts appear, the film or glass needs to be removed and the container moved to the most lighted place in the room. It is important to use additional lighting to extend the daylight hours to 14-16 hours. In the process of germinating seeds, the optimum temperature will be +23.25 degrees, and at the time of growth of green shoots it should be reduced to +18.20 so that the seedlings do not aspire too much.
- As soon as more than two leaves form on the plant, it is necessary to significantly reduce the temperature regime to +12.15 degrees. It is important: to moisten the ground only in case of drying of the upper layer, otherwise you can cause disease of the black leg. During this period, it is worth avoiding watering the leaves, because moisture is pipetted directly to the roots, this procedure is performed once a week. If traces of mold appear, it is necessary to treat the soil with a fungicide.
- After a few weeks, you can add a mixture of sand and peat under the root, which activates the growth of the root system.
- With the advent of more than four leaves, you need to dive plant. To facilitate the process of seeding seedlings need to be well watered and removed along with a clod of earth in which it grew. Planting is carried out in cups in which moderate watering is carried out and cultivated before planting in the ground.
- After 1-2 weeks you need to make the first fertilizer. The following cycles will be performed every few weeks. It is necessary to choose phosphorus-potassium fertilizers, in which the low level of nitrogen.
You can plant seedlings when there are at least 6 full leaflets on it and roots are developed. This usually falls on May-June, when night temperatures do not fall below +10 degrees Celsius. Until the landing, it is worthwhile to harden the seedlings, bringing them outside, increasing their presence there from one hour to 14 hours.
All subsequent actions will be the same as when working with any strawberry seedlings, and after a while it will be possible to observe a healthy plantation of the berry crop.
Common mistakes
To quickly plant strawberries and get a good harvest, it is important to choose the best bushes and decide on the breeding method. To avoid problems with this event, you need to know what errors may be.
- Hasty pruning of the antenna that connects the socket and the mother bush, which leads to a longer survival and a weak crop, and sometimes to the death of the socket.
- Lack of control over the number of whiskers and sockets, which weakens the parent plant, and the resulting sprouts have an incomplete development and take a long time to take root in a new place.
- Making a mustache transplant with sockets several times. This leads to deformation and damage to the root system, making it difficult to quickly settle in a permanent place.
- The process of planting seedlings produced in an unprepared place. For example, it is a soil with a lack of fertilizers, as well as improperly selected nutrients, too viscous or overdried soil.
Carrying out all actions correctly, without repeating mistakes, you can quickly and efficiently get a good strawberry plantation in the country, which in a year will please a powerful harvest.
The method of planting and growing strawberries, see the following video.