How to plant and grow strawberries on the balcony?

Today, many garden crops are successfully grown at home.This concerns not only rather exotic citrus trees, but also strawberries familiar to all. Competent selection of varieties of berries and following simple rules for the care will allow the plant to successfully develop and bear fruit on the balcony or windowsill in the apartment and private house.

More and more people today tend to grow vegetables and fruits in their garden. Those who do not have their own plot do an excellent job with the cultivation of plants at home. As for strawberries, the culture is able to bear fruit all year round on the windowsill, which allows some gardeners to cultivate the plant not only for personal purposes, but also for subsequent implementation. That is why homemade strawberries have long become a reality.

Thanks to the active practice of breeding berries, several methods of growing it in a private dwelling were formed. Culture grows in pots, bags, plastic bottles and even boxes. The choice of one or another method directly depends on the purpose of plant reproduction and the area that can be allocated for this occupation.

Culture belongs to the heat-loving plants, so in the apartment or on the balcony throughout the year should be a positive temperature, not lower than the average value of + 18.20 ° C. Such a climate can easily be ensured in the winter, on a warm balcony, or by installing additional heating devices during the cold season. The main requirement is to avoid lowering the temperature at which the culture may die.

Air circulation is carried out by standard airing, and the soil mixture for culture can be purchased at any store of goods for the garden. It is also easy to get a substrate for planting strawberries in the forest, disinfect it and mix it with sand and sawdust. As a result, light soil will be formed, which will ensure good air exchange to the root system.

In addition, at home, remontant strawberry varieties are excellently developed, which can bear fruit several times during the year.

If you plan to grow berries from seeds, purchased planting material should be placed in the refrigerator for a month. This will help to harden it, so that the seedlings will rise at home much faster.

The best place for breeding berries will be the south side, where the culture will receive the maximum amount of sunlight. In the winter period, it is recommended to equip additional lighting for strawberry plantations, as it is known that the plant can yield only with a prolonged light day, which should be at least 14 hours.

Container for plants should not be more than three liters in volume; seedlings are best grown in disposable plastic containers. As practice shows, it is very convenient to grow strawberries in long pots, which will save space on the loggia. In such containers, 2-3 bushes are usually planted so that cultures receive all the necessary substances for growth and also do not interfere with each other during development. Strawberries without a transplant can bear fruit in one bit more than about three years.

Thanks to the emergence of completely new varieties of strawberries, its cultivation has become possible not only in the garden or greenhouse. For cultivation of culture on the balcony amateur variety of suitable crops is offered to amateur gardeners.But before buying it is necessary to ascertain the resistance of the selected variety to diseases and to determine the terms of fruiting, since the time difference can reach two to three weeks.

Experienced gardeners recommend buying immediately varieties with early and late periods of fruiting, so that there is the possibility of almost continuous harvesting of berries. To grow strawberries on the balcony, you should opt for frost-resistant species, eliminating the risk of freezing plants in the winter in case of unforeseen circumstances.

An excellent option for home cultivation is considered to be curling strawberries with multiple fruiting. This type is remarkable for its beauty, in addition, the berries have high taste characteristics. With the right agrotechnology, you can harvest from the beginning of May until the arrival of cold weather. Among the popular varieties is to highlight the "Albion" or "Temptation". Quite often, climbing varieties are grown in hanging pots, getting not only a regular harvest of juicy fruits, but also an interesting decoration for a loggia.

For planting a large number of strawberry bushes, you can opt for the Frigo culture. Despite the high cost, the plant can begin to bear fruit within a few months after planting. Field strawberries are less in demand for cultivation at home, since the culture only acquires the ability to bear fruit only two years after rooting. But seedlings of such a culture have a fairly affordable price. Therefore, it is suitable for more patient gardeners.

The best solution for the balcony will be the purchase of remontant varieties of berry crops, which will produce crops twice a year. Another positive feature of this species is the possibility of the formation of fruit buds, not only on the parent culture, but also on the shoots. As a rule, in 2-3 months after planting the strawberry will please with its first harvest. However, repair plants due to frequent fruiting are aging quickly, so the plantations on the balcony will need to be rejuvenated regularly.

The most sought-after varieties of this kind include “Suprim” and “Queen Elizabeth II”, which at home demonstrate high yields. The repair variety “Homemade delicacy” is distinguished by excellent taste qualities of berries and their large sizes, it can be grown in a shallow container, because the root system of bushes has compact dimensions and is not prone to growth. For home breeding, the Darlelect variety is also preferred, which bears fruit well, and with proper care, the berries can reach 80 grams.

No less popular are ampel varieties, such cultures are usually located in pendant containers, since plants have long brushes with fruiting rosettes. In some cases, the size of such shoots is close to the 30-centimeter mark. For cultivation on the balcony, you should pay attention to the varieties of "Roman", "Tuscany" or "Ampelnaya Geneva."

The most effective option for breeding and growing strawberries at home is planting seedlings, this is due to the short period of development of the plant in comparison with planting crops using seeds. Young bushes can be purchased at the respective nurseries or else be collected at their summer cottage.

As mentioned above, it is preferable to place the pots with berries on the south side, however, on loggias with windows facing east, the plant also develops well. If the balcony faces north, it is worthwhile to pre-install sources of additional lighting in order to continuously provide strawberries with light.

As practice shows, the plant develops correctly at 12-14-hour light day. In winter and autumn, lamps should work in the morning and after sunset.

The optimal level of humidity is considered to be no more than 70-75%, too dry and heated air is moistened with the help of special devices or by spraying the plants with a spray gun, controlling the indicators, taking into account the fact that excess moisture will cause fungal infections.

The capacity is selected based on the area of ​​the balcony, the variety of strawberries and personal preferences of the owner of the plantation. Amppel strawberries are hung in pots, the rest of the crops can be placed in ordinary flower pots.

Quite often, long boxes-containers, equipped with special openings for the release of excess moisture, are used as containers for growing crops. In such a container, the bushes are planted at a distance of 20 centimeters from each other.

When buying soil for planting strawberries, you can take for use any option intended for planting vegetables and flowers. The substrate itself is prepared from coniferous soil mixed with humus and sand. Sometimes as a filler for pots under strawberries prepare a mixture of biohumus and peat. The main requirement for the ground is moderate humidity and lightness. If the soil mixture is made independently, phosphate fertilizers are additionally introduced into it.

As the planting material, only the largest and strongest shoots are taken from the parent culture, after separation they are rooted in a separate container and left to rest for two weeks to adapt in a cool and shaded place.

Before planting in the pots at the bottom lay clay or broken brick. Planting at home is carried out as follows:

• a drainage layer is formed with a small amount of soil;
• the roots of the bushes are kept in potassium permanganate for several minutes;
• the plant is located in the tank, the root system is expanded;
• then the plant is sprinkled with the remaining amount of substrate, the soil is compacted;
• after planting, it is recommended to pour strawberries with a solution of “Heteroauxin” for better adaptation.

The time of planting crops for breeding on the balcony depends on the variety of strawberries. As a rule, rooting the plant can be year-round.

Strawberries growing on the windowsill or balcony require compliance with certain agrotechnical measures. Neglect of the obligatory rules of care can cause the death of the plant or the cessation of fruiting.

The main work to ensure optimum culture conditions are described below.

• Strawberries need to create good lighting. In order to do this, in the months with a short duration of daylight, it is necessary to acquire luminescent devices for lighting.
• The introduction of moisture should be moderate, focusing on the level of humidity in the air so as not to overwet the roots and not to overdry the soil. Drainage in tanks is mandatory.
• Fertilizers should be introduced regularly, but in the winter months the plants do not need additional feeding. Exceptions are crops that do not stop flowering and fruiting in winter. As an effective complex is recommended to use the "Palm", "Ovary" or "Strawberries". To improve the ovaries, plants are treated with iron preparations.
• Ventilation and ventilation will help avoid the development of many diseases.
• For some crops need pollination. These works are performed manually using a soft brush of a small size. Another effective option is to use a fan in the flowering phase of strawberry bushes. For self-pollinated plantations, no additional action is required.

• Filling, the fruit will be the bait for such an insect pest as a spider mite. If there are signs of its presence on the bushes, it is worth spraying the plantation with garlic solution.
• During the growth period the strawberries will form a mustache that can be used to propagate the plant. For these purposes, the appendix is ​​rooted in the soil, and after the formation of roots, it is removed from the mother culture.

How to grow strawberries on the balcony, see the following video.