Features care for strawberries after fruiting

In June, in the beds of any seasoned gardener the berries begin to ripen.One of the first to please his owner is the juicy, ripe and fragrant fruits of strawberries.

In fact, in the special literature there is no name “strawberry”, because this berry is called “musk strawberry”. Yes, strawberry really belongs to the genus of strawberries, and she received the name “strawberry” from the word “club”, which means “rounded”.

Probably, there is not a single person indifferent to this berry. Is that allergies pass it by. The cost of strawberries in stores is often very high, so many people decide to grow this beauty in their summer cottage. True, not many people know about the features of its planting, growing and feeding.

Strawberries like black soil and grows on sandy soil and bears fruit rather badly. Accordingly, the care of strawberries, which grows in sandy soils, will be more laborious.

This berry is quite fastidious, so improper care for it is fraught with sad consequences in the form of a decrease in yield or its complete absence. The groundwater level at the site where the berry is planted must be at least 60 cm.

Strawberries are planted in early spring, in early April, or in late August and early September.

Before planting, the land is inspected for the presence of larvae, all last year's leaves are harvested and the soil is dug up to a depth of 30 cm. If necessary, it is treated with ammonia solution.

After picking berries, beginning amateur gardeners do not know how to care for strawberries in the fall, and therefore do not particularly care about the plant that brought the crop, leaving care for it in the spring. Experts also advise in the next 3 months after fruiting, especially in August, to devote time to caring for strawberries, because it is in August that strawberries are laid in the buds of the harvest of the next season.

The second half of July, August and the end of September is the time when strawberries require additional work from the gardener, namely:

• cleaning of a site and beds with landings;
• top dressing;
• removing the old mulch;
• weeding;
• loosening and hilling;
• mowing dried leaves and whiskers;
• systematic watering.

After the crop has been planted, it is necessary to free the land under strawberries from plant litter, as well as mulch. It can accumulate insects and vectors of disease. The land after fruiting is significantly compacted, so that in order for the air to reach the roots, it is necessary to make the soil looser with the help of garden tools, but carefully, without touching the plant roots. Hilling is also performed by covering the growing new roots with the ground.

A few days after fruiting, it is necessary to cut off all the old dry leaves, as well as leaves with red and yellow spots. They can live parasites that take nutrients from the culture. For the same reason, and cut a mustache. Leave recommend only a few mustache female outlet, eliminating all the "male". They do not yield high yields, so most of them are useless. Mowing old leaves and mustache must be done carefully so as not to touch the new shoots.

It is necessary to cut the leaves only in dry weather no later than the beginning of August, otherwise the buds on the plant will not have time to develop. Cutting suit in the morning or evening. Do not pick unsuitable leaves with your hands. Petioles are left up to 6 cm.

When pruning old bushes, you should always start with young shoots, gradually moving to the old ones. This method will not allow to transfer diseases from old plants to young and healthy.

If you need to cut most of the plants, then the processing speed of the bushes can be increased using the garden trimmer.

Top dressing after leaf removal is necessary for new shoots to grow to cold weather. Perform the procedure with sharp scissors and shears. The soil is cultivated and mulched. If the plans of the gardener include the process of complete rejuvenation of the bushes, then carry out a full pruning to the ground.

Watering strawberries is necessary by the rules, otherwise you can not count on the appearance of delicious berries on the branches of the plant.

Strawberry seedlings do not tolerate dry land. Before the appearance of flowers, you need to water the strawberries by sprinkling. When a color appears, it is watered directly at the roots of the plant, without affecting the flowers and leaves. Drip irrigation system is the most popular among gardeners.

An adult plant after winter begins to be watered, as the snow melted, in late April. Watering is carried out every 5-6 days, the water temperature should not be below +15 degrees. Strawberries are watered in the early morning so that the earth is dry before the evening.

Weeds take water from the crop, so you should carefully weed the beds with berries.

Weeds are the main cause of the lack of minerals and beneficial trace elements in strawberries. Therefore, you need to weed strawberries at least 7 times over the summer.

It is better not to weed the beds in the autumn. Accidentally damaging the root system in the fall, you can ruin the whole bush, because before the cold the root system does not have time to recover. To loosen the soil is recommended to a depth of 10 cm after weeding.

Experts advise in the fight against weeds to use herbicides. It is necessary to treat the beds for 10-14 days before planting the culture. To enrich the soil, sometimes it is planted with buckwheat. It also works against plant debris.

This picky berry can not grow more than 4 years in one place. It needs to be transplanted.

Strawberries are seated most often in the lower case way. In this case, there are several variations. Ridges are:

• single line;
• two-line;
• three-line

In the single-line ridge, the distance between the seedlings is 15–20 cm, between the ridges — 70 cm. In the two-line ridge, 30 cm between plants and 60 cm between the ridges. The distance between the three-line ridges - 90 cm, between seedlings - 15-20 cm.

Most often used two-row ridge. Mark the ground with a tape measure and a peg. Having outlined landing sites, they make holes about 15 cm deep. Water is poured into them, and then strawberries are planted. Saplings strengthen dry ground. It is important that the growing point of strawberries is at ground level. Planting it lower, the plant can rot, and above - freezes. It is necessary to water a sapling during the first 10 days, until it takes root.

After picking berries, strawberries need nitrogen for the emergence of new leaves, so at this time it needs to be fed with mineral nitrogen fertilizers such as nitroammophos and ammophos.

When diluting mineral fertilizer, it is necessary to observe the proportions - 2 tablespoons (20 g) per bucket of water (10 liters). If nitrophoska fertilizer is used, then it is advised to add 200 g of wood ash to the solution, since it contains many essential trace elements. Nitrophoska is the safest fertilizer, because its use does not provoke the accumulation of nitrates in the soil and fruits of plants.

Ammophoska diluted at the rate of 15-20 g per bucket of water. It is not forbidden to use fertilizer and "dry", scattering 20 g per 1 square. m beds. At the end it is necessary to pour a bucket of water on this area to the ground.

In August, you can feed the berries with organic matter.Best for this fit bird droppings and mullein. It is important to preserve the roots of the plant, and therefore the fertilizer should be diluted in water. The solution of mullein is diluted in a ratio of 1:10, it is recommended to insist 24 hours.

Bird droppings are used with water in the ratio of 1: 15, avoiding contact with the leaves of the plant.

In the form of mulch, mullein is laid out between the rows. So you can enrich the earth with minerals for 2-3 years ahead. To improve the quality of manure enriched with minerals, such as ash.

It is also recommended to conduct mineral fertilization in the form of phosphorus and potassium. The following fertilizers exist to enrich the culture with these minerals:

• "Ruby";
• "Ryazanochka";
• Agricola;
• "Fusco".

To stock up for the period of cold weather nutrients to the plant can help and other organic fertilizer - slurry.

1.3 liters diluted with water (10 liters), and then insist 48 hours. 1 l of this solution is enough for 1 bush. Water they need, without falling on the leaves. You can repeat this dressing in late October after pruning and removal of dry leaves.

Strawberries are fed with wood ash. In a dry form, scatter around the plant, and in a liquid form, pour it with a solution that is prepared from 100 g of ash per 10 liters of water. The dosage of such fertilizer is 500 ml per 1 bush.

The nitrogen required by the plant is also present in fertilizers such as urea and ammonium nitrate. 10 g of urea is diluted in 10 liters of water and watered each bush in a volume of 0.5 l. Similarly, 20-30 g of ammonium nitrate is diluted in a bucket of water and watered at 1 liter per plant.

A dry version of this fertilizer in a volume of 100 g is scattered over an area of ​​10 square meters. m, loosening after a little soil with a rake.

After fruiting strawberries are often forgotten, and it quickly grows. The leaves turn yellow without proper attention, and parasites infest on them. You can avoid such an outcome if you cut bad leaves in time, and spray the rest with a weak solution of potassium permanganate and powder of charcoal and ash.

Gardeners who own a remontant strawberry should not forget about feeding the plant during the second flowering.

Feed strawberries with mineral fertilizers per 1 sq. M. m can be in this composition:

• superphosphate - 25 g;
• ammonium sulphate - 25 g;
• potassium sulphate - 30 g

In the presence of organic fertilizers use a mixture of manure and water in the ratio of 1: 5. This solution in the amount of 10 liters is enough for 1 square. m beds. After harvesting a second crop, strawberries are fed with bird droppings in proportions of 1: 15 water. 5 liters of this solution is poured into 1 square meter. m of soil.

After planting strawberries in the fall, care must be taken to ensure that the seedlings do not freeze. Many argue about whether there is meaning in additional shelter. Snow is the best "clothes" for plants. But nowadays in the middle lane often in the middle of winter false thaws can occur, followed by a bitter cold. The snow begins to melt, revealing the plants, and then comes below-zero temperature, and strawberries have a hard time.

You need to guess the right time to hide, since doing this procedure too early will result in a cultural debate. Accordingly, strawberries are covered when the temperature drops below 0 degrees during the week and day. Before that, we should well weed the beds and collect all the vegetable garbage. Loosening the soil will not be superfluous, but on the contrary, it will help the strawberry to breathe if the air temperature starts to rise.

It is necessary to remove the whiskers if no further seating of this culture is intended. They take the bulk of the nutrients and take them from the main bush of the plant.

In no case should you hide strawberries if it rained the day before. It is necessary to wait for the soil to dry out and then proceed to the procedure. Strawberries can be covered with straw, dry leaves in combination with fir branches, sawdust. Spruce branches are also used in combination with hay, so that it does not fly away from gusty winds.

If you do not want to bother yourself with excessive red tape, you can buy a special agrofibre in any garden shop to shelter a culture. It protects strawberries from frost, allows it to breathe and lets the sun's rays through.

Agrofibre, as well as other covering material, has many analogs, for example, such as:

• agryl;
• lutrasil;
• agrospan;
• spunboard;
• Spantex;
• will wrap.

Choosing the right place for planting strawberries is half the success. The culture grows and bears best in black soil with soil acidity of 5-6.5 pH. The slope of the beds is assumed to be no more than 5%. If the slope is present, then it should not be directed to the south, otherwise in the spring the snow will come off the strawberry field too quickly and it will strip the strawberries too soon.

Agricultural cultivation of berries involves a thorough soil preparation. In advance, nutrients are introduced into it that will enrich it and give up all the trace elements to the planted culture.

Excessive moisture in the area can be reduced by installing drainage. Large stagnation of water can be removed by laying drainage pipes at a depth of up to 40 cm. If the humidity is moderate, it is necessary to dig several drainage grooves up to 30 cm in depth, where water will go from the beds.

When planting experienced gardeners choose only high-quality varieties with good healthy leaves. Before planting the seedling in the hole, its roots are dipped in a solution of potassium permanganate. Land from seedlings do not crush much. The soil should be loose and breathable.

Experts recommend watering and mulching it with hay or sawdust after planting, so that the roots adapt more quickly to a new place.

Pests and diseases - the reason why a gardener can lose not only berries, but also plants. Experienced gardeners on the first signs notice the problems in the health of the culture and quickly make a decision to combat this or that ailment.

The main pests of the berry:

• slugs and snails - affect the fruits of the plant;
• nematodes - cause darkening of the leaves and cause a lack of harvest;
• transparent tick - causes yellowing of leaves and a reduction in yield.

Strawberries are also attacked by weevil, ants, strawberry beetle and whitefly.

The fight against parasites begins with tillage, as well as its disinfection.

Strawberry or transparent mite develops in a humid environment. It feeds mainly on strawberry leaf juice. They are similar to small yellowish spots. The yield of infected bushes falls.

Preparations for the removal of transparent mites, which are processed strawberries for 2 weeks before flowering, as well as after fruiting, the following:

• "Malathion";
• "Inta-vir";
• Actellic;
• Sherpa.

The sprayed bushes are generously sprayed with a diluted product spray. If the strawberry is badly damaged by pests, then it is mown. Strawberry beds, which have already been attacked by a tick, should be well weeded, as ticks can be collected in weeds.

Weevil is a beetle that is also prone to strawberry leaves. He lays the larvae in flower buds, where they pupate. Weevils can infect both strawberries and raspberries, so it is advisable not to plant strawberry bushes next to raspberries so that beetles do not migrate from one crop to another.

Strawberries are sprayed with insecticides (Karbofos, Iskra, Inta-Vir, Kinmiks) in the spring when buds are opened, and 10 days before flowering. Heavy artillery in the form of biological preparations, such as:

• Nemabact;
• "Anthon".

There are many folk remedies that are also very effective against pests.

• Birch tar 40 g is taken on a bucket of water and soap is rubbed into a bucket, mixed, and the culture is sprayed with this solution in the morning, preferably when dry weather is expected.
• Ash helps to scare away beetles, so it is poured into the middle of the bush during the flowering period.
• Baking soda also helps during the flowering of strawberries. Take 20 g of soda in a bucket of water and leaves are treated with this solution.
• In the evening under the bushes strawberries are spreading newspapers on the ground. Early in the morning, the beetles are shaken off the plants just at the time when they are inactive. Newspapers collected and eliminated. A very distinctive method that really works.

Strawberries, or rather, the roots of the plant, are a favorite delicacy of the grubs of the May beetle, which have been living and developing in the soil for several years.

Preparations for the protection of larvae are as follows:

• "Zemlin";
• Vallar;
• "Initiative";
• "Antihrusch."

Dig these drugs directly into the soil to a depth of 10 cm.

Used and folk remedies that help fight the larvae.

• Watering strawberries with an infusion of 100 g of onion peel and a bucket of water. The solution should be infused for 4 days.
• An increase in soil moisture negatively affects the vital activity of the larvae and they go deep into it, although they can migrate to places with low humidity.
• Iodine is the enemy of the larvae. 15 drops of its alcohol solution are diluted in a bucket of water and watered.
• If the bush has withered, you need to dig it out as quickly as possible so that the parasites do not switch to a healthy plant.

Slugs are another type of strawberry pest that is very hard to fight. They reach a length of 150 mm. For a season 2 generations of slugs are born. They eat the stalks, buds and berries of the crop, leaving silver mucus on it. Their activity begins at night. In addition to spoiling the plant, they can also carry fungal diseases.

There are a lot of methods to combat such parasites:

• the elimination of pests through their manual collection;
• constant weeding and replacement of covering material;
• mulching beds with spruce branches and sawdust;
• use between the series of chemical compounds that erode the body of slugs - slaked lime (20 g per 1 sq. m) and superphosphate (8 g per 1 sq. m).

Preparations based on chemical compounds can harm animals and the likelihood of these compounds accumulating in fruits is very high, but some also use them. This means:

• "Slyneed";
• "Thunderstorm";
• "Anti-slug";
• "Ulitsid".

Folk remedies are also used for the extermination of slug colonies:

• between the rows they place banks of cornmeal, which is poisonous to slugs;
• 100 g of mustard powder diluted in 1 liter of water and watered the soil under the strawberries;
• 10 ml of brilliant green are diluted in a bucket of water and watered between the rows of the culture;
• wet rags, cabbage leaves and boards are scattered between the beds - in the morning in this garbage are collected colonies of slugs, which are successfully destroyed.

Nematodes are cylindrical worms that infect strawberry leaves, fruits, and buds.

A gardener may notice a lag in the development of some nematode-infected bushes. The berries on these bushes are small, the leaves are eaten, differ in color and curled. Nematodes overcome strawberries at the beginning of summer, therefore during this period you need to closely monitor the changes that occur.

The appearance of nematodes can be prevented by prophylaxis. Before planting, strawberry seedlings are disinfected in hot water (50 degrees) for 15 minutes. Do not forget about the systematic weeding.

Nematode can crawl on strawberries from potatoes, peas, onions and garlic, and therefore these crops need to be planted away from each other. With nematodes fight with a 4% formalin solution, 5% vitriol solution and bleach.Good help from nematodes powder "Akarina", which is scattered under strawberries during the winter of parasites.

The parasite strawberry moth eats foliage of strawberries. Adult individuals twist the leaves upward, linking and gluing together 2-3 leaves. In this bundle they feed, and in the inflorescence they lay eggs.

Spraying preparations help to resist the pest:

• "Malathion";
• Fufan;
• Kemifos;
• "Bi-58 new";
• Rogor.

Biological preparations are also used, which are treated twice with an interval of a week:

• Lepidocide;
• "Bitoxibacillin".

Knowledgeable gardeners catch the leaf-box with cans of kvass or fermented jam, which are placed near the beds.

They also carry out the treatment of the plant with tobacco extract. 0.5 kg of tobacco dust is poured with a bucket of hot water, adding soap in the amount of 50 g as an adhesive. The spraying procedure with this solution is carried out very carefully, as it can cause severe irritation when it comes into contact with the skin.

Not only parasites can affect the quality and volume of the berry crop. Strawberries can be subject to various diseases.

• Mealy dew - A common disease when the leaves are covered with a grayish bloom, and mold appears on the berries. To avoid it, before flowering culture is sprayed with soda ash.
• Phytophthora wilt - A disease that inhibits plant growth. When the first signs of such a plant is eliminated.
• Brown spot - A fungal disease that affects strawberries in the form of brown spots on the foliage and fruits of the plant. A fairly persistent fungus that goes into a dormant state in the winter, and by spring, it begins again a wrecking activity.
• Gray rot - A disease that affects the taste and appearance of berries. The cause of the disease are sclerotia and conidia fungi, which appear in moist soil.

In the fight against pests use:

• "Malathion" - against tick after fruiting;
• "Aktar" - against the weevil and whitefly;
• soda - against ants.

Soda ash is used in the fight against powdery mildew. For the solution take 5 tablespoons of soda, add 5 tablespoons of grated soap and pour all the bucket of water. It is necessary to mix everything and spray once a week with this solution on the affected strawberry bushes. Strawberries are processed twice - at the beginning and at the end of the summer period.

Experienced gardeners recommend using an excellent “Switch” drug. It is very effective in combating not only gray mold, but also with brown spot, as well as powdery mildew and fusarium he takes into circulation. Processing is carried out before and after the appearance of flowers in culture.

Tablets "Alirin-B" must be mixed with water in the proportions indicated in the annotation. Spraying is carried out twice before the appearance of flowers and twice at the end of flowering.

"Horus" is not a favorite among gardeners, but some praise the drug for the lack of phytotoxins and for the duration of their stay on the plant (the tool is indelibly rain).

"Teldor" is a drug that forms a film on the culture, preserving the fruits of strawberries.

Attentiveness at the gardener should be in the first place. With gray mold you need to be especially vigilant:

• during constant rains;
• during active dew fallout;
• when the humidity rises;
• while reducing the temperature below +15 degrees;
• in a period of rapid growth landing.

Novice gardeners very often when breeding this culture make the following mistakes.

• Plant seedlings with a large number of leaves. It is correct to leave two or three healthy leaves on the seedlings so that they do not dry the saplings.
• Do not prune the roots when planting. It is easier to distribute small roots up to 10 cm in the hole.Long roots will curl, which will lead to their death.
• Do not spend a "bath day" before boarding. Seedlings before planting should be dipped for 15 minutes in hot water to prevent diseases of the culture.
• Do not process strawberries "chemistry". Lack of treatment adversely affects the culture, which is quite fastidious and at any time may be faced with a disease or pest. Proper processing of the crop before flowering and after fruiting will not harm the person and protect the plant from "unexpected guests" and other ailments.

How to care for strawberries after fruiting, see the next video.