Cultivation of Victoria: planting and care, methods of reproduction

Gardeners rarely do without strawberries on their plots.This berry pleases both children and adults with juicy, sweet fruits. Harvesting can be a very exciting activity for the whole family.

The vast majority of plantations on such plantations is occupied by the Victoria variety, but not everyone knows that in fact it is garden strawberries, and not strawberries, a cultivated forest berry variety known from the 18th century, brought to us from America. It is very difficult to meet real strawberries on someone else’s site, because it is Victoria that is preferred.

Low shrubs with wide leaves are found everywhere where there is only garden land. Unlike strawberries, fruits are larger, juicy and fragrant. With proper care, you can collect a huge amount of berries from a small area.

To prolong the pleasure of enjoying the red "hearts" of them boil jam, make compotes and other preservation, baking lovers enjoy themselves with cakes, etc.

It is possible to plant this plant with the onset of spring and until late autumn. If you listen to the advice of experienced gardeners, it is better to do this after a fruitful period when it becomes cool.

The answer is quite simple. Let's look at the process of planting or transplanting.

We take out a bush from its usual land and transplant it to a plot where a completely different ground. Yes, maybe it is more suitable, saturated with necessary minerals and nitrogen, ideal for this type of plant, but it takes time to adapt - it's like when moving to another place.

If the shrub is transplanted in the spring, before the crop is harvested, we will not see the berries this season, as the plant needs to recover and adapt. For fruits there will not be enough strength; well, if the flowers are tied.

In the autumn the picture looks different. By this time, the plant has fulfilled its function, there is no need to spend forces on growth, flowering and growing fruits, you can slowly recover lost and adapt to new conditions.

In a cool autumn climate, the movement of juices slows down, sheets become unnecessary and efforts are spent on survival. By the next season, everything will come back to normal, and each bush will delight its berries.

From this we can conclude that transplanting in the fall is much more expedient - in this case, you and the crop will receive and give the plant to calmly overcome stress. Transplantation in the spring will not give you the berries from the bush, because they just do not have time to develop. September will be an excellent time for such actions, in the northern conditions - August; in warmer regions, you can postpone the transfer in October. In that period, when the leaves begin to die off, they become sluggish to do it best.

Planning a garden strawberry transplant, you need to choose the right place. For good growth and fruiting Victoria, you need enough sun and moderately fertilized land. If the site is already selected, you can plant it with sideratami. These are plants that are then buried in the ground, and they perfectly eliminate the area from weeds, saturate the earth with nitrogen and minerals in the process of decomposition. The roots that remain in the soil, will serve as excellent aerators, saturate the deep layers of air. Also suitable beds, where before it grew greens, onions, garlic.

An excellent view for preparation will be lupine.This flower from the family of leguminous plants will allow you to enjoy its view over the summer and will be an excellent basis for growing strawberries in the open field.

For the correct landing Victoria needs to meet several conditions which are designed to ensure the comfort of the plant on the new site:

• The site should be located in a place where the groundwater does not flood it. Excessive moisture can cause plant disease;
• bushes in a row sit at a distance of not less than 20 cm, this will give room for the development of seedlings, between rows should be 40-60 cm for ease of harvesting and the possibility of passage without damaging the leaves;

• choosing seedlings when buying, take the bushes, where no more than four leaves, the excess is better to break off, because they will only take away the nutrients, and get enough sunlight and you can with a smaller amount. Long roots can be pruned because the surplus will intertwine with each other and stop growing;
• make sure there are no different pests on the plot (Colorado potato beetle, wireworm, etc.). If pests are detected, spill the soil with insecticide or add ammonium nitrate;
• the soil should not be acidic, if necessary, then sprinkle with lime flux, for the normalization of Ph;
• in the process of landing, make sure that the center of the bush is not covered with earth. This leads to the development of diseases and decay;

• the ground around the plant needs to be tamped down and, if possible, multiply;
• for transplanting or disembarking, it is better to choose a cloudy day when the sun will not burn the plant;
• As a covering material, it is necessary to use geotextiles, which allow moisture to pass through, but protect from sunlight. The black color of this material will provide the plants that start growing with the necessary heat.

At home, before planting, seedlings can be kept for several days in saturated soil, in order for it to gain strength; The same can be done if exposure occurs in a greenhouse. It is necessary to monitor the temperature and humidity levels. High temperature provokes intensive growth, which is not at all desirable for seedlings, high humidity can cause the development of characteristic diseases.

If you need to plant strawberries for offspring with a mustache and the harvest of this season does not matter much, then in the prepared soil you need to transplant plants in spring when the threat of frost recedes and the temperature of the earth rises to 20 degrees. This method, as mentioned above, does not guarantee the harvest, but stimulates reproduction. After receiving the sprouts from the whiskers, they can be arranged or transplanted in the fall. These manipulations will allow you to organize an entire plantation of a dozen plants in one season.

Another important fact. Growing seedlings of this plant from the berries, on which the seeds are located, is very difficult, you need to comply with a lot of conditions. Here the conditions of germination of the fruit, the care of seedlings and many other trifles matter. The term for obtaining a full-fledged seedling is about four years.

The pride of the fact that all these plants are the result of your efforts will undoubtedly compensate all the moral costs and unrest during the growing period. Perhaps, by doing so, you keep a unique type of strawberry, because, as you know, each generation of any culture differs in its properties from the previous one.

If we talk about the care of this small but demanding plant, then first of all I want to mention the flowering period. Here it is necessary to provide food and pollination, so that previously spent efforts are not in vain.

There are several recommendations for adding special substances:

• fertilizers for ordinary flowering vegetables are not suitable here. The concentration of minerals and other things there is different;
• after the flowers appear, strawberries need potassium. One teaspoon of potash nitrate per ten liters of water will be a great help;
• when buds appear, bird droppings, ashes or humus can be given to the bushes. These substances are very caustic, and therefore need to be added in dissolved form in small quantities;
• in order to increase the number of inflorescences, in the period of the ovary, strawberries are poured over with a solution of boric acid (pinching ten liters of water), this stimulates the formation of new fruit stalks;
• It is necessary to ensure the watering of the plant, because its roots are shallow and can not get enough moisture from the soil. It is important not to overdo it, the excess water leads to the rotting of the base of the bush.

Among other things, it is recommended at this time to remove the whiskers so that they do not take away extra forces, leaves that have withered or dried for the same reason. The correct solution would be to remove the first, very weak, fruits. Subsequent ovaries will be stronger, and if there is more strength, they will develop well.

If pale and small fruits began to appear on your strawberry this season, this is a lack of pollination. The reason for this may be rainy weather, lack of melliferous insects, etc. In such cases, you can do the following:

• soft brush to walk through the available colors. This will create compulsory pollination and make it possible for good fruits to form;
• Dissolve one tablespoon of honey in a liter of water and sprinkle the bushes with this solution. Bees will fly to the familiar smell, and then nature will make its own;
• plant on one site several species of garden strawberries. Here the principle of self-pollination. The pollen will be carried by the wind, and the plants will receive the necessary substances to form the fruit.

After harvesting, to prepare for the winter bushes need to get rid of extra mustache. Late shoots will not be able to grow and die during the cold weather, at the same time they deprive the main bush of food. This will provide an opportunity to gain the necessary strength before hibernation.

Covering plants from frost is best with some material that does not absorb moisture, respectively, will not freeze in the winter, and will not support the effect of the freezer, which can lead to freezing of the roots.

In the end, let's look at the ways of breeding garden strawberries Victoria. There are only two of them:

• bush division;
• mustache.

The first method is used for thick bushes, where there are many shoots and a developed root system. We dig one of the objects and simply divide into two - three parts. This can be done with hands, the main thing is that there should be enough roots or a knife on each separated sprout, cutting the base and root. This method injures the plant, but brings results. During the season all wounds will heal, and the characteristics of the strawberry will be restored.

Need to know that when dividing a bush, its characteristics deteriorate, the next season's fruits will be smaller and their number may be less. The second method does not violate the natural course of things and allows the plant to develop at the speed it needs.

In conclusion, all of the above, we can say that to grow a good harvest of strawberries in their summer cottage is not a problem, for this you need only to make some effort. Undoubtedly, during fruiting your efforts will be rewarded, and you will be able to please close people, yourself and any other person with beautiful, juicy fruits.

You can learn more about growing Victoria in the next video.