Planting strawberries in spring or how to get a good harvest by summer?

Almost no summer cottage is complete without aromatic and tasty strawberries. Among the wide variety of varieties of this berry, there are remontant ones - capable of bearing fruit until the very frost and ordinary ones. However, a good harvest can be harvested from them only if simple, but important rules are followed when planting and growing. The best time to plant strawberries is spring.

Site and soil selection

Before planting strawberries in the spring, you should choose the right place for the plantation. Berry loves sunny areas, not darkened and not swampy. Strawberries bear fruit well in places where, before planting, representatives of cruciferous plants grew - peas, beans, parsley, radish, radish, garlic. It is not recommended to plant the plant in the same area. The soil should be allowed to recover and get rid of strawberry viruses for at least 5-6 years. Also, a place for a plantation where potatoes or tomatoes were grown is not suitable, since a significant amount of fungi accumulates in the soil that can destroy the entire plantation.
Strawberries are not particularly whimsical to the type of soil. However, it is worth giving preference to soil, the acidity of which does not exceed 5.5-7.5 pH, with a humus content of at least 2-3%. You should also check the soil, when preparing for planting, for the presence of wireworm or May beetle larvae. For this, in the first weeks of October, autumn plowing is carried out to a depth of 28-32 cm. And to increase moisture reserves, snow retention is organized in the winter period. Harrowing is carried out in early spring, and shallow cultivation immediately before planting seedlings.

Seedling selection

Purchased seedlings with closed and open roots

If at the dacha it is planned to plant strawberry beds for the first time, it is advisable to choose 75-80% of the tested varieties, and leave the rest for experimental species that are planted for testing. As the main ones, preference is given to zoned varieties, in this case the risk of plant death from changes in climatic conditions in the planting area is reduced.

The best time to buy seedlings is spring or mid-summer. In spring, mature, overwintered plants, both with open and closed root systems, go on sale. Such seedlings, as practice shows, take root very well and manage to lay flower buds next year. However, during this period, the assortment is not as rich as in the summer. If you do not be late with the planting time and spend it in July or early August, you can also harvest the next season. It should be noted that seedlings with open roots, which appear on sale in the fall, although more economical, have a low survival rate, and begin to bear fruit only after a year.

Correct and incorrect planting of strawberries

In any case, you should choose plants with shiny, leathery leaves, rich green color. They should not have any dark, yellow spots, dots that indicate a fungal disease. Also, the leaves should not be twisted, wrinkled - the consequences of a tick or pale - late blight necrosis. Preference should be given to seedlings with a more developed, thick horn, at least 0.8-1.5 cm. This directly affects the fruiting of future bushes - the thicker the horn, the higher their yield.If seedlings with open roots, their length should be at least 7-9 cm, and for seedlings with closed roots, the cassette should be completely filled with them with a minimum amount of substrate. In this case, the peat glass must be completely stitched with the roots outward.

Own seedlings from outlets

If there is already a strawberry plantation at the summer cottage, then seedlings can be obtained from the whiskers launched by the plant, without special costs. For this, the most productive bush is selected. A few 3-5 mustaches are left on it, the rest are carefully removed. After the rosette bushes take root and get stronger, they release several large leaves, they are dug out and transplanted, while choosing only those that have at least three green stems with uniformly colored leaves and a well-developed bud. If the rosettes were planted at the end of the spring period, with proper care, the harvest can be obtained already in the first year of growth, however, the first flowers are usually removed, leaving only one or two berries for the bush to take root well.

It should be borne in mind that the harvest of the next year depends on the amount of fertilizers applied in the autumn period of the previous one. Strawberries respond gratefully to organic fertilizers, such as humus, manure, chicken droppings. Nitrogenous fertilizers applied in large quantities can provoke an intensive development of bushes and, as a result, a low yield.

Planting methods for strawberries

Landing technique

Planting should be carried out in cloudy, cloudy weather or in the evening, since in strong sun many plants can die before they can take root. Before planting the plant, 70-90 g of magnesium, 40-60 g of superphosphates, 70-90 g of nitrogenous fertilizers and 50-60 g of potassium salts per 1 sq. M are applied to the dug-up, prepared area.
Immediately before planting, the roots of the seedlings should be treated. To do this, the bushes are placed completely in a weak saline solution, 30-40 g of sodium chloride and 5-7 g of copper sulfate per 8-10 liters of water, for 20-25 minutes. After that, the strawberries are rinsed under running water. The roots are shortened to 5-8 cm, they are carefully straightened, placed in shallow holes, keeping the vertical arrangement of the bushes, and covered with soil, leaving the root collar at soil level. Then the earth is slightly compacted with hands, abundantly watered and mulch the planting area with sawdust, needles, rotted foliage or humus.

In modern practice, the best planting method is considered to be a two-line. In this case, the distance in the row is 18-25 cm, between the ribbons is 60-70 cm, The one-line method is also popular, in which the distance in the row is the same, and between the lines is no more than 50-55 cm. If the area for strawberries is located in the lowland, then it should be planted in ridges. At the same time, the width of the ridge is about 55-75 cm, the distance between the bushes is 15-22 cm, placing the ridges in the direction from north to south, leaving paths between them with a width of at least 30-35 cm. Bushes are planted in two rows along the edges.

Video "All about planting garden strawberries"

This video tells in detail how to plant strawberries in spring, how to choose outlets for breeding, prepare seedlings for planting, what nuances should be taken into account