Growing strawberries outdoors or how to get big sweet berries?

Almost any summer resident has at least a small piece of land allocated for strawberry bushes. But not every gardener can boast of really tasty, aromatic berries and an excellent harvest. Growing strawberries outdoors is just growing strawberries in your garden. Open ground means a bed that is not protected by a greenhouse. This cultivation has its own secrets.

Tips for beginners

Many attempts by novice gardeners to get a good strawberry harvest on their site lead to very average results - the berries grow watery, sour, rotten. And a lot of work has been invested in the strawberry garden. But do not despair and give up. The very first step is to decide what the garden should be. It is the wrong choice of location that often becomes the cause of failure.

1. The garden bed must be located on an area that is protected from the wind, which in winter is at least 20-30 centimeters covered with a layer of snow. The site should be well lit, since there will be no harvest in the shade.
2. The soil surface should be flat or slightly sloped to the southwest.
3. Lowlands are not suitable for planting: in such places there is an accumulation of cold air, the plants will be sick, the harvest will be late.
4. The southern slope for the garden is also not suitable: the snow melts too early and the bushes remain defenseless against frost.
5. To prevent plant disease with fungal and viral diseases, it is imperative to change the place of cultivation every four, or even better - two years.
6. It must be remembered: the more often the plants are planted, the smaller the berries will be (when harvesting, this is a clear drawback). To avoid this, the distance between the bushes should be about half a meter.
7. The garden bed should not be waterlogged, but the lack of moisture is also destructive.

Site preparation for growing

You can grow strawberries (or strawberries) in any soil, it is quite unpretentious and not too demanding. But the bushes feel especially good on black soil with the addition of ash. But the peat components of the soil are not recommended for this berry, although many consider peat to be rich soil for its cultivation. Also, too acidic soils are not recommended.

Before planting strawberries, the soil must be prepared, especially if it has not been previously cultivated. If the summer resident suspects that may beetle larvae or wireworms may be in the soil, then if possible, it is better to choose another place for planting. Beetle larvae can hibernate in the soil, and one larva is quite capable of destroying a square meter of planting. If it is impossible to choose another piece of land, then experts advise planting alkaloid lupine on the site (larvae die from eating its beans).

If the result is needed here and now, an ammonia solution is added to the soil. Modern materials make it much easier to grow strawberries outdoors. Geotextile, for example, is good at allowing moisture to pass through, but not letting in light. And where there is no light, there are no weeds. If the summer resident decides to use it, then he does not need to fight weeds in the fall - it is enough to simply crush them so that they rot by the spring.

In the spring, it is enough to level the bed with a rake, get rid of the largest roots and branches, add compost and spread the fibers of agrofibre. Make holes in the fiber at a distance of 30 cm from each other and make indentations through them.They need to be watered and the strawberry bush should be planted carefully. Agrofibre passes moisture well, light does not penetrate through it, therefore, no one will interfere with the growth of strawberries. A summer resident may not think about weeding.

Instead of agrofibre, you can also use a simple roofing felt. However, in this case, it is necessary to lay an irrigation system under the roofing material - stretch the hose with filled holes (with a gypsy needle or awl) with a snake. On the one hand, you just need to plug this hose, and on the other, connect a water container, for example, a tank. Roofing material will retain moisture in the soil, so you don't have to water it often.

The choice of planting material

To get a high yield and visually attractive berries when grown outdoors, experts recommend choosing elite varieties for planting or the first reproduction. It is advisable to buy sorted and pre-sanitized products when selecting seedlings.

A fibrous root system with processes of about 8 cm is preferable; the root collar should be at least 6 mm in diameter. You can use your seedlings, having previously dug them out at the end of autumn, subject to successful wintering at low temperatures - that is, store them in the cellar.

Before planting in open ground, a box with seedlings should be placed in the shade, before that, keep it in a cool place for five days. When planting strawberries in open ground, you need to make sure that the neck of the bush is at ground level, and the roots are located vertically in the hole. You also need to check the length of the roots and, if necessary, shorten them to 10 cm.

Growing strawberries outdoors

The most successful strawberries are laid on the south-western side, it is desirable that there is a slope of 2-3 degrees: the bushes grow faster and the crop ripens much earlier. It is not recommended to grow strawberries in lowlands. In order for strawberries to grow well in the open field, you should check its acidity: the ideal level will be 5.5-6.5.

The technology for growing these delicious and sweet berries is usually as follows. In open ground, strawberry seedlings are usually planted in early spring or early autumn. Moreover, in the spring, planting must be carried out as early as the conditions allow for starting garden work.

If the weather is cool enough, you can cover the bushes with foil. And after establishing a favorable temperature regime, strawberry bushes should be opened. Autumn planting falls in the period from mid-August to the 20th of September.

It is advisable to plant seedlings after rain or watering the soil. The soil should not be very wet, but moist enough. If you plant seedlings in late spring or autumn, then a significant part of it may die.

To get a good harvest of strawberries, growing bushes in the open field, you need to water it regularly, without a long period of overdrying. If the correct watering is violated, the strawberry yield will significantly decrease. For convenience, you can install a drip irrigation system or a sprinkler installation on the site.

And, of course, it is very important to remove weeds, which reproduce quite actively in the open field, and to fight pests that can destroy the entire crop and planting. After planting strawberries, the soil is watered and sprinkled with humus or dry soil in order to retain moisture in the soil for a longer time.

The first couple of weeks after planting seedlings are the most important - it is imperative to keep the open ground constantly moist. Watering should be daily, so the strawberries take root faster. After that, watering is reduced to once every two days.

Despite the fact that strawberries love moisture, it should not be poured too much - this has a detrimental effect on it - the susceptibility to diseases and pests increases (in particular, to powdery mildew, gray rot), its winter hardiness decreases and generative buds grow less (which, as a result, it leads to a decrease in productivity; if the summer resident is busy in the strawberry business, then this is a significant drawback).

Manual weeding, constant weed control and removal of row spacings, and pest control also have a positive effect on improving the quality and increasing the yield when growing strawberries in the open field.

Video "Planting strawberries in the ground"

Video about the stage of planting strawberries in open ground. Gardener's advice on planting and caring for strawberries outdoors.