Secrets of growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round

Where to start a strawberry business

In order for a business built on growing strawberries to become highly profitable, you need to think about the following points:

• sale of collected products;
• what is the approximate amount of the crop that can be obtained from the used area;
• where berries are stored;
• the place and cost of purchasing equipment, seedlings, fertilizers and other materials necessary for growing this crop.

To start your own business, the minimum required area is only a couple of square meters. But with such an area, the plants are unlikely to show high yields.

For growing berries in large quantities, you should use a heated spacious greenhouse, warehouse or garage. It is also necessary to purchase specialized equipment and certain varieties of plants.

Video "Growing strawberries in a greenhouse"

In this video, you will learn how to properly grow strawberries in a greenhouse.

Equipment for growing strawberries

Growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round requires special equipment. In winter and summer, additional lighting should be turned on in the greenhouse. Heating is essential during the autumn and winter months. This is the only way the seedlings will grow in an optimal microclimate.

Lighting is very important for varieties with short daylight hours. The best solution is to use 400W sodium lamps. They create an excellent imitation of sunlight. The distance from the plants to the lamp should be about 1 m. So the device will illuminate 1 square meter. m area. Special reflectors are used to improve light diffusion.

Heating is provided with pipes and infrared cables. They are laid underground. Warm air is driven through them, coming from a stove-stove and an electric boiler.

Also, in a greenhouse made of polycarbonate or any other finishing material, an irrigation system (for example, drip) is installed. For this crop, drip irrigation is considered the best solution.

The best greenhouse varieties

To obtain a high quality and abundant harvest, it is important to choose the right strawberry varieties for your greenhouse. For such a business, you should choose remontant varieties that give several harvests during the year.

Preference should be given to varieties that do not require artificial pollination. An excellent solution is self-pollinated varieties that form large berries of a regular shape and rich bright red color. When choosing a variety, the density of the fruit must be assessed. This parameter is important for storage and transportation of the harvested crop.

The following varieties can be grown in the greenhouse:

• Octave;
• Alba;
• Rusanovskaya;
• Daryonka;
• Honey;
• Pineapple;
• Sonata, etc.

To get a harvest all year round, it is necessary to plant several types in a greenhouse: early, mid and late ripening.

Selection of seedlings and soil preparation

The complexity of growing strawberries directly depends on the correct choice of seedlings.When buying plants, you should pay attention to the following parts of the bushes:

• leaves. They should be healthy, rich green, free from defects, wrinkles and damage. The minimum number of sheets in an outlet is 3 pcs.;
• root collar without rot and spots;
• root system. It should be distinguished by its power and development. The length of the roots is from 7 cm.

For the greenhouse business, it is recommended to choose healthy seedlings. It is grown from mother bushes under special conditions. Therefore, the seedlings are highly resistant to diseases and pests.

Strawberries in a polycarbonate greenhouse should be planted in pre-prepared soil. The crop bears fruit best of all on soil consisting of humus and sod (ratio 1: 2). Ash and mineral fertilizers should be added to the ground. You can lower the acidity level of the soil using ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride or superphosphate.

Planting seedlings and care

It is not enough to choose a variety and prepare the soil, you still need to decide on the planting technology. To date, planting strawberry bushes is carried out in several ways. Let's consider them in more detail.

The classical scheme assumes the use of a two-line method and the placement of seedlings at a distance of 25-30 cm in a checkerboard pattern. A space of 30–40 cm is maintained between the beds. The seedlings are simply placed in the prepared pits and their root system is filled up.

Strawberries are often grown in pots, buckets, or bags. This method is called Dutch technology. The pot with plants is arranged vertically in 5-6 tiers. The technology allows you to place on 1 sq. m about 50 seedlings. Bushes are planted only in special soil.

Recently, it has become very popular to grow crops in bags, which have become an excellent alternative to pots. Packages are placed both on the floor and on special racks. The seedlings are planted in the cuts made on the bags. The distance between adjacent bushes is 25–30 cm. This growing method involves the use of only a drip irrigation system.

You can also plant bushes in plastic pipes. Holes are made in them, where the earth is filled up and plants are placed. Planted bushes should be shaded from sunlight for the first week.

Conditions for a good harvest in the greenhouse

In order for the planted plants to feel good in the greenhouse, a special microclimate should be organized in it. For the normal development of the bushes, you need to adhere to the following rules:

• after landing in the room, it is exposed to +22 ° C;
• during the flowering period, the temperature is set at +25 ° C;
• humidity should be 75–80%;
• the duration of daylight hours is 10-12 hours.

Strawberry care

Watering the bushes is usually carried out by the drip method once every 7-10 days. At the end of watering, the soil is loosened. When grown on ordinary beds, weeding is mandatory. Modern crop cultivation technologies minimize or completely remove weeding.

Pollination of plants occurs with the help of frequent airing or soft brushes. Sometimes hives are placed by gardeners. Once every 2-3 weeks, top dressing is introduced into the soil - potassium chloride and ammonium nitrate.

Diseases and pests

Periodically planting should be sprayed from pathogens and pests. Frequent airing is used to prevent the appearance of diseases and parasites. It is imperative to monitor the humidity in the greenhouse, since its high rates contribute to the development of pathogenic microflora.

Strawberries in a greenhouse with improperly organized care suffer from the following diseases:

• gray rot;
• white spot;
• powdery mildew;
• late blight.

For the treatment of these diseases, copper sulfate and special preparations (for example, "Euparen") should be used.

Of the parasites, plants usually suffer from slug infestations. They are collected by hand and destroyed.

Business profitability and berry sales

Before you start growing strawberries, you need to think about ways to sell them, since the berries quickly deteriorate. The harvest can be realized in the following ways:

• deliver to shops or supermarkets;
• sell on the market;
• sell to processing plants;
• deliver to restaurants.

It is best to have several points of sale in order to accurately avoid damage to the crop in the event of force majeure.

Before starting a business, you need to calculate its profitability and organizational costs. To start a business, you need a start-up capital in the amount of 750 thousand to 1.25 million rubles.

Profitability depends on the level of profit received. During the season, the plants will give about 5-6 harvests. Their price depends on the season:

• in spring and summer, 1 kg is sold for about 100 rubles;
• in autumn and winter, the price of products rises and for 1 kg you can already get about 250 rubles.

The calculation of profitability depends on the original planting area, the amount of the harvested crop, seasonality and the final costs of supporting the business. Usually 6-12 months have to pass from the moment of opening a business to make a profit.

Strawberries are a crop that must be grown with several parameters. With the proper organization of planting care, the greenhouse business will pay off very quickly and reach the desired level of profit.