30.08.2017 12 317

Caring for strawberries after harvesting - what not to forget to do?!

An important component of good and tasty fruits next year is caring for strawberries after harvesting now. Processing, pruning, fertilizing, watering, loosening should not be left aside, because it is after the berries are picked that the most important and crucial period for the plant begins - the laying of new fruit buds. Therefore, you simply must help your plants in the garden. How to do this correctly and when exactly, read on.

What to do with strawberry bushes in July and August?

Active care for Victoria in August begins in July, after harvest, and continues almost until frost. To get large and sweet fruits in next year, it is necessary to provide proper care to the plant now and prepare the beds for winter. It is during the period after picking the berries that a wave of formation of young leaves, tendrils and the formation of new horns begins, which accumulate all the microelements necessary for the future harvest. Caring for Victoria includes the following steps:

1. pruning strawberries after harvest
2. loosening the soil
3. feeding bushes
4. antennal removal
5. treatment against diseases and pests

Pruning bushes after harvest

Many gardeners are wondering whether it is possible to prune strawberries in September and October? No, you cannot, the procedure must be carried out immediately after harvesting. Otherwise, you may be left not only without a harvest, but even without bushes. To overwinter well, the crop needs to grow new leaves and lay future harvest before the frost arrives.

Once the fall cleanup is complete and the old foliage begins to die back, the plant must focus all its energy on preparing for the winter. In general, the main purpose of pruning is to destroy existing diseases and pests. Provided that all trimmings are burned or destroyed and not sent to compost heap. Therefore, whether to trim or not is up to you. It is worth noting that if garden strawberries bear fruit for the first year, it is better not to prune them.

In addition, first of all, all bushes older than 5 years that will no longer bear fruit should be removed and replaced with new young ones. The crop needs to be trimmed or mowed almost to the ground.

After trimming the leaves, it is necessary loosen the soil between the rows to a depth of 10 cm. Be careful near the bushes, you can damage the roots of the plant. The bushes themselves should be hilled up so that the adventitious roots are covered with soil.

Require special consideration newly formed strawberry mustache. At the end of July or in August, root the regrown tendrils of the first year berries. In plants from two to four years old, the tendrils must be trimmed as they appear; they will only interfere with the formation of new buds. In addition, two-year-old bushes are the most fruit-bearing in comparison with three-year and four-year-old bushes. Please note that we are talking about regular varieties. garden strawberries, as it has its own characteristics of cultivation and care.

Five-year-old bushes must be simply and mercilessly removed; the harvest from them will be small, and the plant takes up a lot of space in the garden. Therefore, it is not worth trimming the leaves before wintering. If you notice brown spots, twisted young leaves, insects, which means there is a need to treat the plants, because they are the main enemies of a generous harvest!

Treatment of strawberries from diseases and pests

In September and autumn, strawberries need to be sprayed against infections and pests. Carefully inspect your plantations; most often, garden strawberries suffer from the following ailments:

• Strawberry mite– its appearance is indicated by yellowed, deformed leaves; treating the bush after harvesting with karbofos (3 tablespoons per bucket of water) will help get rid of the pest; various acaricides help a lot: Actellik, Kleschevit, etc.
• Spraying with karbofos will relieve strawberries from strawberry weevil, this insect overwinters in the soil and feeds on the leaves and buds of the bush
• Discover spider mite not so difficult. Its appearance is indicated by the presence of cobwebs on the foliage. If a mite is detected early, it is better to remove all foliage from the plant after harvesting. Use the drug Fitoverm to combat ticks, diluting 2 ml per liter of water
• Gray and black rot determined by the presence of spots on the sheets of the corresponding color; the plantation can be cured by treating with a solution of copper oxychloride (30 g per 8 liters of water)
• Powdery mildew looks like gray plaque, while the foliage curls, rots, and as a result, falls off. Spraying with a solution (100 g of colloidal sulfur in 10 liters of water) will relieve this disease
• Brown spots indicate the appearance brown spot, the plant must be cleared of old foliage and soil moisture adjusted. Severely damaged copies will have to be removed. The attack is treated with the following composition - 60 grams of copper oxychloride, diluted in a bucket of water or Bordeaux mixture(1%). You can spray strawberries with potassium permanganate (a weak solution), the drugs Ridomil, Skor, Horus are also used
• Remove brown and white spot Treating strawberries with iodine helps. To do this, make a mixture in proportions of 10-15 drops per 10 l soap solution. Experienced gardeners It is especially recommended to carry out this treatment in the spring, adding a glass of whey to the mixture. According to observations, the homemade composition protects plants from fungus and bacteria

Advice: To prevent your strawberries from getting sick, when preparing the bushes for winter, spray with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture using a shower head for a watering can. Spraying strawberries with brilliant green is also effective (1 drop per liter of water). Horse sorrel will make strawberry beds strong and resistant to diseases and pests. To do this, fill half a bucket with chopped sorrel and fill it to the top with water (without chlorine). Let it brew for 2-3 days and water the strawberries with the resulting solution at the rate of 0.5 liters per 1 bush.

Fertilizing strawberries in autumn

How to feed strawberries for the winter? In September - October, strawberries are fertilized with fertilizers that contain phosphorus and potassium, without nitrogen. Fertilizers are applied to the ground by watering or mixed with the soil when loosened. Fertilizing strawberries with ash will be wonderful folk remedy for fertilizer. It must be scattered in small quantities around the bushes of plants (a small handful). Ash is good source phosphorus and potassium, which is so necessary for plants to strengthen for the winter.

What else can you feed strawberries for the winter? Various mineral fertilizers are sold in stores; if desired, it is easy to make the composition at home with your own hands, for preparation nutritional mixture per 1 sq.m. landings will be needed:

• 30 g superphosphate
• 10 g ammonium nitrate
• 10 g potassium sulfate

After applying dry mineral fertilizers for strawberries in the fall, the ground should be well watered and ensure that the soil does not dry out completely (especially in regions such as the Astrakhan region, Krasnodar region, Adygea, etc.). After each watering, loosen the soil and weed out weeds. To conserve moisture and prevent the appearance of crust on the surface of the earth, the bushes of the plant can be covered with straw or peat.

You should be careful when using strawberry fertilizers that contain chlorine, as the plant does not tolerate it. For the winter, experienced summer residents recommend fertilizing the soil with humus or compost, spreading it evenly over the garden bed, trying not to cover the hearts of the plants. In addition, it is important point in the life of a plant. Especially if winters are snowless and frosty in the growing region.

Caring for Victoria is an important component for the formation of juicy, large and healthy berries for the next year. So, after picking the berries, the work for summer residents and gardeners is just beginning!

After picking the berries, strawberry bushes require special care to restore strength and intensively lay fruiting buds for the next year.

With proper implementation of summer-autumn preventive measures, garden strawberries (scientific name for strawberries) increase fruiting by at least 15-30 percent. The fruits become larger, juicier and sweeter. Any variety of simple or remontant strawberries responds gratefully to care and attention, so berries grown with your own hands are noticeably different from store-bought ones.

Caring for strawberries after harvest

At the end of July and beginning of August, after the strawberries have fruited, care appropriate for this period is carried out, consisting of: trimming the mustache, removing damaged leaves, weeding, fertilizing, hilling the bushes.

In July, after the strawberries are harvested, the plants begin to grow new leaves, form new horns, the growth of tendrils with lateral rosettes intensifies, and new flower buds are laid for the new season.

Be sure to weed the beds, that is, remove all weeds. Excess tendrils and dried leaves are also removed. Reddened leaf blades are removed first.

You cannot tear off the foliage and mustache, you can only cut it, otherwise the bush will be damaged and will hurt. For pruning, use only sharp scissors or pruners. To avoid the proliferation of pests, it is better to burn old, cut leaves. If young leaves curl or look corrugated, this indicates that the plants are infected with strawberry mite and they should be treated with a special preparation.

After pruning, the soil around the strawberries is loosened, fertilized, and watered. The row spacing is loosened to a depth of 10 centimeters. Around the plants, loosening is carried out to a depth of 5-7 centimeters. It is advisable to hill up the bushes.

In this case, the roots must be completely covered, and upper part the bush should remain above the ground. Under no circumstances should you cover the growing point, that is, the middle of the rosette of leaves.

Fertilizing strawberries in July

For feeding, mineral fertilizers with a wide content of microelements are taken. There are about 30 grams of fertilizer per square meter. A special fertilizer for garden strawberries is suitable for this - Fertika, ammophoska.

Fertilizers containing potassium chloride cannot be used, as it slows down growth and impairs fruiting. Fertilizers are embedded in the soil to a depth of about 5-8 centimeters.

In addition to these fertilizers, you can use last year's humus. It scatters around the bushes and slightly digs into the soil. Humus improves the structure of the soil and makes it more fertile.

You can also fertilize the beds with diluted chicken manure (dilute it in a ratio of 1:15 with water). When feeding, we must not forget that this solution should not get on the foliage, otherwise burns will appear on the plants, which provokes the development of diseases. A high concentration of the solution can completely destroy the bush. That's why this type fertilizing is not used so often. And more often in spring than in summer and autumn.

If the weather is dry, the strawberry beds are watered abundantly. Soil moisture should be maintained until the end of the season. Watering is done once a week with a bucket per square meter.

For better effect Drip irrigation can be used. This type of irrigation allows you to get required quantity moisture and at the same time the plants do not rot, since the soil does not become waterlogged.

Caring for strawberries in August

To ensure a bountiful harvest for the next season, perennial plants require proper care in late summer. It includes: pruning leaves, replanting mustaches, preparing plants for winter, that is, covering the bushes.

Old leaves are cut off. Here gardeners act differently, some mow down all the foliage completely, others remove only disease-damaged leaves. If strawberries grow in groups, then the early varieties are processed first. Then come the averages and late varieties, this will allow you to evenly care for the plants and prevent them from overgrowing, which leads to the threat of infection with diseases and pests.

The mustaches with new rosettes and young roots are planted to form young bushes. For this, the strongest specimens are selected, usually this is the first rosette on the antennae. It is recommended to replant strawberry plantings every 3 years, this is how many years the bush bears maximum fruit, then the bush ages and the yield decreases noticeably.

To protect strawberries from various fungi, powdery mildew, and pests, the bushes are sprayed with special preparations or self-prepared products.

For spraying the following preparations are used:

• Karbofos or Actellik is protection against weevils and strawberry mites;
• Azocene and Topaz are used for the prevention and control of powdery mildew;
• one percent lime solution and copper sulfate saves bushes and berries from rot and spotting.

Fertilizing strawberries in August

Feeding the bushes during this period increases the degree of frost resistance of the plant and promotes the formation of future flower buds.

Complex mineral fertilizers should include: 1 part nitrogen, 2 parts phosphorus, 4 parts potassium. In the finished version, it can be: Fusco, Autumn, Autumn. All these preparations contain other beneficial substances in addition to the base.

Fertilizer Autumn does not contain nitrogen, which allows it to be used even at a later period, but this preparation contains all the elements that are necessary for the growth and good fruiting of strawberries.

Suitable organic fertilizers include: peat, horse manure in granules, humus, bone meal.

Mineral and organic fertilizers should not be mixed. In rare cases, when the soil is depleted, mineral and organic fertilizers are applied over the entire area of ​​the beds. If the strawberry planting area is quite large, this mixture can also be used.

After feeding, the plants are covered with mulch, and for wintering the bushes are covered with leaves, pine needles, potato tops, and straw. Dry weather is chosen for shelter, otherwise the layer may cake and cause the formation of pests and diseases inside the layer or lead to root rot.

The layer of mulch protecting plants from frost should be at least 7 centimeters. In addition to mulch, non-woven material, such as spunbond, is used.

Autumn care for remontant strawberries

Remontant strawberry Compared to simple varieties, it has a short life span and after two years the plants must be replaced by new ones. Some varieties do not produce whiskers and are easier to care for, but they use seeds to propagate them, which complicates the breeding process.

July and August are suitable for renewing strawberry plantations. By autumn the bushes take root and easily endure the winter.

In preparation for winter, flower stalks and leaves are torn off from the mother bushes. The bushes are earthed up so that the roots are covered with soil. But the core of the plant must remain open, otherwise it will begin to rot.

The best reviews from gardeners

I always cut off almost all the leaves, leaving 3-4 leaves. When the first frosts begin, I cover them with spruce branches to prevent them from freezing in winter. Here in the Urals it can be -30 in the winter, so you can’t do without shelter. and I cut off the leaves because by the end of the season they are almost all diseased.

It is natural that there is no gardener who does not have on his garden plot at least a few strawberry bushes. There are also those who occupy entire “hundreds” of strawberry plantations and get good harvests, but they sometimes do not know what to do with the plants after the entire harvest, that is, every single strawberry, has been harvested. It turns out that during this period nothing should be left to chance and strawberry plants should not be left to the mercy of fate. The end of fruiting is the most important period when the next year's harvest begins to actively lay down and if the plant has enough of everything - warmth, moisture, nutrition and care, then next year the harvest may be even higher than this year.

Caring for strawberries after harvest. © James A. Guilliam

Pineapple strawberries, or garden strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) and their berries are often called strawberries, which is incorrect from the point of view of botanical nomenclature, but is universally accepted in everyday life. When we use the word “strawberry” in this material, we mean garden strawberries.

Rules for caring for strawberries after harvest

So, we will tell you what needs to be done immediately after harvesting the entire harvest from strawberry plantings, and then we will analyze each stage in as much detail as possible so that no black (unclear) spots remain.

Loosening

The first stage is, of course, loosening the soil. You need to loosen the soil carefully, both between the rows and under the bushes, trying not to damage the fragile soil. root system strawberries and do not remove their roots to the surface. Loosening will ensure soil ventilation, get rid of the soil crust, increase air and water exchanges, respectively, the plants will begin to receive more nutrition and moisture from the same unit of area, grow and develop normally and will lay a sufficient number of generative buds to ensure a high strawberry yield.

When loosening the soil around the strawberry bushes, try to simultaneously cover them a little with fresh and nutritious soil, especially if you notice that one or more roots are bare.

Weeding

The second important activity that can be carried out literally according to the list is weeding the beds, that is, removing all weeds, especially wheatgrass. Wheatgrass is extremely tenacious and consumes a lot of moisture and nutrients from the soil. It is better not to weed it out of the ground, but to literally pull it out with your hands, then, perhaps, its further growth will be greatly slowed down.

You should not lose sight of other weeds, because they are just as competitors and therefore must be removed. It is best to remove weeds after watering or good rain, then the weed roots are mostly and much easier to pull out of the soil.

Watering

The beds need to be kept moist, just try to pour moisture under the bushes in the evening. It is better not to pour water on the leaves at noon - they may cause sunburn. Naturally, you need to water strawberries based on the weather outside the window, for example, if it is raining and the soil is already saturated with moisture, then additional watering is not needed at all; here it is much more appropriate to loosen the soil, and perhaps even tear off a couple lower leaves one of those that are literally nailed to the ground to enhance the evaporation of moisture and prevent rot from forming.

If the weather is dry, and there is not even a hint of rain, then watering is necessary. When watering, it is best to use settled water or rainwater; it should soak the soil to a depth of at least 5-6 cm so that the roots are saturated with moisture. It is also impossible to over-moisten the soil, but over-dried soil will be destructive for plants.

Drip irrigation of strawberries. © Reeser Manley

If you are a resident summer cottage, where you are only on weekends, then you can design simple system drip irrigation. To do this, you need to take a 200-liter barrel, place it on a slight elevation, under the flow of rain from the roof, make a couple of holes in the base of the barrel (according to the number of rows in the bed) for special tubes - droppers and lay them out along the beds with strawberries. Moisture, coming through droppers, will moisten the soil in your absence, where it is needed.

Mulching

If you don’t want to bother with installing drippers, then you can simply mulch the soil after each watering, with a layer of a couple of centimeters. You can use straw, sawdust, humus, or just dry soil as mulch for strawberries. For several days, such mulch will be quite enough to conserve moisture in the soil.

If, after harvesting garden strawberries, a layer of old mulch remains on the site, say, straw, which you laid out to keep the berries clean and protect them from fruit rot, you need to remove such mulch as thoroughly as possible and burn it, reuse it there is no need, as harmful microorganisms can accumulate in it.

Removing old leaves

The next stage: as you know, the leaf blades of garden strawberries, having served their allotted two years, begin to age, so they can be safely removed. They do it in every way: raking, mowing and even cutting by hand. There are no clear guidelines for such actions, but do not forget that when removing old strawberry leaf blades that have changed their color, it is important not to damage the growing points. Taking this into account, two methods are considered the most gentle - raking old leaves with a rake (they are easily separated) and removing them manually.

Fertilizing strawberries

This stage can be combined: removing old leaf blades can be combined with feeding the plants. Having reproduced, the strawberry plants are quite depleted, and there is a long winter ahead and a short period during which it is necessary to re-plant flower buds in order to give a good harvest for the next year.

If there is little nutrition in the soil, this can also negatively affect the immune system: it will weaken and the plants may freeze in winter and at the stage of growth activity, so the bushes will produce a minimum number of flower buds.

What to feed garden strawberries after harvesting?

Adding one element to maintain an optimal balance of nutrients in the soil will clearly not be enough. Moreover, we strongly recommend adding all the elements in dissolved form in water, so that they reach the roots and, accordingly, the plant as quickly as possible.

During this period, it is best to use potassium sulfate (not chloride) dissolved in water, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate. Potassium sulfate, in terms of square meter soil, previously diluted in a bucket of water, you need 15-18 grams (that’s a liter per square meter), ammonium nitrate - the same amount for the same area, but superphosphate needs 45-50 grams, also dissolved in a bucket of water, and in the same amount per square meter of garden strawberry beds.

In addition to applying liquid mineral fertilizers, after about a week, under each bush, you can add 50-70 g of wood ash into previously loosened and watered soil, although there is not much potassium in wood ash, only 5-6%, but there are many other minerals(microelements).

In the absence of wood ash, you can add a handful of compost under the strawberry bushes; nothing bad will come of it. Somehow I came across an advice that at this time a handful of dried manure was added to the garden strawberries, I tried it on a couple of plants, they dried out after that, so this advice is at your own peril and risk.

As for wood ash, it can be poured not only under each bush, but also scattered between the rows, previously loosened and weeded, using two kilograms per square meter. Some write that this helps against mole crickets, I doubt this, but it is a fact that the ash enriches the soil with potassium and microelements.

It would probably be superfluous to say that by performing all these operations, you leave plant residues and old foliage on the plantation; of course, this is not worth doing; absolutely all garbage from the site must be removed and burned: diseases, pests and various pathogens.

Loosening the soil and hilling strawberry bushes. © Gerri and Steve Grady

Protecting strawberries from diseases and pests

Next important stage, which for some reason is neglected by many, is preventive and eradicative treatment of garden strawberry plantings after the end of fruiting, both against pests and diseases. Once all the berries have been removed, carefully inspect the plants to see if they have pests or signs of various diseases.

Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a lot of diseases on garden strawberries. Take at least powdery mildew. Its first signs of manifestation are observed in the form of a grayish coating on the leaf blades of strawberries; later these leaves begin to rot, and, of course, they fall off, first curling.

At the first signs of the presence of a disease, when the entire strawberry crop has already been harvested, the plants should be generously treated - top and bottom - with a solution of colloidal sulfur, for which it is necessary to dilute 100 grams of colloidal sulfur in a bucket of water at room temperature, stir well, fill the spray bottle and treat the plants, wetting all surface.

It also harms strawberries gray mold. Usually there are clearly visible gray spots on the berries and in some places such berries are still hanging, the pickers simply ignore them. You can't do that. First you need to collect all the affected strawberries and destroy them by burning: after all, these are foci of infection; and then - treat all plants, and especially carefully those where diseased berries were found, with a solution of copper oxychloride, in the amount of 45 g per bucket of water. The entire above-ground part of diseased plants should be moistened with the solution.

Another rot that few people distinguish from gray rot is black rot, it can be distinguished by the spots on the berries, they are black in color, although the action itself and treatment methods are absolutely the same as for gray rot.

Let's go further: spotting, usually spotting affects the leaf blades of garden strawberries, and brown-red spots appear on them. You cannot delay it; the disease can quickly spread through still healthy plants and take over most of the plantation. Outwardly it seems that this is nonsense, just think - spots, but in reality these spots lead to disruptions in the functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus and, against this background, slow down general development plants.

Of course, this will not significantly affect the laying of next year’s strawberry crop, but spotting still needs to be fought. In this case, treatments with a solution of copper oxychloride are effective; it must be diluted in a concentration of 50 g per bucket of water and treated with this solution on diseased strawberry plants.

By the way, beginners quite often confuse foliage that has outlived its useful life and has a reddish tint with diseased spotting. Remember firmly that the old foliage just needs to be removed; it no longer needs any additional processing.

From diseases we gradually move on to pests - during the period when garden strawberries have given up their entire harvest, they also need protection from pests. At this time, strawberries are attacked by the strawberry weevil, strawberry mite and spider mite.

The strawberry weevil usually eats leaf blades; at earlier stages of plant development, it can also affect buds. In order to get rid of strawberry weevil, plants need to be treated with approved insecticides such as karbofos, using 70-80 g of the drug per bucket of water. When processing, you need to thoroughly wet the top and bottom of the strawberry leaves and also treat the soil.

Even more small insects is the strawberry mite. You can tell that it was he who struck the strawberry plantings by the slightly deformed foliage, which has changed its color to yellow. The control measures here are the same as in the case of the weevil.

It is quite easy to find spider mites on strawberry plants: if you turn the leaf over, you will see a cobweb underneath, this is the trace of the spider mite’s activity.

After you notice a spider mite on strawberries, which sucks the juice from the leaf blades and greatly inhibits the development of the plant, reducing its immunity, it is necessary to treat the plants with any approved acaricide, and if the strawberry plants are severely affected, it is better to remove them and burn them outside the site.

Mulching strawberry plantings. © GrowOrganic

Replacing old strawberry bushes

So, we have already said a lot about what needs to be done after the strawberries have borne fruit, but not everything, there are still secrets left, and we will definitely tell you about them now.

For example, did you know that full fruiting of garden strawberries lasts only four years, but on sufficiently moist, nutritious soil it can last five years, after which, alas, it fades away without a trace, and it is better to renew the plantation? Now know!

Therefore, once you have collected the fifth, full harvest, the strawberry plantation will need to be replaced with a new one. Around the end of July, all old and drying strawberry leaves need to be cut off, removed, and only the very base of the bush, about 2-3 cm high, should be left from the shoots and shoots.

Be sure to remove everything that was cut from the site and burn it. This procedure is cruel, however, this fall it will allow the plants to form new leaf mass and lay flowering buds, that is, the key to next year’s harvest.

What to do with a strawberry mustache?

When removing shoots, there are a lot of them and they can be destroyed for real it's a pity. Taking this into account, if you have enough free space, then the remaining shoots, choosing the strongest and most well-developed and healthy ones, should be transplanted into newly laid beds. All other tendrils must be removed, otherwise they will simply draw moisture and additional substances to themselves to the detriment of the formation of the generative sphere of plants.

Cutting strawberry tendrils should be done at random; for this, you usually take a garden knife and remove the tendrils as close to the soil surface as possible. Do not pull out the shoot under any circumstances, as this will almost always pull out part of the root, and it may dry out, and consequently the entire plant will die.

Rejuvenation of strawberry plantings by layering of mustaches. © Chloe

Preparing strawberries for winter

Preparing strawberries for winter should not be ignored; this is a significant part of the guarantee good harvest for next year. If there is enough moisture in the soil, then there is no need to water the plants in late autumn; if there is not enough moisture, then around the end of October you can pour a couple of buckets of water per square meter of soil.

Carefully inspect the plants again, especially after watering; if you notice that the root system is sticking out here and there, be sure to dig it in with moist and nutritious soil. When the first stable frost sets in, in order to retain the snow in the area of ​​the strawberry bed, it is necessary to cover it with spruce branches; it is not so reliable protection from the cold, but it retains snow on the site just perfectly.

But many people do not recommend using straw as a covering material for strawberries in the winter; mice usually breed there, so if you have a lot of straw and nowhere to put it, then at the same time lay out poisoned baits to protect yourself from mice.

Well, that's all we wanted to tell you. If you have questions or advice, write them in the comments, we will be happy to answer your questions and use the advice!

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Do you want to constantly get a good harvest of berries? In this case, you will have to start processing the strawberries after harvesting, protecting them from diseases and pests, as well as creating optimal conditions for fruiting. This time comes at the end of summer, but those who did not have time to do this can catch up during Indian summer, although in different regions this period begins at different times.

Be that as it may, in any case, you need to deal with this before the onset of cold weather, so that the plants can bear maximum fruit in the future. You can familiarize yourself with the requirements for productive growth of berries in this material.

Pineapple strawberry or Fragaria ananassa is very large

For reference. Strawberry it is common name cultivated strawberries, which appeared in Russian from the word “club”. Gardeners' garden beds mainly grow green strawberries (Fragaria viridis), musk strawberries (Fragaria moschata) and pineapple strawberries (Fragaria ananassa).

Autumn care for cultivated berries

Professional gardeners recommend cultivating strawberry beds more than once a year, but monthly - in July, August and September, but not everyone can afford this. So here you will have to somehow prioritize, but at least several times a year preventive measures will have to be done, otherwise you won’t see a good harvest.

It is noteworthy that the cyclical development of a plant begins not in the early vein, as most novice gardeners believe, but in autumn period, therefore, it is at this time that maximum attention to the beds is necessary. Creation optimal conditions for a rich harvest, you need to start in September and the result of the gardener’s work will be visible during fruiting, that is, the consequences of all actions, right or wrong, will affect. This is a period of low activity of various pests and pathogens. It is now that the laying down for the future formation of buds and the accumulation of sucrose, as well as other nutrients, begins in the stems.

What to do before pruning

Loosening the soil in a strawberry bed

Until carried out preparatory work, processing of strawberries after harvesting (pruning, applying effective measures against diseases and pests) should not be started. There are three points to consider:

• Loosening the fertile soil layer

This action opens up freer access of oxygen to the root system, therefore improving conditions for active development and this must be done before frost. But climatic conditions very different in geographical location and it is better for every gardener to know when in his area the mercury column of the thermometer drops below zero. In order not to damage the root system of the plant, which is located at a depth of 5 cm, the soil under the bush should not be turned over, going deeper than 3 cm, but between the beds this parameter should be increased to 15 cm. For loosening, a fork, a small hoe or just a sharpened rod of reinforcement are suitable .

• Top dressing

To create conditions for the growth of the root system and green mass, nitrogen fertilizers are very useful for bushes. They need to be added to the soil not in autumn, but in summer period and the best time for this is the end of July and the beginning of August. Strawberries will need nitrogen fertilizers that accelerate metabolism, which is possible when the plant juice moves in its above-ground part (leaves, stems). If such fertilizer gets onto the beds in the fall, then with the onset of frost the sap flow will not slow down, and this is very bad - the greens will freeze

• Mulching

First of all, you probably need to understand this concept. Mulch, this protective coating and in this case, large and small ones are widely used for this purpose. sawdust, less often polyethylene film. This is excellent protection for retaining moisture in the spring and insulating the top layer in the fall (the thermal conductivity of wood is quite low.

Note. Some gardeners use pine needles to retain moisture or protect them from frost, but this is a rather dangerous undertaking. The fact is that when the needles rot, they release abietic and oleic acids, which will do strawberries a disservice.

Three feeding options

Any varieties of strawberries need to be fed

After harvesting and loosening the soil, the bushes are fed and the following preparations, the composition of which is given below, are very suitable for this.

Option No. 1 - ash and ammonia:

• ammonia - 2 tablespoons.

Note. Before fertilizing the soil for the beds, abundant watering of the soil is necessary.

Option No. 2 – boric acid and iodine:

• boric acid – 1 teaspoon;
• iodine – ½ teaspoon;
• whey – ½ liter;
• vegetable ash – 1 cup 250 g.
• water (preferably well) – 10-12 liters (full bucket).

Note. If there is potassium humate on the farm, then this is an equivalent replacement for wood ash - this applies to both the first and second options.

Option No. 3 – fertilizer made from yeast and sugar:

• dry yeast - 10-12 g (small packet);
• sugar – 3 tablespoons with a small slide;
• warm water 21-23ᶛ - 3 liters.

The composition is thoroughly mixed and left for 2-3 hours in a warm place (possibly in the sun). A solution of 1 mash/9 water, that is, add a liter of mash to an incomplete bucket of water and feed the strawberries, but before this you must water the soil generously.

Attention! The water for steaming yeast should never be hot! At a temperature of 30ᶛC, fermentation stops! But the fermentation process itself is active and increases the temperature of the liquid by about 5ᶛC, so that if the water is 22ᶛC, then after 10-15 minutes of activity the temperature will rise to 27ᶛC.

Advantages and disadvantages of pruning strawberry bushes in autumn

It’s up to you to decide whether to carry out autumn pruning or not, so to make a decision you should carefully weigh all the arguments of your opponents to each other. In addition, you can go the experimental route, that is, carry out autumn pruning one year, and abandon it the next year, and then compare the results. And let ill-wishers call this the “scientific poking method,” but any theoretical arguments are powerless in the face of practical experience.

What is good about autumn pruning?

Strawberries can even be trimmed with tailor's scissors.

Probably, every person will do this or that job better if he understands its purpose and is confident in the correctness of his actions. In this case, pruning the bushes means removing all the green mass from the garden bed - they are not needed for the winter, but before severe frosts, all the energy will be directed to the development of the root system. If you do this, the benefits will be as follows:

• All substances useful for the bush that the root absorbs will not be transferred to the outer part of the plant and will remain in the root system. The accumulated supply of necessary vitamins and minerals will subsequently be wasted on the growth of berries, therefore, the harvest will be more abundant.
• In the absence of foliage in winter, strawberries' resistance to frost increases.
• Harmful insects and fungal diseases are removed along with the outer part of the plant. In addition, this is part of the renewal process, giving the bush new strength.

What's wrong with autumn pruning?

No matter how good everything may seem, there will always be negativity, and so it is here, in contrast autumn pruning, adherents of another theory put forward the following arguments:

• Removal of generative buds that appear in the autumn, along with the green mass. Some gardeners claim that with this approach the yield is significantly reduced, because only those buds that developed in the spring along with the stems and leaves will come into play.
• When pruned, pests will fall to the ground and survive the winter with virtually no losses, so that in the spring they can take up their business again. So it is much better to leave this fight to natural weather conditions - severe frost will kill the insects.
• If the bush develops from scratch, that is, from the root, then this will take time and you will be left without early strawberry fruits.

What you need for pruning

Such work can be divided by season, that is, pruning can be done both in summer and autumn. Of course, these are very similar actions, but you still need to understand the nuances.

Summer pruning

Name the strawberry tender plant quite difficult, since this is an unusually tenacious plant - its fibrous root system takes care of this. So, when caring for a bush, you don’t have to worry that you’ll accidentally cut off the excess or inadvertently trample it under your feet. The plant will recover very quickly and new shoots will replace the damaged ones.

You must decide for yourself whether to remove the whiskers or leave them for reproduction.

In the summer, immediately after harvesting, the first cleaning is done - it is impossible to indicate the exact timing here, since they depend on the variety of berries and this can fall in either July or August. In addition, there are some late-bearing varieties that can only be pruned in early fall. Here's what is meant by summer pruning:

• Removing the mustache. Summer prevention is primarily aimed at removing mustaches from the bush. Each tendril is a shoot of a new bush and by leaving them in the beds you will expand their area, but if you don’t need this, then, naturally, all the tendrils will have to be eliminated. Removal is carried out with sharp pruning shears, tailor's scissors, and sometimes even side cutters. If you decide to leave several shoots for propagation, then take only the first rosette that has taken root.
• Rejuvenation. To rejuvenate a bush, it is not at all necessary to cut off all the green mass - it is enough to remove only large leaves, but not at the root, but leaving about 8-10 cm of the stem - this will serve as an impetus for the growth of young shoots. About 3 or 5 young leaves should be left on each bush.

Attention! For such work, you should use only clean tools (secateurs, scissors), that is, after processing the next bush cutting tool It is worth wiping with a napkin, which should always be at hand. The fact is that not only healthy, but also diseased leaves are removed (they can be distinguished by deformation, curling, spots, growths and color changes). In addition, old leaves spread along the ground, which contributes to their rotting and spreading. various diseases for strawberries.

• Fertilizing strawberries. After cleaning the bushes, the soil should be slightly loosened, but so as not to touch the roots (directly at the plants 3 cm, and between the beds 15 cm deep). After this, the soil is fertilized with the preparations described above, or with universal products purchased in the store. In addition, you can use a weak solution of potassium permanganate for feeding. This must be done to replenish your “fat” reserves for the winter.

Location of rosettes relative to the uterine bush

Pruning in autumn

Now let's figure out how to prune in the fall - it is somewhat different from summer care of the beds. First of all, prevention at this time of year involves removing all existing shoots - these shoots will take away strength from the root system and the harvest will significantly decrease in quality. That is, the quantitative indicator will not decrease, only the berries will be very small.

Therefore, if you want to expand the area where you plant strawberries, then take care of this in the summer, after harvesting, so that by autumn you will be able to remove all the shoots. Before the arrival of cold weather, it is imperative to remove all diseased and old leaves that can be sorted. So, old trimmings can be loaded into compost pit, and the sick must be burned!

Autumn care for strawberry beds mulched with plastic film

There are gardeners who believe that when completely cutting off a green area, you don’t need pruners or scissors at all - in such situations it is very convenient to use a scythe (some even go to the beds with a lawn mower). But if you do not have experience in growing strawberries, then it is better to avoid radical measures. A person with practical experience will pick up a scythe only for bushes that are at least 3 years old, or if most of them are affected by diseases or insects.

Video: Caring for strawberries after fruiting

Caring for remontant varieties

Remontant varieties of strawberries bear fruit all season long, so fresh berries you can enjoy it almost constantly. But if someone told you that such bushes do not need care, they say, there is no time left for this, otherwise you will lose part of the harvest, then they are either mistaken out of ignorance, or are deliberately deceiving you. Remontant strawberries need to be cared for in the same way as other regular varieties.

Remontant strawberry varieties bear fruit almost the entire season - Vima's fresh strawberries

The optimal pruning of such bushes first of all consists in thinning them, since the root system spends useful substances necessary for the growth of berries on the growth of foliage, which naturally reduces the yield. With such prevention, the foliage and stems inside the bush are removed, but they are not cut at the root and about nine stems are left intact on the plant.

The mustaches are eliminated during the harvest period, more precisely, immediately after its completion, and at the same time, reddened leaves are removed, which reduce the number of ovaries. If old bushes are found in the garden bed, they are dug up before frost.

Growing remontant strawberries in greenhouses can be put on an industrial basis

It should be mentioned that in the northern regions, remontant varieties do not have time to bear fruit a second time due to the onset of cold weather. In addition, frosts will not allow for high-quality preventive maintenance of the beds, but there is still a way out. In such cases, removable greenhouses are built over the beds, which are raised during harvesting and preventative care, but at night (time of frost) they must be installed in place.

Video: Caring for remontant strawberries after fruiting

Conclusion

From everything written and shown, we can come to the conclusion that processing strawberries after harvest and protecting them from diseases and pests is a mandatory procedure. Loosening the soil, watering, fertilizing, complete pruning and thinning are a set of actions aimed at obtaining a bountiful harvest. It should be noted that the most best period to carry out such procedures, it is two to three weeks after picking the berries. Even if you have to devote a lot of time to your main job, be sure to try to carve out at least an hour or two a day and you won’t regret it!

Strawberry- common name for plants and berries Muscat strawberry (lat. Fragaria moschata = Fragaria elatior), received widespread in the 20th century. The word “strawberry” itself is derived from the old Russian “club”, which in ancient times meant something round, spherical. Musk strawberry, also known as muscat strawberry, also known as tall strawberry or Spanish strawberry, or sometimes just Spanish strawberry, also known as tall strawberry, garden strawberry, real strawberry, European strawberry, is a herbaceous perennial of the genus Strawberry of the Rosaceae family. Often called strawberry strawberries, or large-fruited, or pineapple (lat. Fragaria × ananassa)- well, in different decades, either nutmeg strawberries or pineapple strawberries were massively cultivated in gardens - both were called strawberries or “Victoria” (after the name of a popular variety). Nowadays, nutmeg strawberries are most often grown, which means that now they are strawberries. This berry has been known to mankind since antiquity - references to it have been found in Egyptian and Greek written documents, and even in Virgil. Nowadays, this berry is mostly cultivated in Europe and the Americas.

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Strawberry bushes - description

Strawberry – grassy perennial, the bushes of which reach a height of 15-35 cm. The stems of strawberries are erect, covered with glandular hair. Strawberry leaves are trifoliate, large, light green in color. Strawberry blossoms look attractive - white five-petaled flowers with a double perianth are collected in corymbose inflorescences of 5-12 pieces. The so-called strawberry is actually an overgrown receptacle with numerous small fruits and nuts located on its surface. Strawberries have a sweet and sour taste and a pleasant aroma.

Strawberry fruiting time

The flowering and fruiting of strawberries does not have clear time limits - each variety has its own. In varieties with one-time fruiting, the active period is very short. Early varieties begin to bear fruit in May. Some of the earliest varieties, Alba and Lambada, bear fruit from the second decade of May to the beginning of June, a little later the fruits of the Darselect and Hani varieties ripen, followed by Korona, Eliani, Polka, Elsanta, each with a shift of 3-4 days. All these varieties begin to bear fruit in May, but there are later varieties - June and July: strawberries in June are the varieties Symphony, Florence, Victoriani, and strawberries in July are Malvina.

Remontant varieties, or day-neutral varieties, which vegetate almost until frost and bear fruit several times during this period, also differ in terms of fruiting, but such strawberries begin to ripen in the summer. For example, harvesting of Portola strawberries begins only in August and lasts until mid-November, Flamenco varieties - from mid-August to mid-December, and varieties such as Albion, Marling Pearl and Opal Pearl bear fruit from July to December.

Next we will tell you, how to care for strawberries from the moment fruiting ceases until the time when all life in the garden ceases altogether - how to water strawberries, when and what to feed her, does it need to be trimmed and how to do it.

Strawberries after harvest - care

Watering strawberries

Growing strawberries does not end the moment berries stop appearing on the bushes. Even after the harvest is harvested, strawberry care continues. After all, strawberries do not stop growing and developing after harvesting, so one of the most important points in caring for them is moistening the soil in the area. How often to water strawberries so that she can recover, get stronger and grow bud rudiments for the next harvest? You need to water infrequently, about once a week or a decade, but generously so that the soil is saturated with moisture more deeply - surface watering will not bring any benefit.

Weeding strawberries

After watering, it is necessary to loosen the soil in the area to a depth of 10 cm, but near the bushes, use the hoe more carefully - do not damage the root system. While loosening, hill up the strawberry bushes, sprinkling soil on the growing adventitious roots. At the same time as loosening, remove emerging weeds. Make sure that the strawberry beds are not overgrown with grass. Remove weeds between the rows, and then pour all kinds of small debris into the aisles cleared of grass - sawdust, dry branches, wood chips, etc. This measure will prevent the area with strawberries from becoming overgrown weed grass. Later, in the fall, you will have to weed the weeds again, but there will be significantly fewer of them if you do the main work of destroying them in the summer, immediately after picking the berries.

Fertilizing strawberries

How to feed strawberries

Has proven itself perfectly organic fertilizer for strawberries - horse manure, humus or mullein. Strawberries also respond well to the addition of chicken manure as a top dressing. You can also use more modern means – mineral fertilizers, for example, ammophoska, which contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as magnesium, sulfur and calcium. It is highly undesirable to apply chlorine-containing fertilizers, since strawberries do not tolerate chlorine well.

How to fertilize strawberries

Immediately after removing the weeds and loosening the soil, spread small pieces of mullein or horse manure over the area. All subsequent waterings and rains will gradually dissolve these substances, release microelements from them and deliver them deep into the soil, to the strawberry roots. But the method of fertilizing the area with chicken droppings works much faster. To do this, fresh droppings are diluted in a ratio of 1:20 in water, mixed thoroughly, and the mixture is poured under the strawberry bushes. The consumption is approximately this: one bucket for 8-10 strawberry bushes.

If you decide to use mineral fertilizers, scatter them over the garden bed, hoe them into the soil, and then water the area. To prevent a crust from forming on its surface after moistening the soil, mulch the area with strawberries with peat or pine needles. In the future, you can loosen the soil and water the strawberries through the mulch.

Strawberry pruning

When to prune strawberries

Do not put off pruning strawberries until the fall; do it immediately after the strawberries have stopped bearing fruit. Regarding remontant varieties, then it is better not to prune bushes bearing fruit for the first year at all, removing only weak or diseased leaves and tendrils, if the variety you grow produces them. Remontant strawberries are cultivated only for a year or two, then their yield decreases noticeably and the berries become smaller.

How to prune strawberries after harvest

Remove bushes from the area that will no longer bear fruit - in their place you can still have time to grow some later crop this year. From those bushes that will bear fruit next year, you need to cut off all the foliage at a height of 10 cm from the ground, and also remove the strawberry tendrils. Don’t worry that the strawberries are left without leaves after pruning – they will still have time to grow them before winter.

Strawberry processing - prevention

How to treat strawberries against diseases

In the fight to prevent strawberry diseases and pests from depriving you of your berry harvest, the best remedy– scrupulous observance of agrotechnical conditions for its cultivation, because strawberry diseases are a consequence of violation of the rules of caring for it. However, there are times when strawberries get sick, even if you follow all the rules. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to carry out preventive treatment of strawberries against diseases, and this should be done in the fall. It is best to spray the strawberries and the area with nitrophen - this drug will destroy all pathogenic viruses and fungi on the strawberries and in the soil.