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Who does not like to eat red, ripe, juicy and very rich in taste and aroma of strawberries? However, in order for the harvest of this berry to be maximum, it is necessary to take care of the bushes all year round. They need to be cultivated, fed and watered. This is due to the fact that the laying of fruit buds for the next year occurs in the current season.
This article will tell you how strawberries are prepared for winter in the fall. When and how should berries be watered? What fertilizers should be applied under the bushes before wintering? How to spud and how to cover strawberries? These questions will be highlighted in the article.
Pruning of bushes
Strawberries will survive the winter only if they have a healthy leaf apparatus. After harvesting, old leaves and tendrils from strawberries must be cut off, since the tendrils will not have time to form a healthy rosette before the onset of cold weather. They will only weaken the mother bush. If you want to transplant strawberries in the future, then leave the first outlet on each bush.
Pruning of leaves should be carried out correctly, as they are the main vegetative organs of strawberry bushes, through which the process of photosynthesis passes. So why should you prune old leaves? This is because old strawberry leaves are a favorite habitat for pests and diseases. And timely pruning will protect strawberries from them.
When specks of the so-called rust begin to form on the leaves, they must be cut off. So, free up space for the growth of healthy, young leaves.
To make sure that pruning has a positive effect on strawberry yields, do a little experiment: remove old leaves and tendrils on one bed, and not on the second. In this case, you can definitely tell what is good and what is bad for your beds with your favorite red berry.
Tick control
Sometimes soft-bodied mites appear on strawberry bushes at the end of summer. They are so microscopic in size that they cannot be detected with the naked eye. The main sign of mite damage to a plant is the condition of the leaves. Young leaves are poorly developed and have a dark green matte color, despite the fact that the petioles remain short.
Unfortunately, to date, a remedy has not yet been developed to combat the soft-bodied tick, so damaged bushes must be immediately removed from the garden and burned.
When and how to carry out hilling and transplantation
The preparation for winter does not include hilling the bushes in the fall. This is done a little earlier, namely at the end of August. This is due to the fact that in the process of hilling the root system is injured and strawberries may not overwinter if the roots do not have time to recover.
Transplantation is carried out every 5-6 years. In poorly fertilized soil, bushes should be transplanted every 4 years. Those bushes should be removed in which the root system has begun to rise above the surface of the earth. In this case, young bushes will develop better, as a result of which you can update the planting. In the process of transplanting, it is important to loosen the top layer of soil. So, you will provide the root system with enough air, so that the bushes take root faster and easier. In addition, digging will make it possible to remove the roots of perennial weeds. Loosening will allow root feeding.
Application of fertilizers
Since strawberries lose all their strength during the fruiting period, they must be fed after harvest. If the weather is hot outside, then the bushes need to be watered.
Strawberries are a crop that is sensitive to a high concentration of salts, so it is impossible to oversaturate the soil in the beds with this plant with fertilizers. Before wintering, the culture should go into a dormant state. The fact that strawberries have entered a dormant period can be judged by the leaves on short petioles, from which a winter leaf rosette is formed. It takes place in November.
As a fertilizer for strawberries, rotted manure, compost or straw can serve. This plant needs to get enough minerals. There should be no weeds in strawberry beds, as they absorb nutrients from the soil, as a result of which the bushes will lose their strength and be less fruitful.
Soil mulching
Caring for strawberries in the fall also includes mulching the soil. This event must be carried out if you want to transplant young. Rosettes with roots are formed from the whiskers, and in order for them to be prepared for wintering and take root, they need to be sprinkled with earth mixed with peat. However, you can not cover the growing point with soil. Otherwise, the young will slow down in growth.
Mulching can also be done with a mixture of soil and humus. Under such circumstances, this layer will serve as bush fertilizer and covering material. Bushes prepared in this way will survive the winter cold. Mulching requires extreme care. It is important not to fill leaves and bushes with soil with humus or peat, only the soil around the bushes is used.
Covering beds
In the late autumn period, the first frosts come, and it is at this time that you need to cover the strawberry bushes. The best cover is mulching and snow. In warm winters and with an abundance of snow, additional strawberry shelter is not needed.
However, if your area has little snow and severe frosts, then the strawberries need to be covered. Spruce branches can serve as a covering material. Young growth needs to be covered completely, and mother bushes – in a circle. In this case, pests and rodents will not start in strawberries.
If you take good care of the plant, then it will reward you with a bountiful harvest next season. Also, many gardeners use tops / leaves of plants and straw as a covering material. Often mice start up in the straw, and the tops and foliage sag, as a result of which air access to the bushes is limited, and charms appear.
To cover the bushes of strawberries and strawberries, special materials are also used, such as spandbod and agrotex. The density of the material should be 60 g/m2. The covering material is stretched over pre-prepared arcs or a frame installed on the beds. It is worth noting that such material passes air well, so the bushes do not deteriorate and do not fade. In places where the covering material will come into contact with the soil, the earth will freeze even deeper. Therefore, the presence of a frame is mandatory.
If you take care of strawberries all year round and properly prepare them for wintering, then next year’s harvest will delight you and your family. In addition, we invite you to watch the accompanying video material:
