Fertilizers for remontant strawberries

Remontant strawberries allow you to enjoy a delicious berry throughout the summer season. Such varieties bear fruit in 2 stages or continuously, in small portions from early spring to late autumn. Having decided to grow remontant strawberries on your land, you need to know the features of caring for plants so that they can fully show their advantageous qualities. So, in addition to pruning, weeding and watering, feeding remontant strawberries is very important. Giving a large number of berries, the plants are quickly depleted, they begin to form low-quality fruits: small, ugly, sour. You can correct the situation and give the culture enough strength for long-term fruiting with the help of various fertilizers and top dressings, which must be used repeatedly during the season. You can learn how to properly care for remontant strawberries and what fertilizers to use at various stages of the growing season in the article below.

Features of remontant strawberries

Farmers distinguish 3 types of remontant strawberries, depending on the conditions for laying the fruit bud:

• Ordinary varieties are prepared for fruiting next year only with a short daylight hours, that is, in the second half of summer – early autumn.
• Remontant varieties (“Lyubava”, “Geneva”, “Brighton”) are able to lay a fruit bud with a long daylight hours (16 hours a day). So, the first buds of a remontant plant begin to be laid in mid-May, the second stage of laying occurs at the end of summer. Such strawberries bear fruit twice per season: in summer and early autumn.
• Remontant strawberries of neutral daylight hours (“Queen Elizabeth II”, “Diammant”, “Referent”) lay fruit buds constantly, regardless of the lighting regime. The vegetation process of such strawberries is cyclical: the ripening of berries and the formation of new flowers occurs every 6 weeks. Strawberries of these varieties please with their taste from mid-spring to late autumn.

The advantage of remontant strawberries, in addition to a long fruiting period, is a high yield. During the season, up to 3,5 kg of berries can be harvested from each bush. However, to obtain such a high result, it is necessary to properly care for the crop, providing regular watering and fertilizing. With insufficient care, it will not be possible to obtain a high yield. At the same time, having given all their strength to the formation and ripening of fruits, remontant strawberries may even die at the end of the season.

Many gardeners claim that remontant strawberries, as the harvest returns, bears fruit with a small berry with low taste quality, often suffers from diseases and pests. In order to prevent such a result, it is necessary to carefully study the characteristics of a particular variety of remontant crops and take care of the plants properly. For example, some remontant varieties are resistant to diseases, consistently large berries of high taste characteristics bear fruit. It is also worth paying attention to the ability of remontant plants to form a mustache. This will allow strawberries with a relatively short life cycle to propagate without much hassle.

Culture methods

If desired, strawberries can be grown year-round in an apartment. True, in this case one cannot count on a large amount of harvest. Growing strawberries in greenhouses has long been practiced in the West. That is why sometimes even in the middle of winter on store shelves you can see an attractive, fresh berry. In domestic latitudes, strawberries are more often grown in open areas of land. For this, ridges are formed and young bushes are planted in a checkerboard pattern, observing certain distances. Such a common technology has one significant drawback: the berries, in contact with damp soil, often rot. For pests, such an environment is also an excellent “springboard” for existence and parasitism.

The most advanced technology is the cultivation of strawberries under the film. To do this, the formed ridge is covered with geotextile or polyethylene. Holes are made in the coating, into which young remontant plants are subsequently planted. Thus, the mature crop will not come into contact with the ground, the resulting mustache can be easily removed, and you can completely forget about weeding the ridges.

This growing technology is described in detail in the video:

In practice, there is another technology for suspended cultivation of strawberries. To do this, seedlings of remontant plants are planted in containers filled with soil and suspended according to the pots principle. This method allows you to get a small amount of berries and a pot with high decorative qualities.

Stages of cultivation

Remontant strawberries require a lot of attention and care, from the moment the soil is prepared for planting until the end of their life cycle. That is why, having decided to grow a remontant berry, you need to stock up on patience and knowledge that will help you timely and correctly carry out all the necessary measures to get a decent harvest.

Fertilizing the soil

To grow strawberries, you need to pick up a sunny plot of land, without flooding. Strawberries do not tolerate high humidity and stagnant water. In such conditions, its roots and fruits begin to rot.

As with any culture, there are good and bad predecessors for strawberries. For example, farmers recommend growing garden strawberries after onions, garlic, radishes, carrots, legumes.

Strawberries can grow in any soil, however, it is preferable to grow them in nutrient soil. To create a good substrate, it is necessary to add compost or rotted manure to the soil 4-6 kg/m². It would be useful to sprinkle the soil with wood ash. In the soil mixture, its share should not exceed 10%. In the presence of sawdust, they can also be applied to the soil, in an amount of 20%. Such a soil composition will contain the necessary amount of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus for the normal growth of strawberries after planting in the ground.

You can also fertilize the soil for growing remontant strawberries with mineral fertilizers. For every 1m² soil, add 6-8 g of ammonium nitrate or urea, as well as 30 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium chloride. You can replace such a composition with the complex fertilizer “AgroPrirost”. Fertilizer consumption can reach 3 kg/m².

Methods of growing and feeding seedlings

Before you start planting strawberries in the ground, you need to get planting material. The most difficult way is growing strawberry seedlings from seeds. Grains can be bought or harvested from already ripe remontant berries. For storage, they must be thoroughly dried, and before planting, soak in water or a nutrient solution, a growth stimulator. To do this, you can use “Epin”, “Ovary” or another biological preparation. You can grow seedlings in soil, the composition of which is similar to the above. Conditions for growing seedlings suggest a temperature of + 20- + 22⁰C and very high humidity – up to 85%. Seedlings should be fertilized with the appearance of the first leaves. “Bio Master” or “Uniflor-Growth” can be used as a complex mineral fertilizer for remontant strawberries during this period. This method of obtaining planting material is relevant for varieties that do not form a mustache.

You can see a good example of growing strawberries from seeds in the video:

If a remontant strawberry variety produces a certain amount of mustache during the growing process, then they can be safely removed from the bush and planted on the so-called mother’s garden. This will allow the existing, fruit-bearing remontant strawberry bushes to give all their strength to the ripening of the crop, without providing nutrients to the resulting mustache. On the mother’s bed, the planted sockets should gain enough strength, after which they can be transplanted to the main ridge.

In addition to the above methods, strawberries can be propagated by dividing the roots of already adult bushes. Also, seedlings can be purchased at agricultural fairs and markets.

Planting seedlings in the ground

You can plant young plants in the ground in mid-autumn or early spring. To do this, holes are made on the formed ridges according to a certain pattern. It is preferable to place seedlings on the beds in 2-3 rows in a checkerboard pattern, observing the distances between the bushes of 30-35 cm. Planting seedlings according to this scheme will protect remontant plants from pests and diseases, and ensure normal air circulation. Each bush in this arrangement will receive a sufficient amount of light.

If mineral fertilizers (superphosphate, potassium chloride) were not used during the digging of the soil, then they can be applied to the wells immediately before planting. Seedlings of strawberries from the cups must be removed with the preservation of the soil on the vine. Strawberry roots longer than 10 cm should be trimmed. The planting hole should be deep enough so that the roots of the remontant plant in it can be located vertically without bending. The root neck of the bush should be placed above the ground. After planting the plants, the holes with remontant strawberries should be watered and mulched.

This nuance makes more and more gardeners plant strawberries in the fall, in September. These plantings will have time to take root and get stronger by the winter season. Whiskers started by plants should be removed. For the winter, ridges with remontant strawberries are recommended to be covered with protective material and mulched.

Basic care

Remontant culture requires a special attitude. She is ready to give a rich berry harvest only in exchange for competent, painstaking and regular care. It consists of several main activities:

Watering

Remontant plants should be watered frequently and plentifully. It is better to do this in the early morning. Before the strawberries begin to bloom, you can water them with a watering can by sprinkling. With the onset of flowering, watering must be carried out carefully under the root. Drops of water on the berries can cause them to rot.

The number of fruits and their juiciness largely depends on watering, therefore, during the flowering period, for every 1m² soil should account for at least 10 liters of water. The temperature of the liquid should be approximately +20⁰C. Watering with cold water significantly slows down the growth of the plant.

Weeding

Caring for beds with remontant strawberries, including regular weeding. Remove varietal herbs carefully so as not to damage the roots of plants. Weeding should be combined with loosening and mulching. Loosening will allow the roots to get the necessary oxygen, and mulching will retain moisture in the soil. As mulch, you can use straw, coniferous branches. When cleaning the ridges, rubbish, red and dry leaves should also be removed.

Top dressing remontant strawberries

If watering, weeding, loosening the remontant strawberries should be done regularly, as needed, then the remontant plants should be fertilized and fed depending on the stage of vegetation, strictly according to the schedule. This will allow them to constantly receive the necessary nutrients and replenish their strength for a new stage of fruiting.

With proper feeding, remontant berries will differ in their mass, size, juiciness, and excellent taste throughout the entire fruiting period.

Top dressing in spring

The first spring top dressing should be taken care of immediately after the snow melts. At this time, you need to cut the bushes and apply nitrogen fertilizer, which will help the remontant strawberries increase the required number of fresh leaves.

Nitrogen can be obtained from organic or mineral fertilizers:

• Mullein can become an organic source of the substance. Half a liter of infusion of cow cakes should be diluted in a bucket of water. It is necessary to water the remontant strawberry bushes with the resulting solution under the root of 1 liter.
• As a mineral fertilizer, you can use the complex mixture “Nitroammophoska”. To prepare a nutrient solution, dilute 1 tablespoon of the substance in a bucket of water. For each strawberry bush should be no more than 500 ml of fertilizer received.
• Nettle infusion can become a natural organic fertilizer for strawberries. To do this, chopped greens need to be filled with water and insisted for 3-4 days. You can use the infusion as a root top dressing, when diluted with water 1:10 or as a foliar top dressing, reducing the concentration of the initial solution by 20 times.

In addition to the listed fertilizers, chicken manure infusion can be used to feed remontant strawberries in early spring. Before flowering, nitrogen fertilizers need to feed the plants twice.

Top dressing during flowering

Starting from mid-May, strawberries begin to bloom profusely. During this period, remontant plants need potassium. A sufficient amount of this mineral makes the berries especially tasty and sweet. Their appearance, transportability also improves under the influence of potassium.

You can provide potassium to strawberry bushes in the form of root and foliar top dressing:

• You can pour a solution of potassium nitrate under the root of the plant. A teaspoon of this substance is dissolved in 10 liters of water. Fertilizer consumption should be no more than 500 ml for each bush.
• It is recommended to spray strawberries during flowering with a solution of zinc sulfate. The concentration of the solution should not exceed 0,02% (2 g per 10 liters of water).
• High efficiency is shown by spraying remontant strawberry bushes with boric acid (5 g per 10 l of water).

Different types of top dressing cannot be combined. The break between their use should be 7-10 days. At the end of flowering, during the ripening of the fruit, it is not recommended to use top dressing with mineral fertilizers, since substances can accumulate in large quantities in the berries.

After harvesting the first wave of the harvest, feeding remontant plants can be repeated cyclically, this will improve the quality of the berries of the second stage of ripening.

Feeding strawberries after fruiting

Having harvested remontant strawberries twice, do not forget about fertilizing, because it is in autumn that plants lay a fruit bud for the next year. Nitrogen fertilizers should not be used after fruiting is over, as this will cause active growth of remontant bushes, as a result of which they will not be able to properly prepare for wintering.

After harvesting the second wave of the crop, you need to feed the crop with potash fertilizers. To do this, you can use potassium sulfate or potassium nitrate. However, natural, folk dressings in this case are the best option.

Top dressing with wood ash

Wood ash contains a lot of micronutrients. It is added to the soil when planting a crop, and is also used to fertilize strawberries. To do this, the ashes are scattered in the root circle of the plant, embedding it in the soil by loosening.

To feed remontant strawberries, you can use an ash infusion prepared by adding 1 liter of ash to a bucket of water. The solution is infused for several days, after which it is further diluted with water until a light gray liquid is obtained.

Use of yeast

Mineral top dressing for remontant strawberries can be prepared from yeast or yeast bread:

• Yeast is added to warm water (1 kg per 5 liters). A spoonful of sugar will help speed up the fermentation. The resulting solution is further diluted with water 1:20 and used for watering plants under the root.
• Soak the bread crusts in warm water and insist the solution for a week, after which put the slurry on the ground around the perimeter of the plant roots and loosen it into the ground.

In the process of fermentation, yeast emit gases, heat, make the beneficial microflora activate its activity, decomposing organic matter in the soil.

Iodine – pest control

Iodine helps protect strawberries from pests and diseases. It must be used as a preventive measure every 10 days. To do this, 8-10 drops of iodine are added to a bucket of water and the remontant strawberry bushes are sprayed with the resulting liquid.

A full range of measures for the care of remontant strawberries should include at least 7-8 top dressings per season. Depending on the stage of vegetation, substances with the necessary microelement complex should be selected. Some other points related to the care of remontant strawberries can be emphasized from the video:

Conclusion

Delicious, juicy remontant strawberries, ripening throughout the summer, are the result of the gardener’s hard work. Healthy planting material, properly prepared nutrient soil and adherence to the planting pattern are the basis for successful plant growth. As strawberries grow and develop, they deplete the soil more and more and require additional fertilizers. You can feed the culture with mineral fertilizers, organic matter or other available products. With regular fertilizing, the plants will not experience a lack of trace elements. In combination with abundant watering, timely weeding and loosening, top dressing will give an excellent result in the form of an abundant harvest of berries of excellent taste.