It is the ampelous strawberry that belongs to the unique varieties of curly berries, which has several types at once. It is famous for its versatility of application.
Characteristics of ampelous strawberries
Such strawberries have one significant difference from other varieties – the plant bears fruit and blooms simultaneously with its tendrils. Ampel strawberries are also called “dugouts”. Her remontant varieties give the gardener a crop at once a couple of times during one season. If it is grown at home, then they bear fruit even in winter – in December.
Although this strawberry belongs to the curly, its antennae must be fixed on props. It adapts well to poorly lit rooms, which makes it possible to grow it at home or in greenhouses. It is the remontant variety of ampelous strawberries that bears fruit all year round. In addition, it gets along well with other varieties, so there are many combinations of them.
This variety of strawberry needs well fertilized soil and repotting as the three year period has elapsed. Otherwise, it will become “wild”. This variety is large-fruited, since the average weight of one berry is sixty or seventy grams.
Sorts
Such ampelous strawberries are a real find of all breeders in the world. Her antennae are born somewhat earlier than the peduncles themselves. It is on them that rosettes and flower buds appear, thanks to which the yield increases.
If you approach the choice of varieties very responsibly, you can easily achieve a year-round harvest. In addition, the flowering ampelous variety also performs a decorative function, beautifully complementing the home.
In order to successfully engage in the cultivation of ampelous forms, one should choose varieties of a neutral day, the fruiting period of which is quite long. For example, F1 hybrids such as Temptation, Elan, Fresca, Roman or Tarpan may well become them.
As for the Elan variety, it shows amazing resistance to any negative factors. It is resistant to diseases, bears fruit very well and adapts well to sudden changes in ambient temperature. The weight of its berries reaches thirty-five grams. Bushes take root remarkably in conditions of minimal lighting.
If you choose strawberries for loggias, then the German variety Balcony Stream is able to form inspiring cascades of mustaches overflowing with fruits. It goes without saying that the appearance of such a berry stream in full bloom gives a unique charm to any home. The weight of the berries of this variety reaches fifty grams, and their smell is especially strong at high temperatures.
Cultivation
This strawberry can provide a good harvest in summer only after timely seed sowing in winter, more precisely, in the first days of February. Containers whose lids allow light to pass through or in other ways, thanks to which the seeds, along with the soil, will have the necessary access to moisture, are perfect. It is necessary to evenly arrange the seeds on the previously moistened substrate, and then cover them with snow.
It is also important to harden them. This requires a refrigerator and a few days. In order for the seeds to germinate, it is enough to provide them with a temperature of 24 C, a good air supply and acceptable lighting. With proper care and compliance with all of the above points, the ampel variety germinates within a week after planting.
It is worth watering it exclusively with a spray bottle to achieve scattered and superficial watering. It is clear that what the greenhouse served (a bag or a lid) should be removed when the first shoots with a few small leaves appear. After that, the temperature must be reduced by 6 C.
After that, it is necessary to feed the seedlings twice with a complex mixture of nutrients or with a solution of nitroammophoska. As for the direct picking of seedlings, then its turn comes a month after the shoots are formed in small pots. Small bushes, which should already be two months old, are transplanted into flowerpots, boxes and other containers suitable for placement on balconies, verandas and other places.
Such an ampelous variety is great for decorating the interior and exterior of a house or apartment. To enhance the effect, you can use different shapes of dishes into which strawberries are transplanted, and vary its colors.
When deciding to start laying strawberry seedlings, drainage made of broken brick or expanded clay should be added to the appropriate containers. In turn, they must be filled either with soil from the garden (it must be cleaned with sulfur and ash), or with a shop substrate. You can also use a mixture of humus along with sand, but as for peat and clay soil, it is strongly not recommended to use them.
If the ampelous variety is placed outside, then every year you will have to cover it to protect it from the cold, or transfer it inside the room during cold periods.
Throughout the summer, growing strawberries is actually reduced to regular watering and infrequent fertilization procedures to avoid overgrowth of bushes. If the ampelous variety is garden, then you can use mullein solutions and fermented herbal infusions.
If the variety is a balcony or it is a hybrid of closed ground, then compositions enriched with minerals and powdered crystallized humates are perfect. Unfortunately, the latest varieties of strawberries are rather weakly resistant to diseases and other negative factors due to their domestic nature.
Video “Strawberry Varieties”
Video with an overview of the most popular and fruitful varieties of garden strawberries. Their advantages and disadvantages, features of care.
