Growing strawberries in a polycarbonate greenhouse all year round: variety selection, planting and care, business secrets

How to start a strawberry business

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

• sale of collected products;
• how much crop can be obtained from the used area;
• where is the storage of berries;
• places 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, plants are unlikely to show high yields.

To grow berries in large volumes, you should use a heated spacious greenhouse, warehouse or garage. It is also necessary to purchase specialized equipment and certain plant varieties.

Video “Growing strawberries in a greenhouse”

From this video you will learn how to 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 included in the greenhouse. During the autumn and winter months, heating is indispensable. Only in this way will the seedlings grow in an optimal microclimate.

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

Heating is organized with the help of pipes and infrared cable. They are laid underground. Warm air is circulated through them, coming from a stove-stove and an electric boiler.

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

The best greenhouse varieties

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

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

The following varieties can be grown in the greenhouse:

• Octave;
• Alba;
• Rusanovskaya;
• Darenka;
• Honey;
• Pineapple;
• Sonata and others.

To get a crop all year round, it is necessary to plant several species in a greenhouse: early, medium 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 a healthy rich green color, without defects, wrinkles and damage. The minimum number of sheets in the socket is 3 pieces;
• root neck without rot and spots;
• root system. It must be powerful and developed. 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, seedlings are highly resistant to diseases and pests.

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

Planting seedlings and care

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

The classic scheme involves 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 holes and their root system is covered.

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

Recently, growing crops in bags has become very popular, which have become an excellent alternative to pots. Packages are placed both on the floor and on special racks. Seedlings are planted in cuts made on the bags. The distance between adjacent bushes is 25–30 cm. This method of cultivation 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 poured and plants are placed. Planted bushes need to be shaded from sunlight during the first week.

Conditions for a good harvest in a 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 bushes, you must adhere to the following rules:

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

Care for strawberries

Watering the bushes is usually carried out by the drip method once every 7-10 days. At the end of irrigation, the earth loosens. When growing on ordinary beds, weeding is mandatory. Modern technologies for growing crops minimize the number of weeds or completely remove them.

Pollination of plants occurs with the help of frequent airing or soft brushes. Sometimes gardeners place beehives. Once every 2-3 weeks, fertilizing is applied to the soil – potassium chloride and ammonium nitrate.

Diseases and pests

Periodically planting should be sprayed from pathogens and pests. Frequent ventilation is used to prevent the appearance of diseases and parasites. Be sure to monitor the humidity in the greenhouse, as 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 spotting;
• powdery mildew;
• Phytophthora.

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

Of the parasites, plants usually suffer from the invasion of slugs. They are collected by hand and destroyed.

Business profitability and sales of berries

Before you start growing strawberries, you need to think about ways to sell them, as the berries quickly deteriorate. 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 definitely avoid damage to the crop in case of force majeure.

Before opening a business, it is necessary to calculate its profitability and organization costs. To open your own business, you need 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 crops. Their price depends on the season:

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

The calculation of profitability depends on the initial planting area, the volume of the harvested crop, seasonality and the final cost of supporting the business. It usually takes 6-12 months from the moment you open your business to make a profit.

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