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Among the garden leaders are fragrant and juicy strawberries. Both adults and children enjoy its taste. Thanks to the breeding of remontant varieties by breeders, several crops of this useful berry can be harvested in one season. However, stable fruiting depends on how to care for the bushes not only in spring and summer, but also in autumn.
The laying of fruit buds and the preparation of the plant for winter takes place in the fall, after harvest. The spring harvest of berries will depend on how properly you take care of strawberries in the fall. Autumn work on the care of strawberry bushes includes pruning and cleaning old leaves, top dressing, loosening and shelter for the winter. In this article, we will take a detailed look at each stage, and you can also watch a video accompanying the topic.
Pros and Cons of Pruning
After the autumn harvest, it is time to trim the old leaves. However, among summer residents and gardeners there is a lot of controversy about whether it is necessary to prune strawberry bushes.
Opponents of pruning argue that this event deprives the bush of the photosynthesis process. As a result, the plant is deprived of the proper nutrition that it receives from sunlight.
Proponents of strawberry pruning argue that carrying out these manipulations is only beneficial, since the likelihood of the appearance of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in rusty leaves is minimized. If pruning is carried out at the end of August, then the bushes will have time to grow before the first frost and successfully survive the winter.
If you are in doubt about whether to prune the leaves or not, then try pruning one bed, and compare the next year’s strawberry yield. So, you will know for sure whether you need to cut off diseased leaves or not.
How to cut
Some gardeners simply mow strawberries with a scythe, but such activities can really lead to the death of all the bushes. A more rigorous approach needs to be taken in this matter.
Trim only old and rusty leaves. This is done with sharp scissors, a knife or secateurs. In this case, it is necessary to cut off only the leaf plate, leaving a whole stem.
Cut leaves can be left near the bushes and used as mulch. However, since these leaves are diseased, it would be more appropriate to remove and burn them. Depending on the region, pruning can be carried out at the end of August – in cold climates, or in the first half of September – in warm climates. The main thing is that strawberry and strawberry bushes have time to recover and acquire new foliage before frost.
Loosening the soil
Caring for strawberries in the fall includes loosening the soil. Only this should be done in the first half of September, since digging can lead to slight damage to the root system, and it will need to have time to recover before the first frost.
All manipulations must be carried out carefully and carefully. The aisle can be dug with a shovel, and the soil near the bushes can be loosened with a rake with wide teeth. Then the bushes should be spud. So, you will cover the root system of the bushes, which will protect them from damage. In the process of loosening and hilling, weeds are removed from the beds.
Application of fertilizers
After fruiting, strawberry bushes are depleted, therefore, in order to obtain the next abundant harvest, they need to be fed in the fall. This stage is included in the preparation of strawberries for winter.
Organic matter is used as a feed. It can be diluted mullein, fresh or granular chicken manure, humus. Organic fertilizers are diluted with water and poured under the bushes. Plants need to be fertilized in the evening, otherwise all the nutrients will simply evaporate in the sun.
Organics are bred in a ratio of 1:10, which prevents burns on strawberry bushes. In addition to organics, wood ash, potassium and nitrogen-containing top dressings, superphosphates can serve as fertilizers.
Planting strawberries
Although it is preferable to transplant strawberry bushes in spring, it can be done in late summer or early autumn. Why during this period of time? Before the first frost, strawberries planted in early autumn will have time to take root, making it easier to survive the winter.
However, during the autumn transplantation, the yield of the plant is reduced by 2–3 times, due to the fact that a sufficient number of fruit buds do not have time to form. On average, at least 40 days should pass from the moment of transplantation to frost. During this period, the bushes have time to take root and grow secondary roots.
Before transplanting the bush, shorten the roots and remove the bulk of the leaves from it, leaving only a few pieces. Transplantation is best done in the afternoon or evening. So, you can protect the established strawberry bushes from the sun, which can simply burn them. When transplanting, do not deepen the core of the strawberry bush, as this leads to its decay.
Features of strawberry care in the northern regions
Remontant strawberries bear fruit several times during the warm season, so you should write about how to care for it separately. Most often, varieties of remontant strawberries are grown in the North of Our Country, including Siberia. True, they do this indoors, because due to the early onset of cold weather in open ground, the bushes will not give a second crop.
If you have an unheated greenhouse, then at the first frost on the beds, you should install additional greenhouses, after mulching the bushes with needles or hay. Since the weather in the northern regions is severe, it would be good to cover an additional greenhouse with straw too. In April, the covering material can be removed.
Preparation for wintering bushes in the open field
In milder climates, it is not necessary to cover strawberries so carefully before wintering. The best heat insulator for strawberries is snow. But not always we can observe snowy winters. And it happens that a strong wind, even in the presence of a large amount of snow, exposes the ground, as a result of which it freezes severely.
To create comfortable conditions for the dormant period of strawberries, you need to cover the entire plantation or each bush individually with covering material. It can be hay, fallen leaves or needles. Among other things, this way you can stop the growth of weeds in early spring.
Now you know how to properly care for strawberries in order to get a good harvest next season. In addition, we suggest that you watch a video about the features of caring for strawberry bushes:
