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Growing strawberries is fraught with many difficulties, but one of the main problems that a conscientious gardener has to face is weed control. The point is not only that weeding in itself is a rather exhausting task, but also that the delicate superficial roots of strawberries react poorly to the slightest damage to them. But when removing weeds from plantings with strawberries, voluntarily or involuntarily, one has to affect its roots. Therefore, protecting strawberries from weeds is the most important task when growing this beloved berry. It is advisable to prevent their appearance in the beds with strawberries, in general, so that you do not have to fight with someone later.
Where do weeds come from on strawberries?
Before thinking about how to get rid of weeds, you need to understand how they generally got there. Most often, the problem begins long before the planting of strawberries when choosing and developing a site intended for its cultivation. The fact is that it is strawberries that are a crop for which, when preparing planting beds, the process of clearing the land of weeds is vital. If at this point you do not focus your attention and leave the rhizomes of perennial weeds in the soil, then this is quite capable of destroying a significant part of the crop.
But even if the initial plantings of strawberries were well cleared of weeds, gardeners usually tend to forget about strawberries after harvesting, and until autumn the weeds have time to germinate again and even have time to seed. The result that appears before the eyes in early spring is depressingly serious – the strawberry bushes are framed by the greenery of the weeds and everything has to be started all over again.
The first stage of protecting strawberries from weeds
If it is possible to completely clear the ground of the rhizomes of perennial weeds before laying the strawberry plantation (with any mechanical treatment, the seeds will remain in the soil in any case), then we can already assume that half the battle is done. In the event that you have to deal with “virgin soil” heavily overgrown with bindweed, couch grass, thistle thistle and other perennial weeds, then the digging method with careful selection of all rhizomes works only on very small areas.
This is where the tactic of using continuous herbicides works perfectly.
Use of herbicides in the pre-planting period
It is best to start preparing the site for planting strawberries in the autumn, although it is possible to do this in early spring. The processing of future beds must be completed no later than two weeks before planting seedlings of strawberries or garden strawberries. You can use the following drugs:
- Hurricane Forte;
- Roundup;
- Tornado.
All these drugs contain glyphosate as the main active ingredient, which is approved for use in suburban areas. Depending on the manufacturer, different packages may contain different percentages of the active substance. Pay attention to this, because as a result, both the cost and dosage can vary greatly. The preparations are quite effective for pre-planting soil treatment, subject to the instructions for use, and allow you to get rid of almost all popular varieties of weeds.
Best results can be achieved with proper preparation of the beds. Since the preparations do not act on weed seeds in the soil, it is necessary to stimulate their germination as much as possible.
To do this, all unnecessary vegetation must first be mowed and removed from the beds. Then loosen the beds with a flat cutter or cultivator and compact the surface layer to ensure better contact of the weed seeds with the soil.
The next step is good watering.
When young weeds reach a height of 10-15 cm, they are treated with the selected herbicide strictly according to the instructions. After processing, it is necessary that from a day to two there should be no rain and other watering. It is also important not to loosen the ground on the tilled soil for one to two weeks.
Application of organic technologies
If you want to know how to protect strawberries from weeds in your area before planting without using chemicals, then there is another equally effective technology. For more than 10 years, EM preparations have been used by supporters of organic farming. The essence of their use for weed control is as follows.
On the selected plot of land, it is necessary to mow all the vegetation you do not need with a regular scythe or flat cutter. Then on the same day, the entire area is thoroughly shed with any of the EM preparations. It is important that the concentration exceeds 10 times the usual concentration, which is used for treatments of cultivated plants.
Active microorganisms that are part of EM preparations, having fallen on fresh sections of weeds, begin to actively feed on them, and soon the weeds die along with the roots. Interestingly, at the same time, microorganisms that have entered the soil cause active germination of weed seeds. If this procedure is carried out in the fall a few weeks before the frost, then the weed shoots will soon be destroyed by the first autumn frosts.
If you have enough of any black material (film, roofing material, non-woven material), then by covering all future strawberry beds with it before planting, you can finally get rid of weeds. After all, after spending several months without sunlight, both young shoots and seedlings of weed rhizomes will die.
Protecting strawberries from weeds during the growing season
Unfortunately, even if you plant strawberries in completely weed-free beds, weeds can appear on them from seeds blown by the wind, or from those that still remain in the soil (many seeds remain in the soil and germinate only after 3- 5 years). In this case, modern covering materials can come to the aid of the gardener.
The use of mulch when growing strawberries is far from a new technique in gardening.
Straw mulch is an almost ideal option for strawberry beds, but in order to resist weed control well, a layer of straw of at least 6-8 cm is needed. In the modern world, not every summer resident has the opportunity to get such an amount of straw. In addition, it is desirable to update the layer of straw every year.
In the past, black film was also very popular for sheltering strawberries from weeds. This option really protects strawberry plantings from weeds, but creates favorable conditions for the development of slugs, as well as many fungal diseases. Therefore, it is desirable to use the film only in an annual crop, when remontant strawberry varieties are grown only for one season.
All these shortcomings are deprived of modern non-woven covering materials, among which are such as:
- Spunbond;
- Agril;
- Lutrasil;
- Agrospan;
- Agrotex.
Many varieties of different colors and thicknesses are produced, but to protect strawberries from weeds, it is advisable to use black material and a density of at least 50-60 grams per square meter. meter.
The use of black nonwoven provides the following benefits:
- It allows moisture and air to penetrate, and the soil under it always remains moist and loose, which is very important for strawberries.
- It can be used multiple times. Usually manufacturers give a guarantee for 3 years, due to the treatment with special means of protection against ultraviolet radiation. In the southern regions, the sunlight is too intense, and it is desirable to protect the coating itself and the ground under them by laying straw or mowed grass on top.
- Under the non-woven material, slugs do not start and fungal diseases do not multiply.
- The soil under such a cover warms up much faster, which makes it possible for strawberries to ripen a week or two earlier than usual.
- The material itself, which is made of polypropylene fiber, does not interact with water, soil or nutrient solutions and does not emit any harmful substances due to strong heating by the sun.
- Non-woven material will protect not only from annual, but also perennial weeds with sprawling rhizomes.
- Strawberries growing on top of such a shelter do not come into contact with the soil, so they rot less and are always clean, even during heavy rains.
For residents of the southern regions, a novelty that has appeared in recent years will be especially interesting – a non-woven material consisting of two layers. The bottom one is black and the top one is white. It has all the above benefits, but also keeps the strawberry root system from overheating due to the reflection of sunlight from a light surface.
Basic principles for the use of covering material
When using nonwoven fabric to protect strawberries from weeds, it is important to consider the following:
You can spread the material on the beds both in autumn and in spring, it is better before planting strawberry seedlings. To do this, the soil is first carefully leveled. Then the material is spread on top and tightly fixed at the edges. It is better to use homemade U-shaped wire studs, but you can also use bricks, stones, boards and other materials. Cross-shaped or o-shaped cutouts are marked and made, at a distance of at least 40 cm from each other. Strawberry seedlings are planted in them.
Strawberries can be watered directly on the material, and it is better to feed them directly on the holes made in it.
In this case, the whiskers will not be able to penetrate under the surface of the material.
In protected ground, all the principles of using a covering non-woven material remain the same.
For the winter, covering material does not need to be removed. It may well last up to three years or more, and it is advisable to remove it along with the transfer of the plantation to a new location.
Using all of the above methods, you can simplify the most basic strawberry care and enjoy clean, sweet and beautiful berries.
