Contents
In the spring, strawberries begin vegetation and gradually come to their senses after a long winter sleep. Along with it, the pests that wintered on the bushes and in the soil wake up, various diseases are activated. How to help plants weakened after winter cope with these troubles? Processing strawberries in early spring is a very important event that helps plants overcome the effects of winter and throw all their strength into the fastest formation of the crop.
Spring work on strawberry beds
But before carrying out the processing, you need to put things in order on the strawberry beds, do a general cleaning.
- Remove cover from strawberry bushes, if any.
- Remove last year’s mulch from the beds, it is better to burn it, and not throw it into the compost heap. It can contain many pests and pathogens.
- Clear strawberry bushes from dried leaves, they not only prevent plants from developing, but also serve as a refuge for pests and can carry sources of infection. It is better not to cut off the leaves, but to cut them with secateurs so as not to accidentally pull out the bushes.
- Conduct an audit of overwintered plants, removing diseased and dead ones.
- Plant reserve strawberry bushes formed from last year’s daughter outlets in the vacated places. When planting bushes, first pour the planting holes with a solution of phytosporin prepared from 10 g of powder and 10 liters of non-hot water, insist for 2 hours in the shade. You need 0,5 liters of solution per well. Treatment with Fitosporin destroys pathogens of fungal diseases.
- Remove or transplant extra strawberry plants to another bed so that the plantings are not thickened.
Each strawberry bush requires a certain area of nutrition. If the distance between the bushes is less than necessary for a given variety, this will inevitably affect the quality of the crop and reduce its quantity.
- An important event is the loosening of the earth near the strawberries to a shallow depth. Under the influence of melt water, the earth on strawberry beds is compacted, which impairs the supply of air to the roots, which is also necessary for the development of beneficial soil microorganisms. Lack of oxygen reduces soil fertility. Loosening will help the soil warm up faster. If strawberry bushes have bare roots, they need to be spudded.
- After winter, the first thing that begins to grow in strawberries is young leaves. A sufficient number of leaves through the process of photosynthesis helps to feed the flowers and young ovaries. Therefore, it is so necessary to feed strawberries in early spring.
Spring dressing of strawberries
Young bushes have enough nutrition laid down during planting.
But two-year-old, and even more so three-year-old strawberry plants need nutrition for development.
If there is not enough of it, there will be a shortage of crops. Oddly enough, but the same result will be with excessive nutrition, especially with the predominance of nitrogen fertilizers.
If there is too much nitrogen, strawberries will begin to build up leaf mass to the detriment of flowering and fruiting. How to feed strawberries in early spring? Each type of fertilizer – organic or mineral – has its own advantages.
Mineral fertilizers usually contain macro and microelements in a form available to the plant, so they quickly reach them, but are also quickly washed out into the lower layers of the soil during irrigation or rain.
Organic fertilizers contain the same nutrients as mineral fertilizers, but in order to go into a form accessible to plants, organic substances take time to decompose. When organic matter decomposes, a lot of carbon dioxide is released, which is so necessary for strawberries to develop well. Manure, humus, chicken manure contain microorganisms necessary for the soil to improve fertility. Mineral fertilizers do not have this feature.
If the soils are poor, it is better to choose organic fertilizer, but enrich it with ash and superphosphate.
The scheme for feeding strawberries in the spring is as follows:
- A special complex fertilizer for berry crops or intended specifically for strawberries is applied according to the norms in a dry form directly under the bushes, followed by loosening, provided that there is enough moisture in the soil. If there was little snow in winter, and the ground had already dried up, it is better to combine strawberry feeding with watering and apply a fertilizer solution under the bushes. It is bred according to the instructions on the package and fed in accordance with it.
- As an organic, a solution of fermented mullein is suitable. Half the volume of fresh cow dung is placed in a bucket. Fill it with water and let it ferment. For this amount, you can add a quarter liter of ash and 60 g of superphosphate. After 1-2 weeks, the fertilizer is ready for use. When top dressing, 7 liter of solution is added to 9-1 liters of water. Consumption – 10 liters per sq. m. Bird droppings should be diluted in a proportion of 1 part to 10 parts of water for fresh and twice as much water for dry. He doesn’t need to wander. When top dressing, 9 liter of solution is added to 1 liters of water.
Preventive treatment of strawberry plantation
Spring processing of strawberries is an important event, it should not be neglected, especially if there were signs of diseases or the spread of pests last season.
Very little time is allotted for the preventive treatment of strawberries, since it begins to bloom already in May, and it is undesirable to use chemical protective agents during flowering and, especially, fruiting.
Strawberries, like all other plants, have their own diseases, of which there are about 20 and are affected by pests. Proper processing of strawberries in the spring requires certain knowledge and the ability to understand the signs of various diseases.
Strawberry diseases
Many strawberry diseases are caused by fungal microorganisms.
Mučnistaâ rosa
A disease that develops most rapidly with high humidity and poor circulation. Signs of powdery mildew: white spotted coating on all parts of plants. The disease begins with petioles and quickly captures the entire bush. The spores of the fungus are transmitted from plant to plant and can leave the gardener not only without a crop, but also without the strawberries themselves. Processing strawberries in the spring will help get rid of the powdery mildew pathogen even before fruiting.
Gray mold
The disease manifests itself when the berries ripen, they rot, becoming covered with gray mold, which is fungal spores. Strawberries should be treated for this disease in early spring. The affected berries are put in a separate container and destroyed.
White rot
The disease manifests itself in years with low temperature and high humidity. The leaves of the strawberries brighten and become covered with a white bloom, the berries rot. The spread of the disease is facilitated by too frequent planting of strawberries and poor weeding of the plantation.
Black rot
The disease affects only strawberries, which become watery and blacken. To prevent the disease, you should not often plant bushes and waterlog the soil.
Various spots also have a fungal nature: white, brown and black or anthracnose, which first infect strawberry leaves, covering them with small spots of various colors, and then captures the whole plant as a whole. It begins to lag behind in growth, and you can not talk about getting a crop.
Fungi also cause late blight or late blight of strawberries – a dangerous disease, the result of which is the death of the plant. The berries are affected first, and then the whole plant wilts. Treatment for late blight should be started in early spring, without waiting for the development of the disease.
Fusarium wilt leads to the same result. It manifests itself during the formation of the crop. A distinctive feature is the dark color of the leaves of the plant, which dry out. The disease affects the conductive vessels of strawberries. It is impossible to help a sick plant. It will have to be burned.
Verticillium wilt of strawberries
The disease begins at the end of May and reaches its peak after harvest. Initially, chlorosis appears on the leaves of plants, they begin to lag behind in growth, their number decreases. A characteristic feature is the red color of the petioles at the end of the strawberry growing season. On light soils, a lightning-fast course of the disease is possible with the death of plants already in 3 days, on other soils the disease lasts longer, but in the end it still leads to the death of the plant.
Therefore, along with the treatments, you should properly water the strawberries and do not plant the bushes too densely so that they can be well ventilated.
Preventive spring treatments
Since the vast majority of strawberry diseases are fungal in nature, strawberries will have to be treated in the spring with agents that actively fight various fungi.
Chemicals
Best of all, fungal diseases are resisted by preparations containing copper: hom, Bordeaux mixture, copper sulphate. You can use systemic fungicides that have a wide spectrum of action. These are Horus, Topaz – which have a hazard class 3 and Fundazol – a very effective drug, but having a hazard class 2. Fundazol treatment should be carried out as early as possible, so that by the time the flower stalks are advanced, harmful substances have already been removed from the plants.
All these substances are unsafe for humans.
How to process strawberries to maintain plant health and grow organic berries?
Folk remedies
They may be less effective, but definitely safer for humans and beneficial insects.
- Phytosporin is a contact microbiological fungicide that fights fungal plant infections well. A significant drawback is that it is quickly washed off during rain and watering, therefore, repeated treatments are required. Phytosporin does not pose a danger to humans; strawberries can be processed at any stage of development.
- Processing strawberries with iodine is a simple but quite effective remedy. Usually, 10 to 15 drops of iodine and a glass of homemade whey are added to a 20 liter bucket. Multiplicity of processing no more than two every 10 days. This method of processing strawberries is also effective against pests.
- Planting strawberries, onions and garlic between rows.
Phytoncides of these plants repel strawberry pests and help fight diseases. In addition, it is possible to harvest two crops from one area at once.
- Pine needles are poured with an equal volume of boiling water. Infuse for a day, dilute five times and spray the berry.
- Treatment with infusion of horse sorrel. As much chopped horse sorrel is put into a plastic bucket as it will go in, pour hot water and let it brew for 7-14 days. The infusion is diluted ten times and watered or sprayed with strawberry bushes.
Horse sorrel contains flavonoids and antibacterial substances that are effective against fungal diseases. This infusion is also good for caterpillars on cabbage.
- In the spring, it is good to treat the strawberry plantation with hot water. This procedure should be carried out while the air temperature is low, and the snow has not yet completely melted. Pour water into a watering can with a temperature of 70-80 degrees and water the plants. When watering, the water cools and does not burn strawberry bushes, but it destroys pathogens and pests.
Often diseases and pests get to a new place with strawberry planting material. To disinfect it, it is necessary to withstand the roots of seedlings in a solution of phytosporin. 5 g of powder is diluted in 10 liters of water. The solution is kept for 2 hours so that the hay stick, which is the active substance of the drug, is activated. The roots of the seedlings must be kept in the solution for 2 hours. To destroy pests, they can also be kept in water with a temperature of 45 degrees for about a quarter of an hour.
Pests often settle on garden strawberries, which can not only leave the gardener without a crop, but also destroy the entire berry garden.
Pest Control
Nematode
It is difficult to deal with nematodes on strawberries. There is no completely effective treatment for them. All methods used can only reduce their number. It is possible to recommend drugs piperazine and decaris, effective against helminths. But this is a temporary measure, since they only affect adults. They scare away the nematode, but calendula and marigolds do not destroy it. Planted among strawberries, they displace most of the pests from the site. You can process strawberries and infusion of these plants.
Spring treatment from the nematode is carried out with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture. You can use the drug Phosphamide, which destroys the tick. The effect of the drug after treatment lasts 20 days.
A folk recipe for a nematode: a bucket of nettle leaves is poured with boiling water. The bushes and the ground around them are watered with a solution that has been infused for 4 days. When processing, you need to ensure that all leaves are wetted with a solution.
Strawberry mite
Of the chemicals, karbofos and colloidal sulfur are suitable. But processing them is possible only at a temperature not lower than 15 degrees Celsius, at a lower temperature it is not effective.
The time from processing to harvest can be as little as 3 days.
Suitable and the drug Neoron. It is a contact insecticide effective against all types of mites. It has a hazard class 4 and is not toxic to beneficial insects. Neoron must not be mixed with other chemicals. The period of protective action of the drug is up to 20 days.
The drug Fitoverm will also help. It is a biological acaricide and insecticide that not only kills the tick, but also fights aphids and weevil.
From folk remedies for processing strawberries in the spring, an infusion of onion peel is suitable – 200 g per 10 liters. After a five-day infusion, the plants are sprayed. Processing plants with an infusion of dandelion leaves is also a good and safe way. For 1 kg of fresh leaves (can be replaced with 500 g of roots), you need 10 liters of hot water with a temperature of 50 degrees. The infusion process lasts only 4 hours. Strained infusion carefully process the strawberry bushes, not forgetting the underside of the leaves.
The same measures apply to protection against spider mites.
Weevil
Of the chemicals in the spring, Inta-vir is suitable. The biological preparations Iskra-bio and Nemabact help well.
Folk remedies
Plant onion and garlic on strawberry beds, spread fern leaves under the bushes. There is a very simple way to scare off this pest: lightly sprinkle the soil with tooth powder. Ash scattered around the bushes also works. Do not allow the beetle to carry harmful activity and infusions of hot pepper, tansy and wormwood. The strawberry leaves processed by them are not to the taste of the beetle. 100 g of mustard powder dissolved in 3 liters of water is an excellent treatment.
5 g of potassium permanganate, dissolved in 10 liters of water intended for processing strawberries, will not only scare away the weevil, but also help with gray rot and powdery mildew.
It must be remembered that weakened plants are primarily attacked by pests and diseases. Properly care for strawberries, follow all the rules of agricultural technology, take into account the requirements of a particular variety, increase plant immunity with the help of immunostimulants, and the number of treatments can be reduced.
Conclusion
Spring processing of strawberries from pests and diseases is a guarantee of further plant health and a decent harvest of tasty berries.
