Strawberries: how to grow a good harvest

Many summer residents do not particularly bother with caring for strawberries – they grow and grow for themselves. It seems that this culture is quite unpretentious. In fact, she is very capricious. It is important to choose the right place for her, properly plant and constantly care for her.

Strawberry Cultivation

Now there are a lot of varieties of strawberries that are resistant to heat and drought, but their resistance also has limits. In general, this culture does not like when the soil dries out very much. But even more she does not tolerate when the site is waterlogged. Therefore, it is important to choose the optimal place for it. The ideal option is a flat or elevated surface, or small slopes of the south, south-west or east direction (1) in a sheltered part of the site where cold north winds will not penetrate. This is especially important in winter – many varieties of strawberries are not very hardy.

Strawberries prefer loose and fertile soils, such as loam or sandy loam.

Planting strawberries

– Now strawberries are most often sold with a closed root system, in containers. In this form, it can be planted from early May to late September. In this case, there are no special problems with planting – it is only important that the seedling on the site be at the same level as in the pot – no higher, no lower, – says agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mihailova.

But if strawberries with bare roots, that is, with an open root system (all kinds of scientific institutions sell this in the old fashioned way), it can be planted only at the end of summer – early autumn: from about August 15 to September 15 (2). However, if the autumn is planned to be warm and protracted, the planting period can be extended until September 15 – 20.

It is important to plant seedlings with an open root system as soon as possible, ideally on the same day they were bought.

Classic strawberry planting scheme:

• between rows – 70 (3) – 80 cm (4);
• in a row – 15 – 20 cm (3, 4).

Outdoor strawberry care

Strawberries require care throughout the season – from late April to September. But often summer residents neglect this – they pay attention to it only until the moment of harvesting. And then the plants are forgotten. And this leads to the fact that next year the harvest is greatly reduced.

“Strawberries lay the flower buds of the future harvest in the middle of summer, in July, and at this time it needs abundant watering,” recalls Svetlana Mikhailova.

Water strawberries in the summer should be 1 time per week. If the beds are mulched, then less often – 1 time in 2 weeks. It is best to mulch plantings with peat, humus or compost with a layer of 3-5 cm (5).

For a strawberry season, 3 top dressings are enough:

• in the last days of April – 10 g of urea (1 tablespoon) per 10 liters of water, the norm is 1 bucket per 1 sq. m;
• as soon as the first flowers bloom – 15 g of nitrophoska (1 tablespoon) per 10 liters of water, the norm is 1 bucket per 1 sq. m;
• in early August – 30 g of double superphosphate (2 tablespoons) and 50 g of ash (1/2 cup) per 10 liters of water, the norm is 1 bucket per 1 sq. m.

Harvesting strawberries

Since strawberries ripen unevenly, they need to be harvested every 3 to 4 days.

– If they are intended for transportation and storage, it is important not to overexpose them on the bush, because it is problematic to bring overripe fruits to the house – they will wrinkle and flow. But if you are going to make jam from strawberries, then it is better to wait until they are fully ripe or even a little overripe – in this case they will be sweeter, advises agronomist Svetlana Mikhailova.

When harvesting, strawberries should not be taken by the berry, but by the stalk and carefully pinched off. It is important that the green sepals remain – without them, the fruits deteriorate instantly.

It is necessary to lay strawberries in small containers – in deep containers, the berries will shift under the weight of their own weight. And in no case should they be sorted out – sort immediately at harvest, removing all damaged and rotten fruits. Rotten berries, by the way, must be buried in the soil – they cannot be left on the site, otherwise the disease will spread to other fruits.

It is better to harvest strawberries in the morning, when the dew subsides – at this time the berries are the most dense and dry.

Strawberry storage rules

Strawberries are very delicate and they are stored for a short time – a maximum of a week. The best place for them is the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. The ideal temperature is 0 – 2 °C.

You can store strawberries in shallow plastic containers or in plastic bags (they should be ajar to allow the berries to breathe). But even better – in wooden containers or birch bark boxes. But in metal dishes, especially zinc, it is undesirable, in which the berries deteriorate much faster.

For winter use, strawberries can be frozen – whole or cut into pieces. It depends on how you are going to use them in the future. It is best to freeze in portioned plastic containers.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing strawberries with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova – asked her the most popular questions of summer residents.

Sources of

1. Lavrik P.I., Rybitsky N.A., Gavrilov I.S. Gardener’s desk book // L.: Lenizdat, 1972 – 568 p.
2. Egorov V.I., Nazaryan E.A. Handbook of gardening // M.: Profizdat Publishing House, 1957 – 264 p.
3. Kamshilov A. and a group of authors. Gardener’s Handbook // M .: State Publishing House of Agricultural Literature, 1955 – 606 p.
4. Emelyanov F.A., Kruglova A.P., Kulikov V.A., Sazhin N.S., Gryazev N.D., Kinkovskaya N.I., Berkut O.D., Molchanov A.I., Khramov P .BUT. Fruit and berry garden and vineyard // Saratov, Saratov book publishing house, 1955 – 472 p.
5. Romanov V.V., Ganichkina O.A., Akimov A.A., Uvarov E.V. In the garden and in the garden // Yaroslavl, Upper Volga book publishing house, 1989 – 288 p.