Some gardeners insist that strawberry leaves should be trimmed after fruiting. This is due to the fact that spots and other signs of old age and disease appear on them. After the obsolete leaves are removed, new and healthy ones will grow in their place. For the next crop to be richer than the previous one, it is important to ensure proper care of the strawberry bushes after the leaves are trimmed.
Fruiting is a process that a plant spends tremendous efforts on. After harvesting, the foliage becomes stained and slowly dies off. If it is not cut, the bush will weaken further. In addition, the whiskers that have appeared will need to be removed, since they also take away the precious vitality of the plant. If necessary, you can leave the side shoots, and close to autumn, cut and transplanted to a new place. It is advisable to cut off the leaves 2-3 weeks after harvesting, after which it is necessary to remove them from the garden. You should worry about this in advance so that new foliage is formed even before the beginning of winter.
After trimming the leaves, it is important to ensure proper care of the strawberries.
Please note that you should not prune the leaves of young plants. Removing the leaves, you do not need to get carried away too much – it is enough to remove only the oldest yellow-red dried leaves, leaving young and beautiful green plates.
Only plants suffering from diseases and affected by a tick are subject to complete removal of foliage.
When the procedure for removing dead leaves is completed, you should turn your attention to the soil. During fruiting, strawberries have absorbed all the nutrients and fertilizers that were in the soil, and before the autumn feeding, they need life-giving forces. For this, it is necessary to remove the mulching material, which serves as a favorable environment for various pests and parasites, after which the soil in the rows and aisles should be loosened and all weeds removed.
The plant after fruiting does not require abundant watering. It is enough only occasionally, in the absence of rain, to moisten the soil. But watering with a solution of potassium permanganate will come in handy.
To restore the strength of the strawberries for the next fruiting, you should feed the bushes. Rotted compost or vermicompost is suitable for this. These substances are poured under the plant. Ash or dry manure is also suitable for these purposes, but they should only be used separately.
Tick, gray rot, slugs, snails – these parasites are very dangerous for plants weakened after fruiting, so you need to know how you can process strawberry bushes after cutting leaves. To protect strawberries from them, you should treat the plantation with special preparations.
In the fight against gray mold, fungicides can be used, for example, Horus or Topaz preparations. A remedy called “Nitrofen” will also help get rid of viral diseases.
Strawberries that have been pruned on time will bear fruit better than before, and the fruit will be juicy and fragrant.