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In 1991, French breeders created the amazing Mara de Bois strawberry variety, combining the sweetness of cultivated strawberries with the aroma of alpine meadow strawberries. Gardeners love the variety precisely for its taste, long fruiting period and frost resistance, although more modern daughter varieties have already appeared.
Variety description
Mara de Bois is a very famous remontant variety, its description can be found not only in literature for summer residents, but even in numerous catalogs of strawberry seedlings. On a bush 20 cm high, a lot of light green leaves grow, peduncles are located below them, the fruits are light red, slightly shiny, conical in shape.
It bears fruit from the beginning of summer (in the southern regions from the end of spring) until the first frost. Strawberries are different in size, at the beginning of summer and autumn they are the largest, some specimens reach the size of a walnut, the rest are smaller, especially in the hot summer period. A very sweet strawberry that bears fruit all summer long – what more can you ask for!
Propagated by tendrils, loves acidified soil, frost-resistant variety, which in greenhouses can give berries all year round. Suitable for horizontal and vertical cultivation, bushes look so curly and pretty that they decorate gardens and balconies, like ampelous ornamental plants, grows wonderfully on trellises, loves the sun, and begins to bear fruit in the very first year of its growth.
Landing
Strawberry seedlings of the Mara de Bois variety are planted in April-May in the south, in the north – in June. The soil should be well fertilized and acidified, for this, fertilizers are applied before planting: a bucket of compost or humus and 40 g of inorganic fertilizers per 1 square meter of area to a depth of 20-30 cm. The distance between the bushes is 30 cm, and between the rows – 40 cm, this will make it possible to view each bush well all summer, and even root new plants between the rows, taking the antennae there. After planting, the entire area is well watered, and then mulched with hay. When landing, you need to make sure that the growth point does not fall under the ground.
Experienced summer residents say that it is good to plant any strawberries in the rain – then everything will definitely be accepted. Mulching will protect against one-year-old weeds and fungal diseases; straw is usually taken for it. In the north, new plantings of seedlings are sometimes covered with foil for the first week to allow young plants to take root. It is very convenient that strawberries from the Mara de Bois variety are not demanding on the length of the day, this is what allows it to bear fruit all summer until real cold weather, but it still needs to be planted in areas open to the sun.
Video “Varieties of remontant strawberries”
Cultivation and care
This is not to say that Mara de Bois requires special care, but one can often find complaints that this variety has not taken root in the open field. In greenhouses, with appropriate feeding, you can get a good harvest all year round, but in open ground this is not always possible even in summer. Healthy seedlings planted in suitable soil show resistance to powdery mildew, but may be susceptible to other diseases such as gray mold and brown spot. This needs to be watched closely.
Bordeaux liquid or the Kurzat preparation can protect against brown spotting, but they need to be sprayed with strawberries in the spring before the growth of new leaves begins (young leaves can get burned).
You need to water not on the plant itself, but along the perimeter under the root, if it often rains in summer, then there is a danger of infection with gray rot. From it, you need to spray the strawberries with the Roval preparation during flowering. The components of this drug are derived from all parts of the plant and do not accumulate in fruits, so they do not pose a danger to humans.
Like any other strawberry, pests can threaten this variety: snails, slugs, ants, mites, aphids. Good mulch will protect some from them, while onions, garlic, calendula and marigolds growing nearby will scare away. But at the slightest suspicion of the appearance of mites or aphids, it does not hurt to treat with soapy water or an infusion of onion peel.
Throughout the entire period of growth and fruiting, it is necessary to weed plantings of strawberries and loosen the soil, not to leave uprooted weeds, so as not to provoke the development of diseases, and not to attract pests.
Since the variety bears fruit all summer, it needs to be fed all this period. It is best to apply potassium and nitrogen along with watering. A couple of times a month you need to pour the infusion of mullein dissolved in water. It must be remembered that strawberries should not grow in the same place for more than 4 years, prepare a new site in advance and transfer plants to it. If you need to increase the number of antennae, you can pinch the fruits, sacrificing the number of berries for reproduction. This variety is considered frost-resistant and tolerates moderate frosts in winter. In the middle lane, at least 90% of the bushes overwinter.
Harvesting
Mara de Bois is a very famous and widespread variety, it is easy to find not only its description, but you can even buy seedlings grown in Samara. Harvested all year round, the berries always amaze with their sweetness and strawberry aroma. At the beginning of summer, they are the largest, and on average, the berries weigh 15-26 g. They are consumed fresh, stored for no more than three days. It is not surprising that many summer residents are trying to grow this wonderful strawberry, it works well in the south, but in the Orenburg region, early frosts can kill the berries and prevent them from ripening.
Video “Harvest strawberries”
In this video you will find the advice of an experienced gardener Yulia Mylnitskaya. By following them, you will be able to grow a good and prolific crop.
