Who does not like to eat strawberries? Probably everyone loves this juicy berry. Not all gardeners undertake to grow it, because the plant is capricious and requires constant attention. If you decide to plant it yourself, then carefully study the methods of planting and caring for the garden strawberries.
Soil preparation
Planting of garden strawberries occurs in early spring or in the first ten days of September. Choose the most sunny lawn on your site. Well, if the predecessors of strawberries are parsley, onions or carrots. The lawn should be flat or slightly inclined to the south. Dig up the earth and add peat, humus or ashes to it. Remove all weeds from the plantation. Remember that strawberries will not live longer than four years in one place, so divide your site into four zones. In the first zone, you plant the young seedlings, and the rest will be filled by the method of reproduction.
Spring planting and care
Planting and nursing strawberries in the spring requires a lot of attention. It is necessary that the earth gets a little warm, but does not lose moisture. Mulch and fertilize the soil with peat , a nitrogen mixture. Make small holes in strawberries. The heart of the plant should not be underground, otherwise the root system will rot. The distance between the strawberry seedlings should be 30 cm.
Watering is an obligatory work in the care of garden strawberries. It should be frequent, but not abundant. It is strictly forbidden to water leaves, flowers or berries. It is not necessary to loosen the ground after every watering, but once a week you will have to do it all the same. After you harvest the first harvest, cut off the leaves and antennae of the strawberry. If you want to propagate strawberries, then leave the plant closest to the plant with a rosette. When the new seedling gets stronger, cut off the connecting mustache.
Garden strawberries love frequent fertilizing. It must be constantly fed with nitrogen, potassium. Make compost chatterboxes and fertilize them with ground around each seedling. During the flowering period, do this once a week to get a lot of juicy berries. After you collect the fruits, then do the procedure once a month.
Autumn planting and care
If you decide to plant a strawberry in the fall, then do it in the first days of September. The climate at this time is mild, no longer hot, which contributes to a good growth of the plant. Do not plant a strawberry on a sunny day. Well dig up the garden, make fertilizer in it. So, as ahead of strawberries winter is expected, it is better to immediately add ash to the ground in order to warm the soil a little. Care of the garden strawberries after the autumn planting is allocated with painstaking work. After you put the plant in the wells, mulch the ground with nitrogen, peat impurities.
In the end of September you will need to cut absolutely all leaves from strawberries, as well as antennae. Leave young, but well-rooted sockets of the plant. Then you need to hide your strawberry with hay or with dry leaves. Completely remove the weeds from the plantation so that they do not suck the useful elements off the ground. When the frost begins, cover the plantation with nonwovens, but not with a film, otherwise a greenhouse effect will be created and the plant will die in winter.
Diseases and wreckers of wild strawberry
The plant is often attacked by mites, aphids , worms or beetles. Look at the leaves of strawberries. If you notice a web, small dots, then, without hesitation, cut the whole plant.
During flowering and growth, strawberries are susceptible to various fungal diseases and their treatment consists of the following methods:
- Processing with boiling water. You need to dig the diseased plant, put it in the hot water completely for 10 minutes.
After cutting the sick leaves and return to their former place of "residence". - Spraying . From many fungal diseases garden strawberries will be saved by spraying with nitrophenol and Bordeaux liquid.
- Liming . With a weak solution of lime, pour a sick plant. This method will also protect it from aphids.
- Planting garlic and onions . This method will save the plant from rot and worms.
If you see that the strawberries continue to blush (curl, wilt) the leaves, then you have to completely dig out the plant and burn it. Do not leave his antennae, especially rosettes, because they, too, are already infected.