It is natural that there is no gardener who does not have at least a few strawberry bushes on his garden plot. There are those who occupy whole "hundred square meters" with strawberry plantations and get good harvests, however, they sometimes do not know what to do with the plants after the entire harvest, that is, up to a single strawberry, has been harvested. It turns out that during this period nothing can be left to chance and leave strawberry plants to their fate. The end of fruiting is the most important period when the next year's harvest begins to actively form and if the plant has enough of everything - heat, moisture, nutrition and care, then next year the harvest may be even higher than in the current one.
Post-harvest strawberry care. © James A. Guilliam
Pineapple strawberries, or garden strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) and their berries are often called strawberries, which is incorrect from the point of view of botanical nomenclature, but is widely accepted in everyday life. By consuming in this material the word "strawberry", we mean the garden strawberry.
So, we will tell you about what you need to do immediately after removing the entire crop from the plantings of strawberries, and then we will analyze each stage in as much detail as possible so that no black (unclear) spots remain.
The first stage is, of course, loosening the soil. It is necessary to loosen the soil carefully, both in the aisles and under the bushes, trying not to damage the fragile root system of the strawberry and not to remove its roots to the surface. Loosening will provide ventilation of the soil, get rid of the soil crust, increase air and water exchanges, respectively, the plants will begin to receive more nutrition and moisture from the same unit of area, grow normally, develop and lay enough to provide high harvest strawberries are the number of generative buds.
When loosening the soil around the strawberry bushes, try to simultaneously add a little fresh and nutritious soil to them, especially if you notice that one or more roots are bare.
The second important event, which can be carried out literally according to the list, is the weeding of the beds, that is, the removal of all weeds, especially wheatgrass. Wheatgrass is extremely tenacious and consumes a lot of moisture and nutrients from the soil. It is better not to pull it out of the ground, but literally pull it out with your hands, then, perhaps, its further growth will be greatly slowed down.
Do not lose sight of other weeds, because they are the same competitors, and therefore must be removed. It is best to remove the weeds after watering or good rain, then the roots of the weeds for the most part and are much more easily pulled out of the soil.
The beds need to be kept moist, just try to pour moisture under the bushes in the evening. It is better not to pour water on the leaves at noon - it may occur sunburn... Naturally, you need to water the strawberries based on the weather outside the window, for example, if it is raining and the soil is already saturated with moisture, then additional watering is not needed at all, it is much more appropriate to loosen the soil here, and perhaps tear off a couple of lower leaves from those that are literally nailed to the ground to increase moisture evaporation and prevent rot from forming.
If the weather is dry, and there is not even a hint of rain, then watering is necessary. When watering, it is best to use settled water or rainwater, it should be soaked in the soil to a depth of at least 5-6 cm so that the roots are saturated with moisture. It is also impossible to overmoisten the soil, but overdried soil will be detrimental to plants.
Drip irrigation of strawberries. © Reeser Manley If you are a resident suburban area, where you visit only on weekends, you can design simple system drip irrigation. To do this, you need to take a barrel of 200 liters, install it on a small elevation, under the stream of rain from the roof, make a couple of holes in the base of the barrel (according to the number of rows on the garden bed) for special tubes - droppers and spread them along the beds with strawberries. Moisture, flowing through the droppers, will moisten the soil in your absence, where it is needed.
If you don't want to "bother" with the installation of droppers, then you can simply mulch the soil after each watering, with a layer of a couple of centimeters. You can use straw, sawdust, humus, or just dry soil as mulch for strawberries. For several days, this mulch will be enough to preserve moisture in the soil.
In the event that, after harvesting the garden strawberry, a layer of old mulch, say, straw, which you laid out, which you laid out in order to keep the berry clean and protect it from the appearance of fruit rot, remains on the plot, it is necessary to remove such mulch as carefully as possible and burn it, reuse it not necessary, as harmful microorganisms can accumulate in it.
The next stage: as you know, the leaf blades of garden strawberries, after serving for two years, begin to age, so they can be safely removed. They do it in different ways: they are combed with a rake, mowed and even cut out by hand. There is no clear guide to such actions, but do not forget that when removing old, discolored strawberry leaf blades, it is important not to damage the growth points. Considering this, two methods are considered the most gentle - raking old leaves with a rake (they are easily separated) and removing them manually.
This stage can be combined: the removal of old leaf blades can be combined with feeding the plants. Reproducing offspring, strawberry plants are quite depleted, and there is a long winter ahead and a short period for which you need to have time to re-plant flower buds in order to give a good harvest for the next year.
If there is little nutrition in the soil, this can negatively affect immunity: it will weaken and the plants may freeze in winter and at the stage of growth activity, so the bushes will lay a minimum number of flower buds.
The introduction of any one element to maintain an optimal balance of nutrients in the soil will clearly not be enough. Moreover, we strongly recommend that all the elements be added in a form dissolved in water, so that they reach the roots as quickly as possible and, accordingly, into the plant.
It is best to use during this period potassium sulfate (not chloride) dissolved in water, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate. Potassium sulfate, in terms of a square meter of soil, previously diluted in a bucket of water, you need 15-18 grams (this is a liter per square meter), ammonium nitrate - the same amount for the same area, but superphosphate needs 45-50 grams, also dissolved in a bucket of water, and in the same amount per square meter of beds with garden strawberries.
In addition to applying liquid mineral fertilizers, after about a week under each bush, you can pour 50-70 g of wood ash into the soil previously loosened and watered with water, although there is not much potassium in the wood ash, only 5-6%, but there are many other mineral substances (microelements).
In the absence of wood ash, you can sprinkle a handful of compost under the bushes of garden strawberries, nothing bad will come of it. Somehow I got the advice that at this time they poured a handful of dried manure under the garden strawberries, tried it on a couple of plants, they dried up after that, so this advice is at your own risk.
As for wood ash, it can be poured not only under each bush, but also scattered in the aisles, previously loosened and weeded, spending two kilograms per square meter. Some write that it helps against the bear, I doubt it, but that ash enriches the soil with potassium and trace elements - it's a fact.
Probably, it will be superfluous to say that by doing all these operations, you leave plant residues and old foliage on the plantation, of course, this is not worth doing, absolutely all garbage from the site must be removed and burned: diseases, pests and various pathogens.
Loosening the soil and hilling strawberry bushes. © Gerri and Steve Grady The next important stage, which for some reason is neglected by many, is the preventive and eradicating treatment of garden strawberry plantations after the end of fruiting, both from pests and from diseases. As soon as all the berries have been removed, carefully examine the plants for pests or signs of various diseases.
Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a few diseases on garden strawberries. Take powdery mildew. The first signs of its manifestation are observed in the form of a grayish bloom on the leaf blades of strawberries, in the future these leaves begin to rot, and of course, fall off, pre-twisting.
At the first signs of a disease, when the entire strawberry crop has already been harvested, the plants are generous - top and bottom must be treated with a solution of colloidal sulfur, for which it is necessary to dissolve 100 grams of colloidal sulfur in a bucket of water at room temperature, stir well, fill the spray bottle and process the plants, wetting everything surface.
Harmful to garden strawberries also gray rot... Usually, clearly visible gray spots are visible on the berries, and in some places such berries are still hanging, collectors simply ignore them. You can't do that. First you need to collect all the affected strawberries and destroy them by burning: after all, these are foci of infection; and then - treat all plants and especially carefully those where diseased berries were found with a solution of copper oxychloride, in an amount of 45 g per bucket of water. It is necessary to moisten the entire aerial part of diseased plants with a solution.
Another rot that few people distinguish from gray is black rot, you can distinguish it by the spots on the berries, they are exactly black, although the action itself and the methods of treatment are absolutely the same as for gray rot.
We go further: spotting, usually spotting, affects the leaf blades of garden strawberries, and brown-red spots appear on them. It is impossible to delay, the disease can quickly spread through still healthy plants and capture most of the plantation. Outwardly, it seems that this is nonsense, well, just think - spots, in fact, these spots lead to disruptions in the work of the photosynthetic apparatus and against this background inhibit the overall development of the plant.
Of course, to a large extent this will not be able to affect the laying of next year's strawberry harvest, but you still need to fight spotting. In this case, treatment with a solution of copper oxychloride effectively helps, it must be diluted at a concentration of 50 g per bucket of water and this solution is used to treat diseased strawberry plants.
By the way, beginners quite often confuse the foliage that has outlived its life and has a reddish tint with the affected spot. Firmly remember that the old foliage just needs to be removed, it no longer needs any additional treatments.
From diseases we are smoothly moving on to pests - in the period when the garden strawberry has given up the entire crop, protection from pests is also necessary for it. At this time, strawberries are attacked by strawberry weevils, strawberry mites and spider mites.
The strawberry weevil usually eats the leaf blades; at earlier stages of plant development, it can also affect the buds. In order to get rid of the strawberry weevil, the plants need to be treated with approved insecticides such as karbofos, spending 70-80 g of the drug per bucket of water. When processing, you need to thoroughly moisten the top and bottom of the strawberry leaves and also process the soil.
An even smaller insect is the strawberry mite. You can understand that it was he who struck the strawberry plantations by the slightly deformed foliage, which changed its color to yellow. Control measures here are the same as in the case of the weevil.
It is quite simple to find a spider mite on strawberry plants: if you turn the leaf over, then you will see a cobweb from below, this is a trace of vital activity spider mite.
After you notice a spider mite on strawberries, which sucks the juice from the leaf blades and greatly inhibits the development of the plant, reducing its immunity, it is necessary to treat the plants with any permitted acaricide, and if the strawberry plants are severely affected, it is better to remove them and burn them outside the territory of the site.
Mulching strawberry plantings. © GrowOrganic So, we have already said a lot about what needs to be done after the strawberries have borne fruit, but far from everything, there are still secrets, and we will definitely tell you about them now.
For example, do you know that full-fledged fruiting of garden strawberries lasts only four years, but on a sufficiently moist, nutritious soil, it can last for five years, after which, alas, it fades away without a trace, and it is better to renew the plantation? Now know!
Therefore, as soon as you have harvested the fifth, full-fledged crop, the strawberry plantation will need to be replaced with a new one. At about the end of July, all old and drying strawberry leaves must be cut off, removed, only the very base of the bush, about 2-3 cm high, should be left from the shoots and shoots.
All that was cut off from the site must be removed and burned. This procedure is cruel, however, it will allow the plants to form a new leaf mass this fall and lay flower-bearing buds, that is, the guarantee of next year's harvest.
When the processes are removed, there are a lot of them and it is really a pity to destroy them. Taking this into account, if you have enough free space, then the remaining shoots, having chosen the strongest and most well-developed and healthy ones, should be transplanted to the newly laid beds. All other whiskers must be removed, otherwise they will simply draw on moisture and additional substances to the detriment of the formation of the generative sphere of plants.
Cutting the strawberry whiskers should be carried out in any way; for this, a garden knife is usually taken and the whiskers are removed as close to the soil surface as possible. In no case pull out the shoot, so you almost always pull out part of the root, and it can dry out, and therefore the whole plant will die.
Rejuvenation of strawberry plantings with mustache layering. © Chloe
Preparing strawberries for winter should not be ignored, this is a significant part of the deposit good harvest next year. If there is enough moisture in the soil, then it is not necessary to water the plants in late autumn, if not enough, then around the end of October, you can pour a couple of buckets of water on a square meter of soil.
Once again, carefully inspect the plants, especially after watering, if you notice that the root system sticks out in some places, then be sure to dig it in with moist and nutritious soil. At the onset of the first persistent frosts, to trap snow in the area of the garden bed with strawberries, it is necessary to cover it with spruce branches, it is not such a reliable protection from the cold, but it keeps the snow on the site just perfect.
But many people do not advise using straw for the winter as a covering material for strawberries, mice usually start there, therefore, if you have a lot of straw and have nowhere to put it, then at the same time spread the poisoned baits to protect yourself from mice.
Well, that's all we wanted to tell you. If you have questions or tips, then write about them in the comments, we will be happy to answer your questions and use the tips!
The term "mowing the leaves" refers to a number of activities on a first-year strawberry crop bed.
There is no unequivocal answer to the questions - why and when to cut strawberries. Gardeners have different opinions on this matter.
Someone is for, someone is categorically against. Why do this if it seems to be known that the foliage feeds the root, they say, the more foliage, the stronger the bush? Yes, that is, of course, correct.
But ... Harvested - get ready for the next one! Sounds like a slogan for a gardener.
So, caring for strawberries after harvesting is preparing the plantation for harvest. next year... And pruning the leaves of strawberries, one of the stages of this care.
We all love this berry. In the spring, a lot of time and effort is spent on leaving before flowering, during it, during the formation, ripening of berries. We want more strawberries, they were larger, juicier, tastier.
So, just after the harvest, you need to make every effort to improve, to increase it next year. Strawberries need special care after harvest. This is the most important time for her and for us.
Why trim the mustache
Surely, you already noticed during the harvest that strawberries (strawberries) give a lot of whiskers. Of course it depends on the variety. Some varieties form a lot of whiskers, some a little, and some may not be whiskers altogether.
Collected all the berries - carefully examine the entire plantation. It is necessary to loosen the beds of garden strawberries, weed them from weeds, remove the mustache.
Strawberries need whiskers for reproduction. If you do not want to get new outlets, new plants for propagation, then you must immediately pick them off after they appear.
Usually there are several mustaches on one bush, we collect them in one bunch and cut them as close to the base of the bush as possible. By the way, this procedure for trimming the mustache will have to be repeated more than once a season. If we start, we don't do it on time, then the plant will spend all its strength on the growth of whiskers, rosettes - the future harvest will get less, there will be fewer flower buds, which means there will be fewer berries, they will be smaller.
All that is superfluous for the future harvest must be cut off.
In addition, this is necessary so that the strawberries do not thicken, since thickened plantings are more difficult to care for.
When you need to feed, fertilize
Some gardeners do the wrong thing by heavily feeding strawberries before harvesting. This leads to the fact that it is strongly affected by gray rot, this is, firstly. Secondly, although the berries become large, they are watery, less sweet, and have a shorter collection period.
In early spring, before flowering, we fertilize with nitrogen fertilizers. But remember, the main fertilization should be after harvest. This is a top dressing with full mineral fertilizer and organic matter. Many put manure under the strawberries. This, of course, is good - the manure not only nourishes the plants, but also takes care of the strawberry root system.
Hilling strawberries
The fact is that strawberries are a perennial berry plant. Over time, it builds up an aerial root system and begins, as it were, to bulge out of the ground. Every year, especially after 3-4 years of cultivation in one place, we are forced to add mulch, soil, compost, rotted manure to the aisles, thus covering the roots of strawberries. Mulching, hilling helps the roots develop well.
Reasons, timing of leaf trimming
The laying of fruit buds in strawberries (garden strawberries) occurs in June (Krasnodar Territory) - July (middle strip) after harvesting. It is by this time that the first trimming of the mustache and leaves must be timed.
The fact is that a strawberry leaf lives only 60-70 days - 2-2.5 months. And after that, various spots appear on the leaves - whitish, rusty, red. These are signs of leaf aging, the development of various diseases on them.
That is, cutting off the leaves of strawberries (strawberries) is necessary in order to protect the future harvest from diseases.
Trim leaves or whiskers with pruning shears or scissors. Tools must be sharp.
Do not pry them off by hand - this can damage the root system. The plant, instead of building up the leaf mass, will recover its strength for a long time.
The chlorophyll production process stops 2-2.5 months after picking the berries - even in healthy plants, the leaves may turn red.
Advice:
reddened leaves should be removed so as not to let the pests remaining on them calmly overwinter. Treat the plantation with pest drugs.
There is a danger that the young leaves after pruning will not have time to grow - the bare bushes may not survive the frosty winter.
So, after a month and a half after collecting the last berries, we inspect the strawberry plantation (garden strawberry) and remove all the leaves with specks, holes, without forgetting to remove the peduncles. We leave only young leaves.
When to do it?
In the middle lane - the first half of August. I will not say the exact date - it is not so important. Most importantly, calculate the timing so that in winter your strawberry leaves with young leaves that have already grown.
How to prune strawberries if plants are affected by diseases, pests
In the event that a bush or bushes of strawberries are affected by a strawberry mite, there is a strong spotting on the leaves, it is necessary to remove all leaves, even young ones.
Leaves with signs of disease should be cut off as close to the base of the bush as possible, since disease spores can persist on the petioles. Try not to touch the heart of the bush when pruning - the plant will be able to recover faster.
By doing such pruning, you will not harm the bush, since strawberries very quickly build up green mass. By cutting off old leaves, you will immediately see where you can loosen the ground, where you need to remove weeds.
Of course, removing all the leaves from strawberries will not remove all pests and diseases. They will remain on the stumps of leaves, on the ground.
Simply, it is easier to treat such a bed with drugs for diseases and pests. This processing is more efficient.
Now you can feed the "rejuvenated" bed.
At this time, as I already said, fruit buds are laid - the basis of the future harvest, so do not forget to periodically water your strawberries. A
if there is no rain, keep the soil moist.
Top dressing, watering at this time are required. It is at this time that the strawberries will increase the leaf mass, which in winter, covered with snow, will protect the root system from freezing.
That is, the more foliage your bushes leave in the winter, the better they winter, the more harvest you will get.
If during the harvest period you notice berries affected by gray rot - after harvesting the last berries, treat the entire plantation with some kind of fungicide - this can be Bordeaux liquid, Topaz or Horus.
Is it possible to mow all strawberry leaves
The term "mowing the leaves" refers to a number of activities on a first-year strawberry crop bed. Some gardeners take the word "mowing" so literally that they go out to the garden bed with a scythe and even a lawn mower, and not in July, but in August, and ignore all other techniques. The results of such mowing of leaves are always disastrous.
In fact, this most important stage in caring for strawberries includes not only removing leaves, but also loosening, treating pests and diseases, removing whiskers, replanting fallen plants and preparing seedlings for a new bed.
Not so long ago, walking along my summer cottage street, I saw friends mowing strawberry leaves with a scythe. They have a large berry plot - several hundred square meters - they believe that they cannot do without a scythe. At first, I decided that in this way they decided to get rid of the old strawberries, they say, it's time to start a new plantation. But it turned out that it was not so. The owner of the dacha said that they mow the leaves of the strawberries every year, three to four weeks after the last harvest. And this year, some circumstances prevented them from doing it on time and they mowed in mid-August. The strawberry harvest, according to them, is good all the time, it is less sick.
If you have a large plantation and it is more than 3-4 years old, then you can follow the example of my friends.
There is another reason for completely cutting off the leaves of strawberries with an oblique or pruning shears (scissors) - this is a strong damage to plantings by diseases and pests. After complete cutting (mowing) of the leaves, the plantation should be treated with any fungicide or pest preparation. Be sure to feed your strawberry - help it grow faster.
It is not necessary to mow on young healthy plantings of strawberries, this depletes the bushes and you deprive yourself of the harvest.
How to care for strawberry beds after pruning or mowing
I will repeat a little, but this is very important.
Loosen the soil around the bushes.
Remove weeds.
Treat the plantation from diseases and pests.
Feed with mineral and organic fertilizers.
Water regularly if it doesn't rain during this period.
It is very important that the soil in the garden is moist all the time - this is very important for the regrowth of young foliage.
That's all the simple rules. Now you know how and when to prune strawberries (garden strawberries). You are guaranteed a good harvest next year!
Every gardener loves to collect large harvests strawberries. But her cultivation does not end there. In this article, you can find out what steps are required to prepare strawberries for the new harvest season.
Many gardeners who grow strawberries on their plots will not be able to answer how strawberries develop after harvest, and what to do after fruiting. But proper care of strawberries after picking berries becomes the basis for a good harvest next year. It is necessary to carry out preparatory measures in the fall.
Strawberry
Strawberries bloom and bear fruit very early. The first berries begin to ripen by about the middle of the nurse. However, during this time, the plants simply could not get all the necessary substances in sufficient quantities to form sweet and large berries.
Here a natural question may arise, how is such a crop formed? The future harvest begins to form at the end of the summer of the previous year. As soon as the harvest of fragrant berries is harvested, the laying of new buds, the growth of flowers and the regrowth of the whiskers begin. It is very important to take care of the strawberries during this time.
It should be borne in mind that different varieties of strawberries will ripen in different ways. Most of the varieties finish bearing fruit in early summer. However, the latest varieties of remontant strawberries can ripen until mid-August. Therefore, the timing of events may shift.
Straw mulching
After the end of the fruiting period, the foliage on the strawberry bushes begins to die off and be replaced by a new one. Thus, the strawberry itself gets rid of old leaves after harvest, what should a gardener do (video) in this case? It is necessary to help the plants get rid of excess old leaves and cut them off.
Reasons to get rid of the leaves:
After such a procedure, it will be appropriate to feed the strawberries so that the roots of the strawberries have time to gain nutrients before the winter period.
In the same period, mustaches begin to form actively. It is important to know when processing strawberries after harvest, what to do with the mustache. A strawberry mustache is a breeding tool. If there is no need for this, then you can cut them all. Otherwise, 1-2 best copies are left. They are neatly buried in.
It is not advisable to start trimming the mustache. In this case, all the nutrients necessary for laying new buds will be spent on the development of whiskers and rosettes, which will still be clipped.
The processing of strawberry bushes should be carried out constantly, but the bulk of the work falls on the period after fruiting. If, after such treatment, the strawberry bushes turned out to be completely without leaves, you should not panic. Before the onset winter period she will have time to grow new foliage.
Weed removal
There is nothing difficult in loosening the soil, although there are some features that should be taken into account when carrying out this agrotechnical measure.
During flowering and fruiting, it is not recommended to apply nitrogen-containing fertilizers. They promote the formation of new foliage. And this is not very good for ripening berries. But after the end of fruiting, everything changes dramatically, and fertilizers containing nitrogen are especially necessary for strawberries.
Feeding strawberries
Before the onset of the winter period, watering should be carried out regularly. Watering is very important for caring for strawberries after fruiting, what to do next and how to water properly can be found below.
Full watering after harvesting will have a positive effect on the quality of the crop that can be obtained in the next harvest year.
Diseases and insects can wreak havoc on strawberry plantations. In some cases, this can lead to the complete destruction of all plants. Therefore, it is necessary to process the plantings annually from the most common pests and diseases. It is best to do this after harvest, so as not to disturb the flowering and ripening of the berries. How the symptoms of the disease appear on strawberries after harvest, and what to do (video) to combat them, you can find out below.
Powdery mildew
Pests can destroy the entire crop. They easily overwinter in plants, and in spring they begin to feed on their juices. Therefore, it is very important to know the signs of their appearance on strawberries after harvest, and what to do to get rid of these pests.
Spider mite
The best way to keep pests and insects out of your crops is to take preventive measures.
Strawberry bush structure
Compliance with these simple rules will help prepare strawberry bushes for wintering, and in the spring, the effort will pay off in the form of a rich harvest. Knowing how strawberries develop after harvest, and what to do (video), after removing all the berries, you can develop an optimal plan for growing these plants.
Every gardener grows not only vegetables on his plot. Here you can find both fruits and berries. Strawberry is one of these favorite crops. Adults and children admire its taste. And it must also be grown correctly, because if it does not have enough nutrients, then it will not give a good harvest. Consider how strawberries should be taken care of after fruiting.
Everyone knows strawberries. This plant can be recognized by its appearance:
There are many varieties. All have their own separate ripening period. The earliest of them occurs in May and can last until the beginning of autumn.
In order for the plant to give a large harvest, it is necessary to properly care for it. The main stages of preparation include:
But what about the plants from which you have harvested the entire crop? Here, in no case should they be thrown. It is necessary to carry out further care for strawberries in summer, after fruiting. And our task with you is to find out how this is done.
The main thing to do with a plant after harvest is to transplant it. First, you must prepare the right place for the berry. It must meet the following requirements:
You can transplant the shoots that the berry gave. It is better to dig up old bushes and throw them away. It is recommended to carry out the procedure on a cloudy day when there is no strong sun. If the weather is clear, it is better to postpone the transfer until the evening. Moisten the transplanted bushes well.
If you think that this is where the care of strawberries after fruiting ends, then you are deeply mistaken. It is still just beginning.
As you know, garden strawberries are considered the most popular berry in the country. Care after fruiting will help restore the strength of the plant by next year. During this period, active growth of leaves begins. At this time, we begin to think about the future harvest and do everything according to our instructions. After picking berries, if there is no need to transplant the plants, you need to carry out hygienic processing according to the following principle. The very first step is to weed the weed beds. Remove everything well and loosen the soil.
We have gradually figured out what the care of strawberries after fruiting is. Pruning bushes is included in the list of measures. Do not be afraid to carry out this procedure. The berry will not suffer from this, but will only benefit and give a good harvest in the new season.
The main care for strawberries after fruiting includes feeding the bushes with various fertilizers. First of all, you need to add mineral preparations. For each square meter of the garden, 30-40 grams of substances are needed. Special ready-made mixtures of preparations that are specially made for berries are ideal. Apart from that, use:
The only enemy of strawberries is chlorine. Avoid fertilizers that contain this substance. But after applying fertilizers, you need to thoroughly moisten the soil.
We proceed to the next procedure, which is part of the main care for strawberries after fruiting. Ganichkina, a well-known agricultural technician, recommends paying special attention to watering. She gives some advice on this:
You have already spent a lot of time and effort for all the care of strawberries after fruiting. And most importantly, there is no need to dwell on this. An important period lies ahead. Autumn and winter are the main enemies of the berry. So that in the new season you can see the plants in health, make preparations:
We examined how to care for standard plant varieties. It is worth paying attention to remontant ones.
Modern breeders offer gardeners the most interesting varieties. One of these is the remontant berry. With its help, you can harvest several times per season. To have a lot of berries, you need to spend proper care for remontant strawberries after the first fruiting. It is as follows:
Now you know how to properly care for strawberries. The quality and quantity of tasty and aromatic berries depends on these important procedures.
After picking berries, strawberry bushes require special care to restore strength and intensive buds of fruiting for the next year.
With proper implementation of summer-autumn preventive measures, garden strawberries (the scientific name for strawberries) increases fruiting by at least 15-30 percent. The fruits become larger, juicier and sweeter. Any variety, simple or remontant strawberry, responds with gratitude to care and attention, so the berries grown by their own hands are noticeably different from the store ones.
Post-harvest strawberry care
In late July-early August, after fruiting strawberries, care is carried out corresponding to the given period, consisting of: trimming the whiskers, removing damaged leaves, weeding, feeding, hilling bushes.
In July, after picking strawberries, the plants begin to grow new leaves, the formation of new horns, the growth of whiskers with lateral rosettes intensifies and new flower buds are laid for the new season.
The weeding of the beds is mandatory, that is, the removal of all weeds. Excess whiskers and dried leaves are also removed. Reddened leaf blades are removed first.
You cannot pick off the foliage and mustache, you can only cut it off, otherwise the bush will be damaged and hurt. Use only sharp scissors or pruning shears for trimming. Old, cut leaves, in order to avoid the reproduction of pests, it is better to burn them. If young leaves curl or look corrugated, this indicates that the plants are infected with strawberry mites and must be treated with a special preparation.
After pruning, the soil around the strawberries is loosened, fertilized, and watered. The aisles are loosened 10 centimeters deep. Loosening is carried out around the plants by 5-7 centimeters. It is desirable to spud the bushes.
In this case, the roots should be completely covered, and the upper part of the bush should remain above the ground. In no case do not cover the growth point, that is, the middle of the rosette of leaves.
Feeding strawberries in July
For feeding are taken mineral fertilizers with a wide content of trace elements. There are about 30 grams of fertilizer per square meter. For this, a special fertilizer for garden strawberries is suitable - Fertika, ammofosk.
Fertilizers containing potassium chloride cannot be used, as it slows down growth and impairs fruiting. Fertilizers are embedded in the soil to a depth of about 5-8 centimeters.
In addition to these fertilizers, you can use last year's humus. It crumbles around the bushes and digs a little into the soil. Humus improves the structure of the soil and makes it more fertile.
Also, you can make top dressing on the beds from diluted chicken manure (diluting it in a 1:15 ratio with water). When feeding, one must not forget that this solution should not fall on the foliage, otherwise burns will appear on the plants, which provokes the development of diseases. A high concentration of solution can generally destroy the bush. That's why given view top dressing is not used very often. And more often in spring than in summer and autumn.
If the weather is dry, then the strawberry beds are abundantly spilled with water. Soil moisture should be maintained until the end of the season. Watering is carried out once a week for a bucket per square meter.
For the best effect, drip irrigation can be used. This type of watering allows you to get the right amount of moisture and at the same time the plants do not rot, since the soil does not become waterlogged.
Strawberry Care in August
To get a bountiful harvest for the next season, at the end of summer perennial plants proper care is required. It includes: pruning leaves, replanting whiskers, preparing plants in winter, that is, sheltering bushes.
The old leaves are cut off. Here gardeners do different things, some mow all the foliage completely, others remove only leaves damaged by diseases. If strawberries grow in groups, the early varieties are processed first. Then there are medium and late varieties, this will allow you to evenly care for the plants and prevent them from overgrowing, which leads to the threat of infection with diseases and pests.
The mustache with new rosettes and young roots is deposited to form young bushes. For this, the strongest specimens are selected, usually this is the first rosette on the antennae. Planting strawberries is recommended to be renewed every 3 years, this is how many years the bush bears fruit as much as possible, then the bush grows old and the yield decreases markedly.
To protect strawberries from various fungi, powdery mildew, pests, the bushes are sprayed with special preparations or self-prepared means.
For spraying, such preparations are used as:
Fertilizing strawberries in August
Top dressing of bushes during this period increases the degree of frost resistance of the plant and contributes to the establishment of future flower buds.
Complex mineral fertilizers should include: 1 part nitrogen, 2 parts phosphorus, 4 parts potassium. V finished version, it can be: Fasco, Autumn, Autumn. All these preparations, in addition to the base, contain other useful substances.
Fertilizer Autumn does not contain nitrogen in its composition, which allows it to be used even in a later period, but this preparation contains in its composition all the elements that are necessary for the growth and good fruiting of strawberries.
Suitable as organic fertilizers: peat, horse manure in granules, humus, bone meal.
Mineral and organic fertilizers do not mix. In rare cases, with depleted soil, mineral and organic fertilizing is applied over the entire area of the beds. If the strawberry planting area is quite large, this mixture can also be used.
After feeding, the plants are covered with mulch, and for wintering the bushes are covered with leaves, needles, potato tops, straw. For shelter, dry weather is selected, otherwise the layer may crumble and cause the formation of pests and diseases within the layer or lead to root rot.
The layer of mulch that covers plants from frost should be at least 7 centimeters. In addition to mulch, it is used non-woven fabric e.g. spunbond.
Autumn care for remontant strawberries
Repair strawberries, in comparison with simple varieties, have a short life span and after two years the plants should change new ones. Some varieties do not give whiskers and care for them is easier, but seeds are used for their propagation, which complicates the breeding process.
July and August are suitable for the renewal of strawberry plantations. By autumn, the bushes take root and easily endure the winter.
In preparation for winter, peduncles and leaves are cut off from the mother bushes. The bushes are huddled so that the roots are covered with soil. But the core of the plant must remain open, otherwise it will start to rot.
Treated beds are covered with foliage, grass, hay, or a special covering material - this allows strawberries to easily endure even a snowless winter.
When warm days come in spring, the mulch from the strawberries must be removed so that the plants do not begin to rot.
Processing strawberries after harvest, video
Good harvests to you!
The yield of strawberries (garden strawberries) directly depends on your diligence and how well you follow the recommendations when caring for them. Often gardeners ignore the measures for maintaining the berry after fruiting, which is a mistake.
Many inexperienced gardeners believe that after fruiting, garden strawberries do not need care, and they can be "canned" until the next season. However, with this approach, one should not be surprised that there is no harvest next year or it is completely meager. After all, preparation for a new stage of fruiting begins immediately after picking strawberries and continues for most of the season. In this article, you will find the most popular tips on how to how to properly care for strawberries after harvest.
An important part of the July strawberry care is mustache trimming... The fact is that strawberry bushes that are 3-5 years old, after fruiting, actively grow a mustache and spend a large amount of nutrients on this. Therefore, they are removed using secateurs to facilitate the development of the plant.
Never pull off the mustache, as this can easily damage the strawberry bush, and the plant will spend a lot of energy on recovery.
Before removing parts of the strawberry bush, it should be feed... For 1 square meter, add a mixture of superphosphate (40-60 g), ammonium nitrate (20-30 g) and potassium chloride (15-20 g). Loosen soil in row spacing to a depth of 10 cm and next to strawberry bushes.
Root oxygen is just as important as water and fertilizing, so regularly loosen the soil near the strawberry bushes
Healthy strawberries, which will enter the phase of active growth in 5-7 days, should be fed with a mixture of nitrophoska (2 tablespoons per 10 liters of water) and wood ash (1 glass). For young plants of the first year of fruiting, spend 1 liter of solution, and for those that are older - 1.5-2 liters.
Closer to mid-July, you should feed the strawberries fresh chicken droppings... It is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 15-20. Plants are watered from a watering can, being careful not to fall on the leaves. 10 liters of solution is enough for 6-8 bushes of adult strawberries and 20-25 bushes for young ones. Fertilizer should be applied after rain or a couple of hours after watering.
How to feed strawberries after harvest
Do strawberries need feeding after they have borne fruit? Yes, and even more than during the flowering and fruiting periods.
In a timely manner pull out the weeds removing them after watering and rain. Also, loosen the soil regularly to oxygenate the root system.
Without knowing, how to care for strawberries in August, you risk losing your crop next year. The last summer month is often dry and hot. Therefore, it is important to carry out watering at least 2 times a week. Plants themselves "signal" the need for watering - the bushes droop, and the foliage dries up.
You can water strawberries both by sprinkling and under the root - the sun is no longer so aggressive, and there will be no burns on the leaves
If the leaves continue to dry out, become stained, weaken, they should be carefully cutting down and leave only 3-4 healthy leaves for the improvement of the "green mass". The same goes for mustache that are removed if they are still growing, or if you forgot to do so in July.
Plants can feed a weak mullein solution(1:10) or bird droppings(1:20) and loosen the soil. One 10 liter bucket should be enough for 10-12 bushes. Earthen "sides" up to 15 cm high can be formed around the beds and filled with water to the top.
And it is also in August that they recommend plant new strawberry bushes Location on. It is best to do this in the evening or on a cloudy day. The seedlings should have three true leaves and a developed root system. It is planted in a previously prepared wet well.
Planting strawberries in autumn
Strawberries can be planted not only in spring but also in autumn. How to do it right?
Strawberry seedlings: how to choose and buy healthy seedlings
We will tell you how not to make a mistake when choosing spring strawberry seedlings.
Autumn care for strawberries differs from summer events only slightly. However, they should not be neglected either.
Some strawberry varieties continue to flower even in September. The berries on them will not ripen before the onset of cold weather, therefore, such "blank" inflorescences follow cut off... The same applies to mustache strawberries.
Removing inflorescences from varietal strawberries in the fall will help protect them from anthracnose and white spot
Even if the forecasts promise a mild winter, feed the bushes. Perfect for this Ammophos(the content is brought in at the rate of 30 g per 1 sq. m.). For "insulation" they also bring in rotted chicken droppings diluted in water in a ratio of 1:15. 1-1.5 l of the composition is poured under each bush. Sometimes they use and cow dung, diluted in water in a ratio of 1:10 with the addition of 1 glass of ash. Strawberries are abundantly watered with the resulting composition at the rate of 1.5-2 liters per bush.
For the last time before winter, inspect the strawberry bushes and discard sick and affected specimens, and remove excess whiskers and withered leaves. Don't throw away the "bad" plants, but put them in the compost heap.
Autumn care for strawberries
Not sure how to care for strawberries in the fall? Then read this article.
Now you know, how to care for strawberries in September... Armed with this information, next year you are guaranteed to get a bountiful harvest.
Care for strawberries in open ground involves not only the removal of whiskers and inflorescences, but also leaves... However, you do not need to "bare" the plant completely, because by picking off healthy leaves, you reduce the likelihood of flower stalks and fruits, reduce yields and doom strawberries to difficulties during the wintering period. First of all, remove dry and withered leaves affected by strawberry mites. If the fertile plant is almost completely affected, then it is easier to cut it off with a pruner just above the growing point and burn the remnants.
If you need seedlings for reproduction, then you should not remove the mustache, you need to give them the opportunity to put down roots and grow a strong outlet
After pruning loosen the ground and pour it on. Treat the bushes with a weak solution potassium permanganate and sprinkle ash... To ensure good bud growth, feed the strawberries with 10 g / 10 L of water with universal fertilizer. Also fit ammonium nitrate and nitrogen fertilizers(use according to instructions).
Towards the end of September, strawberry bushes can be overlaid straw to protect them from the coming frost. Spread the freshly cut grass- it will be the first spring fertilizer.
From mid-September, start caring for the fertile bushes. Loosen the soil to hide the root system and keep it out of the cold. As a rule, at this time the plants are covered with a "blanket" of cut siderates or mulch soil with straw, hay, fallen leaves and cut weeds. Remove the remaining peduncles so that they do not weaken the plants, but withered cut the leaves after the first frost.
As you can see, take care of garden strawberries after fruiting is easy. It is enough just to carry out the necessary set of standard measures, and grateful plants will give you a bountiful harvest.
A novice gardener does not know that the cessation of the appearance of berries on the bushes does not mean the end garden work... At a time when their favorite strawberries are blooming and ripening, many summer residents try not only not to use drugs for protection, but also not to disturb the site with the same weeding. But this has its detrimental consequences, however, it is important to benefit your beloved garden. Let's figure out why you need care for strawberries after fruiting.
Processing strawberries after fruiting in summer is needed for the following purposes:
Strawberries bloom and bear fruit throughout the summer, this feature depends on the varieties. The early varieties of the culture can bear fruit in May, the late ones in June and July. We must not forget about remontant varieties, which yield a crop many times. The culture blooms and bears berries early - from spring to mid-summer (June), and for this reason its roots cannot receive the necessary substances for the formation of large and tasty berries. The harvest is usually laid at the end of the summer season and before the beginning of the fall of the last year, and after harvesting it is very important to take care of the plant.
It is not recommended to postpone pruning of strawberries after harvest until late such as autumn. It is best to prune strawberries immediately after fruiting stops. Have remontant varieties after 2 years of life, the yield decreases quite noticeably, the berries appear less and less and become smaller. Experienced summer residents believe that it is best to remove old leaves and diseased bushes in August.
How to prune strawberries after fruiting:
Pests that have accumulated in old foliage over a whole season will be able to migrate to fresh leaves if the strawberries are not cut off in time.
Pay attention to the condition of your garden and don't let the bites die - get rid of the weeds between the rows. If you notice young strawberry leaves that are shriveled and deformed, prepare products for dealing with harmful insects.
Loosen the soil thoroughly, because the plants need oxygen. However, in the bushes themselves, care must be taken, strawberries have a superficial root system, which can be damaged inadvertently. Sprinkle earth on the adventitious roots so that they settle under the soil.
How often is it necessary to water the strawberries for its subsequent restoration of strength and the beginning of the emergence of bud buds? It is rarely necessary to irrigate the culture after harvesting the berries, once a week is enough. The earth must be abundantly saturated with moisture in order for the bushes to come to life and gain strength.
In the matter of how to care for strawberries after fruiting, feeding the strawberries must be included. The following supplements do the job well:
When choosing how to process strawberries after cutting the leaves, it is not recommended to choose fertilizers containing chlorine, because strawberries cannot stand it at all. Prepare a solution for feeding strawberries by putting 1 kg of feeding in 10 liters of warm water. If you do not have these additives, then chicken droppings will be a good food for strawberries. As a rule, a bucket of such fertilizer is enough for 8 bushes.
Another thing to fertilize strawberries after harvest is copper sulfate. You can also spray with copper sulfate to keep the strawberries out of trouble. This component fights off such misfortunes as powdery mildew, spotting, rot. It is necessary to take 2 tablespoons of copper sulfate for 10 liters of water, and it is best to spray the plants on a dry and calm day.
Poultry manure is usually sold dry, so the concentrate is converted into a liquid infusion before use:
Never feed the strawberries with dry chicken droppings, otherwise you may burn the plant roots.
As an alternative to bird droppings, you can use mullein infusion and prepare an excellent feed for strawberries:
Mullein can also be used dry as mulch. It is placed in the aisles, providing the strawberries with nutrients for several years. To feed strawberries after fruiting, use only rotted mullein to prevent the development of fungal diseases.
This is another good feeding option that allows your strawberries to get the nutrients they need. The recipe for its preparation is similar to the ones described above:
Do not do all three feedings at the same time - choose one, as too much nitrogen can kill the plants.
Choose a dry and sunny day for feeding strawberries.
Second phase feeding falls at the end of October and is carried out after trimming the leaves. At this time, it is good to add potassium and phosphorus preparations (both dry and liquid). Dry fertilizers have a positive effect longer, and liquid fertilizers are better absorbed, so they can be combined.
How to feed strawberries after fruiting and pruning is ash. Ashes are used as fertilizers both dry and diluted.
The dry mixture is sprinkled on the plant at the base to protect it from the attack of pests. A liquid preparation is prepared as follows:
These substances are rich in nitrogen, which gives the strawberry fruit a rich red color and a unique taste.
You can also add 50 g of Kemira Osennyaya per 1 sq. M. By observing the rules for caring for strawberries after fruiting, you can enjoy large and tasty berries every year.
Leaves by season
Garden strawberry leaves are renewed three times a year: in spring, summer and autumn. They work actively from 40 to 80 days. The bushes that have grown in spring feed the bushes from April to June inclusive, and then, when they get old, they gradually die off. After fruiting, summer ones grow back to replace the spring ones.
The former are important for fruiting current year, the second - for the bookmark flower buds and the accumulation of nutrients for the future. Then the so-called autumn leaves that go into winter. With good and stable snow cover, most of them remain until spring. Each gardener must decide for himself whether or not to mow the old leaves. Much depends on the condition of the beds and how much time you are willing to devote to caring for strawberries.
I mow because I think they carry a lot of infection. But not at the end of summer, but right away
after harvest. The timely removal of leaves from the plantation (before the spores fly) significantly reduces the damage from diseases, and also prevents re-infection. It is also important for me that this technique strongly suppresses the growth of the mustache. I do not mow leaves only on strawberry beds of the first year of use.
The procedure itself does not take much time: we take a benzoko-su and mow the bed at a height of 5-7 cm. At the same time, the old leaves are almost completely removed and neither the horns nor the growth points are damaged.
The mowed mass is usually sent to compost. I water the strawberry beds well and feed them with a solution of chicken manure (1:15). Strawberry good
reacts to it and immediately begins to actively recover. For feeding, you can use any complex fertilizers (15-20 g / m2), it is better if they are with microelements.
No bare roots!
A good technique is hilling strawberry bushes, especially from the 3rd year of life. I also do it after mowing the leaves, combining it with loosening the soil after watering and liquid top dressing. At the same time, I make sure that the heart is not covered with earth.
At the end of August, I pour a 3-4 cm layer of mulch around each bush. I use leaf humus for this. It serves not only as a fertilizer, but also as a heater for the winter, and in the spring does not allow the roots to be exposed.
Strawberry drones - out!
Weed varieties are often found on strawberry plantings.
They either do not yield at all, or they bring low - small and unmarketable berries. Such bushes, not burdened with a harvest, throw all their strength into reproduction. Like weeds, they suppress the large-fruited variety. Therefore, it is important to notice the appearance of these weeds in time and to destroy them.
On a note
Removal of strawberry leaves is indicated for early and mid-season varieties. In the late ones, it is undesirable to mow the leaves, they may not have time to grow them before frost, which will significantly reduce the yield next year. It is also not used for remontant and neutral-day varieties of strawberries, which will have a second fruiting in the fall, lasting until late autumn.
Practical advice
Do not leave overripe or damaged berries on the beds. Usually, it is they who serve as a source of contamination of plantings with seedlings.
How often to renew your strawberry plantation
I use fruiting strawberry bushes no more than three years, not counting the year of planting. I usually renew my plantation no later than the second half of August. Young rosettes planted at this time manage to form not only well-developed roots and leaves before winter, but also under conditions have a short day lay flower buds.
I plant strawberries in the garden in one line. In the first year of growing on bushes, I remove all whiskers, except for one or two. In the second year I repeat the same thing. I direct young sockets to free places... From these, self-rooted, the most productive bushes grow. The result is long strawberry ribbons. If I do not plan to replace varieties, then I use the sockets of the second year to create new beds. If there is another planting material, I remove all the formed whiskers after the second harvest. In the 3rd and 4th year of cultivation, I remove all the mustache.
Yourself with a mustache!
So that my favorite strawberry varieties do not degenerate, during fruiting I outline the most productive bushes, in the future I take the mustache for laying the future plantation only from these "mothers". I separate the sockets immediately after rooting and plant them on a separate bed. Those that, before planting, were soaked for 10-12 hours in a solution of zircon (1 ml per 2 liters of water) are very well accepted.
Note
The most powerful rosettes in the garden usually give bushes little loaded with berries. In abundantly fruiting, they grow more modestly. Therefore, in order to obtain high-quality seedlings, it is better to plant the mother plants on a separate bed and remove the peduncles from them. Or take sockets only from the intended copies.
Strawberry transparent mite most dangerous pest strawberries. Most often damages leaves, especially young ones.
As a result, they curl and acquire a yellowish-oily hue, the peduncles become dwarf, and the berries become small. The more pests, the uglier the bushes. Warm and humid weather favors mite reproduction.
It is good to use an infusion against strawberry mites. onion peel: 200 g pour 10 liters of warm water and leave for 4-5 days, then strain the infusion and use for spraying.
You can also prepare an infusion from the onion itself: chop 100 g of onions, place in a tightly sealed container, pour 10 liters of water and leave for 6-7 hours.
Another way is reliable: weed the affected plantation, removing the extra mustache and diseased leaves (you need to remove them from the plants together with the petioles, it is at the base of the leaf petioles that adult female ticks winter), then abundantly sprinkle the bushes with an infusion of mashed garlic 0.5 kg pour 3 l of water, use 300 g of extractor hood per watering can.
After harvesting, chemical treatments are also carried out. The plantation is sprayed after mowing the leaves with one of the drugs: fufanon, kemifos, fitoverm.
You can finally get rid of the pest by laying the beds in a new place. All seedlings (after washing the roots from the soil and tying them into bundles) are immersed in a container with water heated to 45'C before planting.
It is kept in it for 13-15 minutes, after which the sockets are immediately cooled in cold water.
For the first two weeks, strawberry plantings will look ugly, but then they will noticeably cheer up.
N. SOLONOVICH, scientist agronomist
I have met different opinions as to whether it is necessary to cut the mustache and leaves of garden strawberries after they have borne. Advise how to proceed?
D. Dymova Lipetsk region
The post-harvest period requires special attention, since it is very important in the life of strawberries. At this time, the growth of leaves, horns, roots resumes, flower buds are laid, i.e. the next year's harvest is being formed. Therefore, timely and high-quality care of plants is now needed (weeding, feeding, watering, removing whiskers, loosening the soil, fighting pests and pathogens).
When the strawberries are harvested, the mustache is best removed from the bushes so that they do not deplete the mother plant and do not interfere with the establishment of flower buds. However, the mustache with rosettes with which you are going to propagate the variety must be left, and remember that the first and second rosettes closest to the mother plant are considered the strongest.
Whether to remove the leaves along with the mustache is an ambiguous question.
In the southern regions, removing leaves immediately after harvesting berries is an agricultural technique that increases yields. This is due to the fact that in the south, the post-harvest period is long and favorable for plant development.
If you cut off the leaves before July 15 and feed and water the plants well, then leaves and roots will begin to actively form, flower buds will begin to form. By the fall, such plants will develop strong aboveground and root systems, which will have a positive effect on next year's harvest.
V northern regions mowing strawberry leaves during this period gives negative results, since the plants do not have time to prepare well for the next year's harvest. So in the middle lane, this technique should be carried out only if the plants are severely damaged by the strawberry mite.
Then mow and burn the leaves as quickly as possible, right after picking the berries. If the strawberry is not damaged by a tick, then you should not remove the leaves after harvesting in the central regions of the non-chernozem zone, otherwise the plants will not have time to develop a sufficient leaf apparatus and lay flower buds before the onset of cold weather.
