30.08.2017 12 317

Care for strawberries after harvest - what not to forget to do ?!

Every gardener wants to get tasty, large and juicy strawberries in season. And it's time to take care of the future harvest immediately after harvest.

Caring for a fragrant berry is a long process, almost all-weather, but having felt the careful care of the gardener, strawberries will not be stingy to reward him with a generous harvest. Consider how to care for the soil after harvesting strawberries.

Pruning old strawberry leaves and whiskers

The plant has transferred its juices to ripening berries, now the gardener's task is to help the bushes regain strength, give them the opportunity to form new leaves and prepare for a long winter in order to have a decent harvest next spring.

Important! Five-year plantations of strawberries should be replaced with young plants.

Having collected the last berries at the beginning of summer, it is necessary to carry out weeding the beds with strawberries, because weeding is not carried out during the entire period of fruiting. Then straw, sawdust, needles and other mulch are removed and carefully loosen the soil under bushes and between rows.

The cut material must be removed from the beds. Such a seemingly cruel procedure will give the bush the opportunity to release new leaves and buds by autumn.

Having found a lot of shoots thrown out by the plant, a natural question arises: what to do with strawberry whiskers. Nature provides that the mustache of strawberries is necessary only for reproduction.

Therefore, if it is necessary to propagate strawberries, the strongest tendrils are left for rooting, and the resulting young seedlings are separated in the fall and transplanted into beds.

The rest of the whiskers must be removed, as they will take juices and strength from the mother bush, thereby making it weak and reducing the next year's harvest. Discarded by the plant, not needed by the gardener mustache cut off as low as possible to the ground with a sharp pruner or knife.

Cutting off a shoot is fraught with pulling out and death of the whole plant. Since strawberries shed their whiskers several times during the warm season, the whiskers are trimmed several times as they appear. This will save the bush from unnecessary expenditure of effort.

How to feed strawberries after harvest

The plant needs good nutrition to recover, therefore it is necessary to strawberry fertilizer after harvest. It can be done with this mixture: potassium sulfate, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate in a ratio of 1: 1: 3 dissolve in water and pour the bushes with this solution.

Strawberries will also benefit from sprinkling the base of the bush with vermicompost, rotted compost, or laying pieces of dried manure around the plant. You can feed a strawberry plantation by sprinkling it with crushed wood ash - 2 kg per square meter.

Did you know?After two months of growth, strawberry leaves begin to age.

How to water strawberries after harvest

After the harvest, strawberries do not require intensive watering of the soil. Watering the bushes is necessary only in the dry season. The main thing is to prevent the land from drying out after fruiting.

In the strawberry growing area, it is recommended to carry out soil mulching straw, peat or sawdust - this will keep moisture in the soil. After watering, you need to let the soil around the strawberries dry slightly and thoroughly loosen the soil in the beds.

How to process strawberries to prevent diseases and pests

After the completion of fruiting, the plants should be inspected and made treatment for diseases and pests.

Diseases affecting strawberries:

• powdery mildew- manifested by a gray coating on the foliage, which rots, twists and falls off. For treatment, the beds are treated with a solution of colloidal sulfur - 50 grams per 5 liters of warm water.
• gray rot- manifested by gray spots that affect berries, cured with a solution of copper chloride - 40 grams per 10 liters of water.
• black rot- an analogue of gray, only spots on the berries are black, the treatment methods are the same.
• spotting- damage to the leaves with brown-red spots, get rid of it with a solution of copper chloride - 50 grams per 10 liters of water.

Important! Foliage of a reddish hue is cut and burned in preparation for wintering - this will protect the plantings from pests

Areas for growing berries need constant struggle and protection from strawberry pests.

Most frequent pests:

All gardeners and gardeners begin the development of their plots with the planting of garden strawberries (colloquially called strawberries). Strawberries open the fruit season, they are tasty and fragrant. They are loved by adults, but especially by children. Growing strawberries seems to be a simple, but troublesome business.. The plant needs constant care, especially attention should be paid to strawberries after harvesting.

With the harvest of the last berries, the time for preparing strawberry bushes for the next year's harvest immediately begins, since with the advent of spring, strawberries take strength for the growth of young foliage, flowering and fruiting from the accumulated stocks of last year's season.

So the struggle for the future harvest must begin immediately after the harvest of the current and it consists in the fact that before winter the strawberry bushes have time to grow a good root system and stock up on nutrients.

To do this, immediately after harvesting, you must:

• if the beds with strawberries were covered with mulching material(straw, sawdust) it is better to remove it now, as diseases and pests could accumulate in it;
• to weed the beds with strawberries to remove weeds, because they take food from the soil;
• soil loosening under the bushes and between the rows, it is necessary to perform for better air exchange of the roots, this must be done carefully, trying not to damage the root system, and at the same time, it is necessary to spud the strawberry bushes, sprinkling the growing roots with earth (the main thing is not to fill up the heart);
• remove old leaves and extra mustache;
• make timely watering beds of strawberries;
• carry out top dressing plants;
• do some processing strawberries to avoid plant diseases and pest control.

Autumn top dressing of garden strawberries

Foliage and mustache removal, pruning scheme

In garden strawberries, leaf renewal occurs three times per season.: spring, summer and autumn. On average, the life span of strawberry leaves is 60-70 days, after which they age and die.

Spring regrowth of foliage plays a major role in fruiting. In the period after fruiting, the second stage of the formation of new foliage begins - this is the period of laying flower buds and the accumulation of nutrients for the future crop. Autumn foliage is important for a good wintering bushes.

Signs of leaf aging are the appearance of whitish, red or red spots on them. While the leaves die naturally, they take extra nutrients from the plant and deplete the plants. So it is desirable to remove old leaves from the fruiting bushes 2-3 days after the end of fruiting without damaging the growing young leaves and hearts.

At the same time as the leaves, we also remove the extra whiskers. If planting material is needed to increase the strawberry plantation or replace old bushes with new ones, you need to leave the first outlet from the mother bush. She is the strongest and most productive. We remove all other regrown mustaches so that they do not deplete the mother bush, already weakened by fruiting.

As a result of mowing foliage, we partially get rid of diseases and pests., which are populated by aging foliage.

All cut foliage should be removed from strawberry beds. It cannot be used as mulch, but you can lay it in compost heaps.

Pruning is done with secateurs if the strawberry beds are not large. If the size of berry plantations exceeds the ability to process them manually, the trimming process will help to complete the electric trimmer or lawn mower.

The cutting height should be 5-7 cm, the growth point (hearts) should not be removed. Pruning of old foliage is performed on bushes older than 2 years; on one-year-olds, only dried and diseased leaves are removed. After pruning, berry plantings must be loosened and watered.

Do I need to water in the fall?

The soil on the strawberry beds should be wet, because after fruiting and pruning the foliage, the plants should recover as soon as possible, lay fruit buds, and grow the root system. Watering should be plentiful, at least once a week during dry periods.. To avoid sunburn of the leaves, water in the morning or evening hours. After watering, it is necessary to loosen the beds in order to prevent the formation of a crust on the soil surface. To keep the soil under the berry bushes in a wet and loose state, it is best to mulch the beds.

Mulching is the best way to retain moisture

The mulched soil becomes looser. In the process of mulch decomposition in the soil, nutrients are accumulated and enriched with beneficial microorganisms. Mulching inhibits the growth of weeds, which makes it easier to care for plantings.. Berry beds look more aesthetically pleasing.

Garden strawberries under black covering material

As mulch, you can use sawdust, straw, chopped dry grass(if there is a lawn, then after mowing it, dry the grass in the sun and spread it between the bushes and in the aisle), compost or leaf humus, needles. You can cover the ground under the bushes with spandbond(preferably black, weeds practically do not grow under it) or lay new plantings of strawberries immediately on high ridges covered with black covering material.

Feeding after fruiting

In the period after the harvest, the strawberry bushes are weakened, all the forces are spent on fruiting. To restore plants, stimulate growth processes and lay flower buds during this period, top dressing is especially necessary.

Experienced gardeners recommend feeding three times. Immediately after pruning leaves in August, fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers should be given to stimulate the growth of young foliage. Two weeks after the first fertilizing with organic matter with the addition of phosphorus and potassium, it will contribute to the laying of flower buds. In mid-September, the third top dressing is performed with a solution of mullein.

There are many options for top dressing, the choice is yours. E it can be mineral supplements or organic.

mineral

1. Ammophoska- contains in its composition nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, as well as magnesium, calcium, sulfur. Consumption of 20-30 grams per 1 m 2 in dry form is scattered on the beds, then covered with a chopper in the soil and watering is carried out. You can water the bushes with a watering can by preparing a solution at the rate of 20 grams (matchbox) of fertilizer per 10 liters of water.
2. Nitrophoska and nitroammophoska at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water.
3. There are also special mineral fertilizers for strawberries, containing all the fertilizers necessary for it.

It is impossible to apply fertilizers containing chlorine under strawberries, it is contraindicated for it.

Water-soluble fertilizer Crystalon for strawberries and wild strawberries

organic

1. Mullein.

It can be worn both dry, used for mulching between rows, and in the form of an infused solution.

To prepare the solution, one part of the mullein is poured with 10 parts of water., insist the mixture for a day, after which the solution can be applied under the plants. In this infusion, to enrich it with trace elements, you can add one part of the ash.

1. bird droppings.

In dry form, it is better not to apply it under growing bushes, as you can burn the roots and destroy the plantings. To prepare the infusion, 1 part of bird droppings is diluted in 10 parts of water. and insist at least two days. Then 1 liter of the solution is diluted in 10 liters of water and the plants are watered.

1. herbal infusion.

Up to half the volume of grass (weeds from weeding, nettles cut from the lawn) is placed in a barrel or other large container, ash is added, everything is filled with water to the full volume and left to wander in the sun for 10 days. You can add 200 grams of yeast to the barrel, they will speed up the fermentation process and enrich the infusion with microorganisms. The finished infusion is diluted in a 1: 1 ratio with water and strawberry bushes are watered.. The infusion not only fertilizes the plants, but also contributes to the deoxidation of the soil.

It is useful to add wood ash to strawberry beds, which is rich in potassium-phosphorus fertilizers and trace elements, and helps to reduce soil acidity. Ash is added after pruning the leaves, watering and loosening the soil.

The main thing is not to overfeed the strawberries so that they do not begin to fatten (to increase the green mass of the leaves, and not to lay flower buds). Better to underfeed than to overfeed.

Disease and pest control

After harvesting, it's time to start fighting diseases and pests, because this cannot be done during fruiting. After pruning the leaves, strawberries are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate in order to disinfect the remaining petioles and treat the soil under the bushes from fungal diseases.

If a weevil wound up on strawberries, then berry plantings are treated with Intavir twice with an interval of two weeks. You can prepare an iodine solution: 10 drops of iodine per 10 liters of water and process the plants.

To avoid damage to strawberry plantations by strawberry mites, plantings are treated with broad-spectrum insecticides ("Fitoverm", "Fufanon", "Aktellik", "Kemifos") immediately after harvest and in the fall.

When processing strawberries, it is desirable to add fertilizers to tank mixtures, thus combining foliar feeding with the fight against diseases and pests.

Autumn care for garden strawberries, preparation for winter

Caring for strawberries in the fall consists in removing weeds and loosening the soil, mulching bushes and row-spacings with humus and foliage. Single diseased and old leaves are removed from the bushes.. It is impossible to drastically cut the foliage, the bush will not have time to grow foliage, it will go into the winter weakened, it may not endure the cold and freeze.

The exposed roots of plants need to be covered with earth or well spud, but the heart (growth point) cannot be covered.

From frost, the beds are covered with branches, dry foliage, spruce branches. It is not worth covering with hay or straw - mice can get under them and gnaw on the roots.

If you properly care for strawberry plantations after harvesting, do not leave them to their fate, then next year you will definitely have a bountiful harvest of sweet, fragrant berries. This will bring joy and pleasure not only to you, but also to your children and grandchildren.

At the end of summer, strawberries run out of leaf growth resources. They need to be cut off, especially those with reddening stems - this is a sign that the plant cannot provide them with nutrients. On old bushes, which are 3 - 4 years old, the foliage is cut off completely. Do not be afraid of this, as there is a saving of minerals and next year the berry bushes will again bring a big harvest. But this fall, you still need to think about how to feed strawberries after harvest.

A prerequisite for the rapid growth of shoots in the spring and the appearance of a large number of buds is top dressing of strawberries in August after pruning. From them, ovaries are subsequently formed.

How strawberries are processed in the fall for the winter

In order for all the ovaries to survive until autumn and bear fruit, care must be carried out regularly during the entire growing season. It consists in the timely removal of dry leaves and mustaches. The tendrils that the bush throws out take a lot of nutrients, taking them away from the ripening berries.

Pruning in the summer is done with scissors or secateurs. Cut shoots are not thrown away if you need to propagate the garden. They are dug in for a while to be planted in their permanent place in the fall. Until autumn, they will develop a root system and take root in a new place without problems.

This method of planting strawberries in August with a mustache requires the use of fertilizers - organic or mineral. Bushes are watered with manure infusion or a diluted mixture of a complex mineral mixture, for example, containing potassium and phosphorus. It is better not to use nitrogen supplements so that young seedlings do not grow. This will not allow her to winter well. The main thing that needs to develop is the root system.

The best way to feed a strawberry mustache in September for seedlings is ash from tree branches, straw, tops and grass. It does not contain nitrogen, only phosphorus, potassium, calcium and trace elements.

When a place is chosen for planting a new bed, it is cleared of weeds, loosened, apply fertilizer:

• Compost- the most useful mixture of organic matter, soil, superphosphates.

• Humus- lying manure of cattle. Applied by adding to each hole at planting. Under the influence of soil microorganisms, it turns into nutritious humus.

• Infusion of chicken manure. The substance must be insisted for at least a week so that excess ammonia disappears and does not damage the roots of young strawberry seedlings.

• mineral fertilizers. They are introduced to feed young strawberries in August based on the dosages in the instructions for one well.

• siderates. If this method is used by the owners of the site, then in addition it disinfects the soil and at the same time feeds the plants with organic matter, which decomposes in the soil.

No more than two young rosettes can be left on the mother strawberry bush. The rest are cut off and planted in a nutritious soil mixture.

Caring for old strawberry bushes

Fertilizing for strawberries after fruiting should begin towards the end of the season so that all the berries ripen. The next step is sorting. Shrubs that are over 4 years old should be removed by the roots and thrown into compost. The largest increase in yield is given by 2-3 year old plants.

Work order:

• Removing old leaves from bushes. Experienced gardeners practice full mowing of greenery.

• Weed weeding.

• Moisturizing the soil and watering with a nutrient mixture.

• Mulching with straw or green manure.

Video: Care for strawberries after harvest

How to feed strawberries after cutting leaves:

• Ammophoska. You can use dry granules by sprinkling them evenly under the roots, then water the soil so that the fertilizer dissolves and enters the soil.

• Kemira for berries. Dig a hole around the bush and sprinkle with granules. Pour water and cover with a layer of soil.

• Furnace ash. Make an extract, fill the substance with boiling water and insist 2 - 3 days.

• Green manure in the form of a solution or in a beveled form. Place chopped nettles or other plants that are used as green manure in a bucket. Pour in water and leave for 2 weeks until it begins to ferment. With the resulting infusion, treat each strawberry bush under the root after fruiting and pruning.

So that the plants do not get sick and are not damaged by pests, autumn feeding of strawberries after pruning includes treatment with urea 30 g per bucket of water.

Cheap Strawberry Fertilizing Methods

Planting green manure in a summer cottage is a way to save on the purchase of fertilizers. Siderates restore the fertile layer and give the plants all the necessary nutrients - potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. The advantage of the method is that it is suitable for all garden crops, including garden strawberries.

Green mass is used in different ways:

• cut and dig with soil - in the case of strawberries, this must be done carefully so as not to damage the root system with a shovel or flat cutter;

• mulch berry bushes with greenery;

• prepare an infusion and water the strawberry garden, which feed it after fruiting for the next harvest.

Mulching is the safest and most beneficial way in every way. Firstly, you don’t need to waste your energy on digging up the earth, simply by laying the mulch between the rows. By spring, she herself will rot and the food will get to the roots of the bushes.

Secondly, the work of the soil microflora, which dies when digging from ultraviolet rays, is not disturbed. Thirdly, the mulch warms the roots in winter and the plants survive even at very low temperatures.

Fourthly, plant residues retain snow and moisture in spring, enabling plants to grow green mass faster. Fifth, mulch prevents weeds from spreading, which reduces manual labor costs and preserves nutrients for strawberries.

Variety Victoria - how to feed in the fall

Victoria strawberries are the most popular and unpretentious variety, but to obtain annual crops, they also need care, which consists of periodic cutting of the whiskers, watering, transplanting as needed and treatment against diseases and pests. The variety belongs to the remontant and bears fruit only once per season.

With the right agricultural technology, more than 1 kg of berries can be obtained from one bush in one season. For proper care, it is better to use the O. Ganichkina method for feeding strawberries after fruiting:

• Fertilizing Victoria in the fall is carried out with natural fertilizers to restore the fertile layer.

• It is necessary to mulch with plant materials - sawdust, straw, green manure, peat.

• Feeding remontant strawberries after fruiting begins in July, so that the plant gains strength before wintering. During this period, generative buds are being laid, which will provide a harvest next year. It is important that these buds receive nutrition and do not degenerate, then the promised kilogram of berries from the bush will definitely ripen.

• autumn before feeding victoria need to pour up to 10 liters of water per 1 square meter to moisten the soil well and deeply. Then you can prepare a working solution of fertilizers and water the bushes. The roots of strawberries are deep enough - up to 30 cm, so you need a lot of liquid.

So that the strawberry mite does not disturb in the spring, in the fall it is necessary to shed the seedlings with a preparation from pests, preferably natural - Fitovir or its analogues. In the spring, when the growing leaves are deformed, repeat the treatment.