When to open strawberries after winter in Siberia. Proper care of strawberries in spring and advice from experienced gardeners. Opening bushes after winter

Nowadays not a single cottage can do without a strawberry bed. Caring for strawberries in spring begins early, as soon as the snow melts, and consists of a number of processes. From this article you will learn how to care for strawberries in the spring, and what preparatory work should be done to get an early harvest.

Spring strawberry care begins with clearing the bed of last year's plant debris. This needs to be done as early as possible, since with the arrival of heat, the pathogens of fungal diseases remaining on dry leaves and protective mulch begin to become active. In addition, pest larvae overwinter in organic residues and by timely harvesting of the plantation they can be at least partially destroyed.

As soon as the soil dries out slightly, you need to carefully rake away all the dry leaves, mulch debris, and other organic debris. Cleaning is best done in dry and sunny weather. If the snow lingers on the site, you can speed up the melting process by sprinkling salt or ash between the rows. These same products will serve as a preventative against certain pests, such as slugs.

In spring, the soil is very compacted due to melt water and autumn rains, so after harvesting is completed, the soil should be loosened. This procedure will saturate the soil with oxygen and improve its access to the roots. Around the bushes, only the top layer of soil is loosened; between the rows, loosening is carried out to a depth of 10-15 cm. At the same time, the strawberry bushes can be lightly hilled. Please also note that bushes planted in the fall may be covered with soil - they need to be raked, freeing up the growth point.

Thinning and pruning

An experienced gardener will tell you that thorough pruning of strawberries should be carried out in the fall, so that after the snow melts, fallen bushes are not revealed. In the spring, only sanitary cleaning of remaining leaves and frost-damaged plants is carried out. However, various circumstances may prevent you from pruning strawberries in the fall, and then this procedure is postponed until spring.

The scheme for pruning strawberry bushes in spring is simple and looks something like this:

1. All dried leaves are cut off with sharp pruning shears to a height of 5 cm. Do not cut off the leaves at the root, as new buds can be damaged.
2. During pruning, all dead inflorescences and last year's tendrils are removed.
3. If the strawberries will not take root in the spring, then the bed should be thinned out - remove excess young rosettes that took root in late autumn.

Tip: the same scheme is acceptable for autumn pruning, the purpose of which is to increase the winter hardiness of plants. So you shouldn’t postpone this process until spring.

Watering and mulching

Garden strawberries are very responsive to watering. With sufficient moisture, it blooms and bears fruit more abundantly, so growing and caring for a bed of strawberries in the spring will be incomplete without this procedure. Since the ground remains wet for a long time after the snow melts, it is recommended that watering be done by sprinkling for the first time. With this approach, the above-ground part of the bush grows faster, which allows you to get an earlier berry.

There are several periods during which strawberries experience an increased need for watering. It is necessary to water the garden bed thoroughly before flowering. In the future, you need to water so that moisture does not fall on the inflorescences. During fruiting, plants are watered exclusively at the root, since moisture entering the fruits increases the likelihood of them rotting. Alternatively, water can be poured into small holes between the rows.

The list of processes for caring for garden strawberries in the spring also includes mulching. This procedure allows you to maintain soil moisture, prevents the appearance of weeds, protects the berries from contact with the ground, and it is much easier to care for such a bed. As mulch, you can use organic matter (straw, sawdust) or non-woven material, for example dark film. The layer of organic matter should be thin (4-5 cm), but dense so that the berries do not come into contact with the ground.

Transplantation and fertilization

Even the most careful care of strawberries does not exclude the possibility that lungs will form at the dacha in the spring, since some bushes freeze out over the winter.

In addition, it often happens that the rosettes take root on their own in the fall, and then there is a need to replant the plants in the spring. Is it possible to replant strawberries at this time? Yes, but very quickly, no later than mid-April, since then the bushes begin to actively grow. And do not forget that the crop prefers light, fertile soils with the addition of sand and peat.

Full care of a strawberry plantation is impossible without applying fertilizers, and spring is the most suitable time for this. As nitrogen fertilizing, you can use organic matter in liquid solutions (mullein at the rate of 1:10, bird droppings - 1:15) or special granular mixtures for strawberries, which are convenient to scatter in the rows. Before flowering, it is recommended to add potassium sulfate (25-30 g/1m²) to improve the taste and quality of the berries.

Protection from diseases and pests

Immediately after removing plant debris, it is necessary to treat the soil and the plants themselves from possible diseases and pests. Following the advice of experienced gardeners on caring for strawberries in the spring, it is advisable to carry out preventive treatment after loosening, but before the bed is covered with new mulch. Since the main problem with strawberries is fungi, which cause various putrefactive processes, the soil and bushes are treated with antifungal drugs (“Fitocid”, “Fitosporin”).

Fungal flora and copper-containing preparations (Hom, Horus, 3% copper sulfate, 1% Bordeaux mixture) are excellent at killing fungal flora. These solutions can be used to shed the soil and spray the strawberry leaves before flowering. To ensure that berries are grown without pests, insecticides “Aktofit”, “Aktellik”, “Fitoverm” are used. Fans of organic farming can use natural remedies, for example ash, which will not only protect strawberries from parasites, but also improve the taste of the berry.

In order to get maximum yields of strawberries (garden strawberries), you need to properly care for them. Agricultural technology can correct many mistakes made during planting, as well as reveal all the advantages of the variety. If not properly cared for, strawberries produce small, sour berries, and varietal differences are reduced to nothing.

These strawberries have been properly cared for.

Introduction to strawberries

Strawberries are a perennial plant grown for their berries. The plantation produces high yields for no more than 4 years, then the berries become smaller and their taste becomes sour. Although bushes with proper care can live for more than 20 years, their yields will be small.

Horns

The bush has about 30 rosettes (horns). The older the bush, the greater the number of horns
it consists, their number depends on the care and variety. The growth of rosettes begins after the end of fruiting; every year they form higher and higher above the ground. Strong strawberry bushes have many horns, weak ones have few.

Peduncles appear from the tops of the rosettes; accordingly, the more magnificent the bush, the more abundant the flowering and fruiting. At the bottom, the rosettes grow together into one small stem, on which adventitious roots are formed. Powerful bushes produce many flower stalks, bloom for a longer time and produce a higher yield.

Strawberry bush structure diagram

Mustache

The plants produce the strongest tendrils in the first year of cultivation; every year the tendril formation becomes weaker, while the tendrils become smaller. By the fourth year, strawberries usually no longer produce whiskers. If someone receives vegetative shoots from his 5-6 year old plantation, it is because it was poorly cared for and there are bushes of different ages, and the shoots are produced by young rooted plants.

Vegetative shoots begin to form when daylight hours are more than 12 hours and temperatures are above 15 °C. The formation of flower buds on rooted runners occurs after 2-3 months (therefore, when planting in autumn, very few buds are formed, they do not have time to ripen and the yield for the next year is low).

Berries

The quality of strawberries is influenced by several factors.

1. Soil composition. Strawberries growing in poor soils have a less pronounced flavor than those grown in fertile soils.
2. Weather. The more direct sun the bushes get, the sweeter the berries. Strawberries growing under the canopy of trees, no matter how you care for them, usually have sour berries.
3. Variety Most European strawberry varieties are sweeter than domestic ones.

Properties of berries.

• Berries picked unripe turn red during transportation and storage, but they will not be completely sweet.
• The berries acquire the taste characteristic of the variety only when fully ripened on the bush. To reveal their taste, completely reddened berries are not removed for 2-3 days. Such berries are unsuitable for storage or transportation, but their taste is fully evident.
• To obtain maximum yields, the berries are picked unripe, as this stimulates the growth of the remaining ovaries. As a result, strawberry productivity increases.
• Unripe berries of any variety have the same sweet and sour taste.

On a personal plot, where good taste is more valued than an increase in yield by 300-500 g, it is better to let the strawberries fully ripen and taste their true taste. But in wet weather, you should pick the berries not fully ripe, since it is the ripe berries that are affected by rot and mold first.

Advantages and disadvantages of culture

The main advantages of strawberries.

• Strawberries can produce good yields with very small doses of fertilizer and simple care. The main thing is to fertilize the soil well before planting the crop.
• Annual harvests. Strawberries do not have a periodicity of fruiting, like some other berries (for example, raspberries).
• Quickly obtain the first harvest.
• Very simple and easy propagation. A bush is capable of producing several dozen tendrils per season, from which the best ones are selected and rooted. Over the summer you can plant a bed of the most valuable variety.
• Unpretentiousness of plants. Strawberries can grow under the crowns of young trees, in flower beds, among weeds (but yields in such thickets are reduced).

Disadvantages of culture.

• Defeat by gray rot. Most modern varieties are quite resistant to this disease, but with improper care you can lose up to a third of the harvest. Domestic varieties are more resistant to the disease than European ones.
• Insufficient self-fertility of strawberries. To ensure good berry set, several different varieties are grown on the plot.
• Winter hardiness is the ability not only to withstand negative temperatures, but also winter thaws without being damaged. In domestic varieties it is quite high, and the loss of bushes in spring is insignificant. European varieties of strawberries have lower winter hardiness; the plants freeze slightly, and in severe winters they freeze completely. But some imported varieties grow successfully in our conditions; The bushes are covered for the winter, which somewhat reduces plant loss.
• Short fruiting period. The berry plant produces maximum yields for 3-4 years, then it must be completely renewed.

All the shortcomings of the berry plant can be overcome; the main thing is not to leave the strawberries without proper care.

Features of growing and caring for strawberries

The main components of proper care are:

1. weeding;
2. loosening;
3. water regime;
4. feeding

Caring for strawberries is not difficult, but it requires patience and systematicity.

Weeding strawberry beds

Strawberry plantings should always be free of weeds. This crop does not like competitors and, if the plot is overgrown, produces small sour berries. Weeding is carried out as the weeds grow, 6-8 times per season.

Simultaneously with the removal of weeds, the mustache is also trimmed, especially in the spring. If they are removed in time, the plants will switch to flowering, otherwise all the strength of the bushes will go into the formation of bevels and there will be no berries.

Loosening

Strawberries love loose, well-permeable soil. There should always be free air access to the roots. Before flowering, the soil is loosened 3 times, and after picking the berries - once every 2 weeks. If the weather is rainy and the soil quickly compacts, then loosening is carried out more often. Cultivate the soil to a depth of 3-4 cm.

Starting from the second year, strawberry bushes spud up as adventitious roots appear on the stem. Hilling stimulates root formation, the growth of horns, the bushes become more luxuriant, which gives an increase in yield.

How to water strawberries

Strawberries are most demanding of moisture in June, when the berries, tendrils and leaves are growing at the same time. If the weather is dry, then the plot is watered once every 2-3 days to a depth of 30 cm, and if possible, then every day.

It is better to water between rows; for this purpose, make a furrow in the middle of the bed when planting, which will collect water when the snow melts and during watering. The plants are not watered at the roots, since the strawberry root system is spreading and the bulk of the roots are located on the periphery of the above-ground part of the plant.

After harvesting, plants begin a second peak of root formation and foliage growth. At this time, the plot is watered 1-2 times a week. If there is no rain, watering is carried out daily. Before and after flowering, the bushes can be watered by sprinkling; strawberries love high air humidity.

Before flowering, strawberry plantations can be watered with “rain”.

During the flowering and fruiting period, only the row spacing is watered; the water temperature should not be lower than 15°C. The rest of the time, plants tolerate watering well with cold water.

In the fall, moisture-recharging pre-winter watering is done. The soil is shed to a depth of 30-50 cm. Moist soil better protects strawberries from frost, so it is necessary that the plot goes under the snow damp.

During flowering and ovary growth in the event of rainy weather, strawberries suffer from waterlogging. Signs of this are the appearance of large brown spots on the leaves and ovaries (without spoilage). Waterlogging of strawberry plantations especially often occurs on dense clay soils. The roots cannot provide normal nutrition to the above-ground parts and the bushes begin to drop the largest berries.

When signs of oxygen starvation appear, deep loosening (5-7 cm) is carried out. If the berry grower experiences constant waterlogging, then the beds are raised to 15-20 cm. When the strawberries do not have ovaries, they do not suffer from waterlogging, but, on the contrary, produce lush foliage and powerful tendrils.

Fertilizing strawberries with folk remedies (ash, chicken droppings)

Strawberries and berries remove quite a lot of nutrients from the soil; these are not only basic nutritional elements (NPK), but also microelements that need to be replenished. Lack of nutrition begins to appear in the second year of cultivation; in the first year, the plants have enough fertilizer applied before planting.

Nutritional deficiency never manifests itself in any one element, so complex fertilizers containing microelements are always applied to the plot. It is better to feed strawberries with organic fertilizers, since they act more gently and last longer.

In the first year of cultivation, if the soil has been properly prepared, fertilizers are not applied. In the second and subsequent years, the berry garden is fed 2 times per season. In the spring, ash is added to the surface of the soil around the bushes, and then the soil is loosened shallowly. On infertile soils in May, humates, humus or

Ash should not be added with manure because a chemical reaction occurs that releases large amounts of nitrogen, which can damage plants.

To prepare an herbal infusion, the herb is placed in a plastic barrel, filled with water and left to ferment for 10-15 days. At the end of fermentation, 1 liter of infusion is diluted in 10 liters of water and the bushes are watered at the rate of 1 liter per plant.

After harvest, strawberries begin a second wave of root and leaf growth, and at this time they need nitrogen. Fertilize with a solution of mullein or bird droppings (1 l/10 l of water). Bird droppings are preferable for strawberries and are now sold in garden centers. This is the most concentrated fertilizer in terms of nutrients.

In case of excessive use of organic matter, overfeeding and fattening of strawberry bushes may occur. With proper application of fertilizers, the size of leaves and berries increases and the yield increases.

Excess nitrogen manifests itself in the appearance of large leaves and crushing of berries, and plant productivity is significantly reduced. Overfeeding occurs due to the frequent use of grass fertilizer or non-compliance with the norms for applying other organic fertilizers.

To prevent fattening of plants with organic matter (except manure and compost), ash is added, which does not contain nitrogen and creates a predominance of potassium and phosphorus in the soil. Plants overfed with nitrogen do not tolerate winter well and are more susceptible to diseases and pests.

Underfeeding for strawberries (and not only for them) is better than overfeeding, since in this case the situation is easier to correct.

Is it necessary to feed strawberries with yeast, iodine, boric acid and ammonia?

Fertilizing with folk remedies (yeast, iodine, boric acid, ammonia) is extremely undesirable for the crop.

Firstly, this is a monofertilizer that does not provide plants with the entire set of microelements.

Secondly, the bushes can be easily overfed (especially with ammonia), which will cause significant damage to the plantation.

Thirdly, iodine, boric acid and ammonia are volatile solutions that quickly evaporate; they must be immediately washed into the lower layers of the soil, which is impossible with a large plot area.

Fourth, yeast is an excellent protein feed for animals, but does not contain any plant nutrients.

Fertilizer for a strawberry plantation must be systematic, fully providing the plants with the necessary elements, and no experiments with fertilizing are allowed.

Strawberry plantation care

Regular care is the basis for a high yield. Strawberries, with proper agricultural technology, can produce up to 300 g of large berries per bush in the first year. On the garden plot you need to have four plots (beds) of strawberries: the first, second, third and fourth years of fruiting.

How to care for strawberry seedlings

When planting seedlings, no fertilizers are applied. The soil must be fertilized in advance. The newly planted mustaches are shaded from the sun, otherwise the seedlings will wilt, since the roots cannot yet replenish the water that is lost when it evaporates by the leaves. Wilting is not very dangerous for seedlings; when the coolness of the evening sets in, they will straighten out.

To shade the mustache, cover it with newspapers, white cloth, or throw a little grass over it. After 2-3 days, the shelter is removed; by this time, the plants have already taken root and can independently extract water from the soil. In the first days, the planted mustaches are well watered. In the future, the soil under the young bushes should always be moist. In the case of a warm and dry autumn, water the strawberries once a week.

It is important to prevent strawberries from becoming overgrown with weeds. If this is not done in the year of planting, then in the future the fight against them will become much more difficult. Weeds will grow through the bushes and it will no longer be possible to remove them without damaging the crop.

Young strong mustaches, after rooting, themselves begin to produce mustaches, which must be removed, since they weaken the plant and interfere with its preparation for winter.

Preparing strawberry beds for winter

European varieties require special care when preparing a plot for winter, since they are less winter-hardy. In the fall, if the weather is dry, water-recharging irrigation is carried out. Water protects rhizomes well from freezing by conducting heat from below to the roots of plants.

It is better to insulate strawberries for the winter.

For better wintering, strawberries are insulated by laying straw, fallen leaves and pine needles under the bushes and between the rows. They cover only bare ground; there is no need to cover the plants themselves, since they go into winter with leaves, which themselves act as insulation.

The main thing in winter is to prevent the roots from freezing. If there is no insulation, then add a 3-4 cm layer of soil between the rows and under the bushes.

Caring for strawberries in spring

In the spring, after the snow melts, dry leaves are cut off the bushes, insulation is removed from the garden bed (if it was used), weeded from the first weeds and loosened. Old bushes that have a small woody stem with adventitious roots are additionally spudded to make them more powerful. Large plants have better flowering and higher yields.

Loosening is carried out to a depth of 2-3 cm, since the roots of strawberries are shallow. With this treatment, the earth warms up faster and the plants begin to grow.

The main task in spring is to ensure rapid warming of the soil so that plants quickly grow foliage and begin flowering. With an early start of the growing season, flowering will occur in moister soil. To warm up the soil as quickly as possible, you can put black film between the rows.

Some gardeners, on the contrary, do not remove the insulation for a long time, fearing damage to the strawberries by frost. But, firstly, it is not afraid of frost in the spring, and secondly, strawberries bear fruit from mid-June to mid-July (depending on the variety), and in May they need time to prepare for flowering. The better it is prepared, the larger the berries will be.

Dry leaves should be removed in the spring so that the earth warms up faster.

Old dry leaves along with last year's tendrils are removed, but young foliage does not need to be trimmed. Trimming green leaves in the spring delays flowering for 2 weeks (until new ones grow); the plant spends a lot of energy growing foliage, which causes the berries to become smaller.

During a dry, warm spring, when the soil dries out quickly, watering is carried out. After the young leaves grow, do spring feeding.
If plants are weakened after winter and grow poorly, they are sprayed with growth stimulator “Zircon” or “Epin”.

How should strawberries be cared for after harvest?

After fruiting, the spring leaves look yellow and spotted; they are removed along with regrown tendrils and weeds. You cannot mow down all the foliage, since the roots growing at this time require starch, which comes directly from the leaves; if they are removed, this will slow down the preparation of strawberries for winter.

After harvesting, be sure to carry out a second feeding to replenish the nutrients removed with the berries.

In the second half of summer, strawberries begin to grow whiskers more actively. Under no circumstances should they be allowed to take root. They compact plantings and weaken bushes, which leads to a decrease in yield and taste of berries.

If the bushes are intended for fruiting, then all emerging mustaches are cut off. The plot is inspected once every 4-5 days, since the shoots appear until October, and the spears of shoots that have just appeared are removed.

Strawberries have a balance between bean formation and fruiting: if plants are not given the opportunity to form tendrils, then it increases fruiting and, conversely, if they are not picked, the yield is greatly reduced.

The plantation should always be free of weeds, fertilized, and the bushes should have their tendrils trimmed.

In the fall, moisture-recharging irrigation is carried out, if necessary, insulation is laid out between the rows.

Caring for the plantation in the last year of cultivation

When fertilizing in spring, you can give a little more nitrogen, the bushes will not have time to get fat, and this will not reduce the yield. When the soil is dry, watering is carried out. Immediately after fruiting, the bed is dug up. This year you can plant early cabbage on it, which will have time to ripen before the onset of cold weather (this is why increased doses of nitrogen were given).

Mulching strawberries

When caring for a plantation, mulching materials are used to protect berries from dirt and rot, insulate bushes in winter and protect the soil from premature warming up during a thaw. and prevents the formation of soil crust after rains or watering.

Using mulch when growing strawberries is the best way to keep the plot clean, which makes caring for it much easier. To prevent undesirable effects when using it, mulch is applied under certain conditions.

Sawdust, straw, dry moss, fallen leaves, and pine needles are used as mulching materials. Their disadvantage is the fixation of soil nitrogen, which causes nitrogen starvation of plants. Therefore, mulch is applied in the fall as insulation between the rows; by spring, the process of decomposition of fiber (of which it consists) will be completed and nitrogen fixation will not occur.

In the spring, the insulation is removed to better warm the soil, then it is returned as mulch, and a fresh portion of material is added to it. When adding mulching materials in the spring, they must be soaked with a solution of humates, mullein or bird droppings.

To do this, either soak them in a barrel with a fertilizer solution (sawdust), or water them very generously with these fertilizers so that the mulch is completely saturated with the solution. Then the binding of soil nitrogen will not occur, and the plants will not experience nitrogen starvation.

Mulching strawberries with sawdust. Sawdust strongly acidifies the soil; watering it with urea as a nitrogen fertilizer enhances acidification. This effect gives excellent results on leached chernozems. This should not be allowed on acidic soils. To prevent acidification of the soil, sawdust is first soaked in a barrel with humates or chicken droppings, after which they become an excellent mulching material. Spread on the beds in a layer of 6-10 cm. Sawdust inhibits the growth of weeds more than hay and straw.

Straw as mulch.

Mulching with grass and straw. Hay and straw consist of almost the same fiber and very strongly bind soil nitrogen. They are introduced in the fall. When using hay or straw as mulch in the spring, crumbled manure is added along with them, or the freshly spread mulch is irrigated with nitrogen fertilizers (humates, mullein, herbal infusion). In this case, nitrogen fixation does not occur and the yield does not decrease. They are laid out between rows in a layer of 5-7 cm.

Leaf mulch. It is advisable to add foliage from deciduous trees in the fall, laying it out in row spacing in a layer of 15-20 cm. In winter, it will serve as insulation. When used in spring, freshly spread leaves are watered with humates, mullein, or herbal infusion.

Mulching strawberries with pine needles. Pine and spruce bark and needles protect plants well from diseases, as they contain phytoncides. The material is taken only under healthy trees, scattered between rows and under bushes in a layer of 7-10 cm. Since this material strongly acidifies the soil, it is applied with manure crumbs.

Peat as mulch they are not used on strawberries because it has a number of significant disadvantages:

• strongly acidifies the soil;
• has a very high moisture capacity, which makes it almost impossible to saturate it with a nitrogen solution;
• in wet weather it gets wet and interferes with normal breathing of the roots;
• in winter it can become covered with an ice crust, which leads to damping off of plants.

Proper use of mulch not only makes it easier to care for the plantation, but it itself is a good fertilizer.

Protecting berries from dirt

Berries lying on the ground become contaminated with soil, and they are more susceptible to gray rot. To prevent the berries from coming into contact with the soil, you can make various supports for the bushes: from wire, plastic bottles, planks, film; stores sell special rings on legs. But all this is suitable for a small plot.

On a large plantation, plucked lower peripheral leaves are placed under the green berries. If the bush is healthy, the red berries can lie on the ground for some time without being damaged.

When growing strawberries, you do not need to maintain a plantation with a more productive fruiting period. The berry picker should move around the site in frequent rotation.

Other useful articles on growing strawberries:

1. What pests can threaten your plantation and how to effectively deal with them.
Are you going to tackle strawberries? Then this is the very first article you need to read.
2. . In order for strawberries to grow large, they will have to be carefully looked after.

In order for strawberries to overwinter without loss, they must be covered before the cold weather. Even if the winter is warm but with little snow, the strawberries may freeze or die.

The material for covering this delicate berry can be whatever is at hand in the fall - dry leaves, straw, sawdust, scraps of boards, fabric or cardboard.

In winter, covering material will protect your beds from freezing, but in spring it must be removed, otherwise the plants may get sick from the lack of sunlight and heat or suffer from mold. At the same time, you should not rush - the appearance of the sun does not always mean stable warmth, and sudden frosts can seriously harm the plants.

When should you open strawberries after winter to ensure a good harvest in summer?

As soon as the snow has melted from the beds, the covering material must be carefully removed, being careful not to damage the roots and stems of the plants. If frosts are still expected, strawberries can be covered with straw on top during the cold period to protect the plantings.

Strawberries are opened when the weather is sunny and warm, so that the overwintered plants begin their life cycle as quickly as possible. The formation of bushes, flowering and setting of berries is what awaits strawberries in the next month and should lead to a good harvest.

In order to help plants recover after winter cold, the following work will be required:

1. Clearing the beds of covering material.
2. Removing weeds, frozen leaves and roots from the soil. If the leaves on the strawberry bush are frozen or dry, they must be removed with garden pruners.
3. Carefully clear the bed from the top 2-3 centimeters of soil. This is done so that the strawberry roots warm up well and quickly in the spring sun.
4. Loosening the soil around strawberry bushes. If individual roots of the plant are exposed, they are carefully sprinkled with earth.

After all this work, we can safely say that your strawberries are ready for the summer.

When to open strawberries after winter?

Gardeners in each region decide on their own at what temperature the strawberry beds can be opened. In a warm climate, for example, in Krasnodar, restoration work can begin in early April, but in the Far East you will have to wait until the first days of May.

You need to focus not on the calendar, but on the weather forecast - snow on the May holidays is not at all uncommon in both Siberia and Primorye. Even after warm weather has set in, do not remove the material that covered the beds far away - it is possible that it may be useful again in the near future.

What happens if you open the strawberries too early?

If you hurry and remove the covering material from the strawberry beds too early and the bushes are “grabbed” by frost, then the possibility of complete freezing of the plants is possible. But even in the case of partial damage, the strawberries will take quite a long time to recover and gain strength, which means you can forget about a good harvest.

What happens if you open strawberries too late in the spring?

Even if you want to protect delicate berries from frost, you should not delay spring work. Under layers of material there is no danger of strawberries freezing, but the plant does not receive sunlight either. But mold and rot occur very quickly in warm and damp conditions, nullifying all the gardener’s previous efforts.

If you not only listen to the weather forecast, but also monitor the speed of snow melting, you will be able to correctly determine the period when you can open strawberries in your beds.

Spring care of strawberries ensures the success of the future harvest by 80%, which is why it is so important to help the plant recover after a long winter.

Caring for strawberries in early spring

Experienced gardeners know how to care for strawberries in the spring. The process typically includes the following activities:

1. first they wait until the threat of frost has passed and the bushes have finally “thawed out”;
2. then remove dry and frozen leaves;
3. remove the layer of mulch laid in the fall - this will allow the root system to warm up faster and the plants to grow;
4. the final stage is weed removal and loosening.

As you can see, the procedure is simple, but processing strawberries in early spring is simply necessary, otherwise they will not bring a generous harvest.

Spring fertilizing of strawberries - what to fertilize with

When the spring processing of strawberries is completed, including basic care procedures, you can begin feeding the plants in your area.

The further south your region is, the earlier you need to start fertilizing:

• for areas with mild winters and a warm climate, for example, Moscow, this is done in mid-late April;
• for northern zones, including the Urals - a little later, approximately in mid-May.

For these activities to be effective, it is important to clearly know the flowering time of the varieties that grow on your site and understand how to care for strawberries.

The fact is that if you fertilize the plants too early, the beneficial substances will quickly go into the soil, and during the flowering period the bushes will not get anything. If strawberries are fertilized later than necessary, the harvest may be delayed, or even be meager.

In addition, it should be taken into account that on different soils this crop may respond differently to tuk. This is understandable, because the composition of the soil can differ significantly in different areas, and sometimes even in the same area. Therefore, you should carefully consider the choice of fertilizing composition that is planned to be used for processing strawberries in the spring.

Tuki are mineral substances that saturate the soil. They are mixed into the soil to restore the nutrients plants need for proper development, as they become depleted over time, especially when growing vegetables.

What fertilizers are needed for strawberries?

The main minerals necessary for strawberry growth are primarily potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus:

• Nitrogen is responsible for the taste of berries and their size, but its excess, on the contrary, makes the fruit less sweet. With a deficiency of this mineral, the leaves turn red.
• Potassium is very important when feeding strawberries in the spring, because its content in the berries increases their shelf life and increases their sugar content and sweetness. If you notice that the tips of the leaves on the bushes have turned yellow, you should know that the plant clearly lacks potassium.
• Phosphorus takes part in the processes of growth and development of roots; its deficiency has a bad effect on the endurance of the plant. A lack of phosphorus is manifested by leaves turning dark green or reddish.

There are inorganic fertilizers:

• nitrogen: ammonium nitrate, urea;
• potassium: potassium sulfate, potassium nitrate;
• phosphorus: superphosphates.

Organic fertilizers for strawberries in the spring contain nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and are also environmentally friendly. They have a positive effect on soil properties and growth, although the berries do not grow as large as when applying inorganic fertilizers.

These include:

• wood ash;
• manure;
• humus;
• chicken droppings.

There are also complex fertilizers - most often ready-made mixtures containing a balanced complex of useful substances. They should be used according to the instructions on the package, which indicate the timing of application and dosage.

Here are some of them:

• Ammophos;
• Diammophos;
• Nitroammophoska;
• Nitrophoska.

Complex ones are the most convenient, but if you prefer to set your own fertilizing rates, remember that fertilizers are applied in combination: that is, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in combination with each other. Only nitrogen, if necessary, is added separately, since it is especially important to regulate its content in the soil.

Periods and methods of applying fertilizer for strawberries

During the season, strawberry beds need 3 feedings at different periods of their development:

1. It is best to apply the first fertilizer for strawberries in the spring, when the hard winter time is behind us, and the season of active flowering and fruiting is ahead;
2. Then - immediately after harvesting;
3. The final stage is feeding strawberries in the fall, around mid-September, to help the bushes resist diseases, pests, and withstand the winter well.

Remember that this crop usually grows in one place for 4 years in a row, then the old bushes need to be replaced with young ones.

Fertilizer application depending on the life cycle of strawberries

In the first year, young strawberries, as a rule, are not fertilized, since fertilizing is applied to the soil immediately before planting the bushes.

In the second year, the following potassium-phosphorus mixture will help to care for strawberries in the spring, before flowering: humus and water 5:1, add 150g of potassium sulfate (or potassium nitrate) and 60g of superphosphate. Consumption - 1 bucket per 3-4 m (watering into the furrows of the rows). Subsequently, potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are applied again in the second half of the growing season in the same dosage.

Nitrogen fertilizers may not be added this year if they were already added during planting. It is also not recommended to apply them in the spring, before flowering, as this will negatively affect fruiting.

Fertilizing with nitrogen later than August worsens the winter hardiness of plants. But after harvesting, you can just add:

• ammonium nitrate: it is either scattered on the site at the rate of 1 kg per 100 sq.m., or diluted in water (20-30 g per 10 liters of water), which is used to water the site at the rate of 0.5 liters per plant. When watering, make sure that the solution does not get on the leaves.
• urea in a dosage of 1 tablespoon of dry fertilizer per bucket of water, solution consumption - 0.5 liters per bush.

In the third or fourth year, caring for strawberries consists of feeding only inorganic fertilizers using the above methods.

Strawberry care in spring. Fertilizing with organic fertilizers

If you grow strawberries in small quantities “for yourself”, and the farm has a sufficient amount of manure and bird droppings, then it is quite possible to get by only with organic fertilizers.

Manure, humus, chicken droppings, and wood ash are natural sources of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. It is enough to fertilize strawberries with them once at the beginning of the season during spring treatment, throughout all 4 years of growth.

• Manure and humus are simply scattered around the site after cleaning the beds in the spring, consumption is no more than 5 kg per 1 sq. m. m, then the soil should be loosened.
• How to treat strawberries with wood ash in the spring: you can dry it, pouring a handful under each bush, or diluted - 1 glass of ash per 1 liter of hot water, let it brew for a day, then bring it to 10 liters with water, and water at the rate of 1 liter of solution per 1 sq. .m. land.
• It is more convenient to use chicken manure in a solution: 0.7 liters of fresh manure per 10 liters of warm, settled water. The solution consumption is 10 liters per 6-8 bushes for a mature plant, and 24-26 for a young one.

Bottom line

So what to do with strawberries in spring? Care and feeding are what is necessary for the full growth of this beloved garden crop. It cannot do without additional nutrition, which will significantly increase productivity, resistance to diseases, pests, and adverse environmental factors.

Caring for strawberries in the spring in the photo

The first thing to do with strawberries in the spring is to carry out a detailed inspection of the bushes that have survived the winter. All other agrotechnical activities, what to do with strawberries in the spring after winter, are described by month further in the article.

March.

What kind of strawberry care you can start in spring in March depends on the climate zone. The earlier in the spring the soil around the plants thaws and warms up, the faster and more actively the roots will begin to grow. On damp and heavy clay soils, as well as peat-boggy soils, water often stagnates in the spring. To ensure the respiration of the root system, excess melt water must be diverted from the plantation. To do this, drainage ditches are installed or deep wells are made.

What else to do with strawberries in spring: When the snow completely melts, remove all types of shelter.

April.

Now let’s look at what to do with strawberries in early spring in April, what events should be planned for this month. After the snow melts, they evaluate how successfully the strawberries overwintered. Living, well-wintered plants greet us with a bunch of young bright green leaves in the center of the bush. Dried, old, brown or dark maroon leaves lie on the ground along the outer edges of the bushes. Work on putting the strawberry plantation in order begins with the removal of outdated and unsightly-looking leaves. They serve as a place for overwintering spores of pathogens of fungal diseases of strawberries (various types of leaf spots and gray rot).

The “stripping” operation is carried out by tearing off the dried foliage with your hands directly from the base of the bush or cutting it using pruners or ordinary scissors. It is important to remember that to prevent the spread of pests and diseases, you should always start all treatments first on young plants, and then move on to older plantings.

What else to do with strawberries in the spring at the dacha is, at the same time as removing spent leaves on bushes of strongly growing varieties (such as Carmen, Kubata, Redgauntlet, Stranger, etc.), be sure to thin out the horns - an analogue of pruning fruit trees and shrubs. Small, underdeveloped horns that thicken the bush are broken out or cut out. It is advisable to leave 6-7 large full-sized horns on the bush.

h2>How to properly thin out, clean and tidy up strawberries in the spring: agricultural weeding techniques

Weeding strawberries in the spring begins with assessing the condition of the bed. In bushes that have not overwintered, as a rule, dried brown leaves are located not only along the outer contour of the bush, but also in the very core. Strawberry agricultural technology in spring recommends digging up such plants completely. Upon completion of work, all plant debris must be burned.

Before you peel strawberries in the spring, you need to understand that “old” bushes that are more than 4 years old emerge from winter very weakened. It is also more advisable to get rid of them now, if for some reason you did not have time to do this in the fall.

In areas with heavy, poorly cultivated soil, you can often observe the so-called “bulging” of bushes - the living green core of the plant is raised high above the soil surface, the roots are bare, and the bush tilts to one side. If the core of such “protruding” plants is good and powerful, and the age is no more than 1-2 years, then before tidying up the strawberries in the spring, the situation can be corrected by digging them up with a large lump and replanting them at the correct level.

Protrusion, as well as soaking of plants in damp, low-lying areas, as a rule, are the main reasons for the death of strawberries in winter. After “cleaning up” and removing dead plants, we calculate losses. If the number of dead and severely weakened plants is about 25-30%, then this is a good reason to seriously think about moving the strawberry planting to another, more favorable place on an area with light and cultivated soil.

Now you know how to properly thin out strawberries in the spring in general terms, but that’s not the whole job. In some places, the orderliness of the rows is probably disturbed by young rosettes that have taken root in late autumn. Do not rush to immediately pull them out along with the weeds, trying to restore the geometric harmony of the plantings. These sockets, quite possibly, will come in handy just for filling empty seats.

The main activities that need to be done with strawberries in the spring are completed by the onset of May. All that's left is fertilizing, loosening and weeding. Let's talk about this in more detail. The period when the snow has just melted and the soil retains a sufficient amount of moisture is the best time for loosening and the first mineral fertilizing to ensure rapid growth of the vegetative mass and full development of flower stalks.

See what to do with strawberries in the spring in the video, where all types of work are presented:

The easiest way to feed plants is to scatter granular complete complex mineral fertilizer in the rows or around the bushes at a distance of 10-15 cm.

How to feed strawberries in the spring after winter: mineral fertilizers

In spring, of all the nutrients for strawberries, nitrogen is primarily important. Now complete complex fertilizers with a sufficiently high nitrogen content are often sold under the trade name “Spring”. The approximate application rate is 25-30 g of fertilizer for 2-3 adult bushes.

Before feeding strawberries in the spring, we recommend that you learn about another reliable “recipe” for spring feeding - dilute rotted manure with water in a ratio of 1:8, and add 60 g of simple superphosphate and a glass (250 g) of wood to a bucket (10 l) of such a solution ash. Pour this nutrient solution under the root of the plant at the rate of 1-2 liters per bush, depending on its age and size.

Opponents of “chemistry” and supporters of using only natural substances on the site feed the strawberries at this time, scattering wood ash and chicken droppings around the bushes. Approximate consumption rates for one adult bush: no more than 1 dessert spoon of dry chicken manure and a quarter cup of wood ash. Just like mineral fertilizer granules, we scatter these substances around the bushes.

For gardeners who want to keep up with new advances in intensive agricultural technologies, we recommend additional foliar feeding. For this purpose, mineral fertilizers for strawberries are used: in the spring, in the first ten days of May, when sunny and warm weather sets in, we spray the bushes on the leaves with an aqueous solution of a complex composition. The standard rate for such fertilizing is 10-15 g of fine-crystalline water-soluble fertilizer per 10 liters of water. The addition of growth regulators such as humate to this nutrient solution will help to enhance the effect of spraying. We add these drugs in the concentration recommended by the manufacturers. Spraying is carried out in dry, windless weather, abundantly wetting the leaves.

The most modern gardeners will find it convenient to feed their plants using dry fertilizer sticks. Several of them (according to the manufacturer’s recommendation) are stuck into the soil around the plants. This is not the entire arsenal of ways to feed strawberries after winter in the spring; manufacturers are constantly offering new formulations.

Just don’t forget that for young plants planted in the fall of last year, we reduce all the given norms by 30-50%.

Every gardener knows what work must be done with strawberries in the spring. To incorporate the applied fertilizers into the soil and combat soil compaction, we dig up or deeply loosen the row spaces. The depth of loosening in the row spacing is at least 8-10 cm, near the bushes - so as not to damage the superficial root system - no more than 2-3 cm. The importance of this work cannot be underestimated, because it will ensure the incorporation of fertilizer granules, will help in the fight against germinating weeds, and promotes preservation of moisture in the soil and access of oxygen to the root system.

After loosening, we proceed to the most favorite procedure for strawberries - mulching strawberries in the spring with organic matter: it is this operation that optimizes the water regime of the soil, ensures good heating of the soil under the bushes, and stimulates the growth of young adventitious roots that will feed the ripening berries. Mulching creates conditions for a uniform and constant supply of nutrients to young roots.

How to mulch strawberries in spring: The best and most convenient material to use is a mixture of equal parts of low-lying peat and a fine fraction of manure humus. It is quite possible to use these substances separately, just like leaf humus. The optimal layer of such nutritious mulch is 2-3 cm. We mulch the soil under the plants within a radius of 15-20 cm. Generous owners mulch the entire surface of the ridges.

It is not advisable to use humus from a compost heap, where weeds rot in the summer, for mulching. Subsequently, you will have to spend a lot of effort on weeding and fighting the numerous seedlings of these weeds.

In heavily clogged areas, just after applying fertilizer and digging, the most convenient moment comes to cover the soil between the rows with the help of black non-woven material. It will not interfere with the flow of moisture and air to the roots, but will not allow weeds to sprout.

For those who want to get the earliest harvest of berries in the season or plan to feast on red berries in the fall, May is the best time to build and install film or polycarbonate shelters over strawberry bushes. In the spring, these structures will ensure faster development of plants and protection of flowers from possible frosts, and in the second half of summer they will provide additional warmth necessary for the ripening of the second harvest of remontant varieties.

A decrease in night temperature to minus 1 degree Celsius is detrimental to flowers and young strawberry ovaries. In emergency cases, flowering plants are covered with white non-woven material with a density of 30-40 g/m2 at night. When using ordinary plastic film for covering, it is important to prevent its direct contact with leaves and flowers. They pull it on temporary pegs.

In recent years, cases of May drought have become more frequent. Therefore, it is important not to miss the moment and when very hot weather sets in and the soil quickly dries out (especially in areas with light sandy soils), start watering. It is optimal to carry them out in the evening in furrows made at a distance of 30 cm from the center of the bushes. The average norm is 0.5-1 liters of water per bush.

If you do not plan to propagate strawberries, promptly remove any tendrils that appear to increase the yield of berries.

Usually, already at the end of April - beginning of May, with the onset of warm weather and the growth of young leaves and peduncles, the first signs of pest damage appear in strawberries.

As soon as this happens, spring treatment of strawberries using insecticides is needed. Small white flies, 2-3 mm in size, sitting on the underside of leaves and flying up when you touch the leaves, strawberry whiteflies. They feed by sucking plant sap. They are most numerous and, accordingly, harmful in years with an early, dry and hot spring.

In years with warm and wet springs and in low-lying damp areas, strawberry leaves and flower stalks can be damaged by nocturnal slugs. The first treatment of strawberries in the spring to protect against slugs and putrefactive diseases using folk remedies can be carried out by dusting the soil around the plants with tobacco dust mixed with slaked lime or ash (1:1) at the rate of 20-25 g per square meter. As a means of chemical protection, scatter preparations with the active ingredient metaldehyde around the plants.

It is quite possible that some gardeners will think that this is not such a problem - a certain number of damaged leaves.

A lot of them grow, there is enough for everyone to eat, and it is more expensive to carry out chemical treatment.

This would indeed be the case, but at the same time other, much more dangerous pests begin to feed on strawberry leaves.

One of the most common and dangerous pests of fruit crops is the raspberry-strawberry weevil - a grayish-black beetle 3-5 mm long. Treatment of strawberries in early spring against pests necessarily includes the fight against weevils and their larvae.

Adults overwinter in the soil at a depth of 1.5-2 cm or under a large layer of plant debris that has not been harvested since the fall. In the spring, when warm weather sets in, the beetles come to the surface and eat the strawberry leaves. However, the greatest damage is caused by these insects when the females begin to lay eggs in the retractable strawberry buds. The larvae that hatch after a few days feed on the contents of the buds. A new generation of beetles feeds on young leaves, gnawing holes in them, and later the females lay eggs, damaging the buds of another berry crop - raspberries.

If the pest population is high, strawberry flower stalks can be completely destroyed. Refusal to carry out treatment against such a pest is a threat to completely lose this year's harvest. Among the preventive measures to reduce crop losses from the activity of the raspberry-strawberry weevil, it is not recommended to increase the number of early varieties of strawberries on the site, since they are the ones who suffer most from this pest.

But still, we would call the group of root weevils the most insidious and dangerous pests of strawberries, which include the small black weevil, the earthy elephant and the nettle leaf weevil.

Initially, adults feed in the same way, gnawing holes in strawberry leaves. Damage to leaves and flower stalks caused by slugs must be distinguished from more dangerous damage by weevils by the shiny trail of dried mucus left behind. Holes in leaves damaged by weevils are usually clean, as if with scorched edges.

Female weevils lay eggs not in buds, but near the base of the bushes. The larvae, which appear in June-July, feed on juices from the root collar of the plant and young roots. Bushes, as a rule, with already filling berries begin to lag in growth and, for no apparent reason, wither, first in hot sunny hours, and then all the time, even if there is a sufficient amount of moisture in the soil. If several larvae feed on one bush, then we lose not only this year’s harvest, but also the entire plant.

To limit the harmfulness and intensive reproduction of all types of weevils, the following preventive measures are recommended: careful removal from plantings in the fall of all decomposing plant debris - dead leaves of strawberries, raspberries and apple trees - and deep digging of the soil in the fall. Individuals that spend the winter in the upper layers of the soil end up at greater depths and die.

Among the folk remedies for control and prevention against all types of weevils, there is a known method of mulching the soil around plants with spruce or pine needles. A layer of such mulch makes it difficult for insects to reach the soil surface, and the strong smell repels females that lay eggs in the buds

Strawberry pest control work in early spring

But no matter how much one would like to completely abandon chemical treatment in the spring in the fight against strawberry pests, there is a great risk of losing not only a significant part of this year’s strawberry and raspberry harvest due to weevils, but also of losing fruit-bearing strawberry plants for the future year.

The most reliable means of protecting plants in early spring from all types of sucking and gnawing insect pests in the spring is to spray the plants with an insecticide solution. One of the old remedies is the universal drug karbofos.

Of the new generation of drugs that are more gentle for humans and the environment and do not have a pronounced toxic odor, we can recommend the drugs Actelik and Aktaru in standard concentrations. However, in order for the processing to be beneficial, we must not forget about the basic rules for its implementation. Spray on dry leaves and plant buds on a dry, windless day at a temperature of at least 14 degrees. The approximate consumption of the working solution is from 0.2 to 0.5 liters per linear meter of row.

The timing of work with strawberries in early spring is very important: it depends on the specific weather conditions of the year - approximately in the first ten days of May, when the buds of strawberries and apple trees begin to emerge and the first leaves damaged by beetles appear. The deadline for such treatment is no later than 5-6 days before the start of flowering (approximate calendar dates are May 10-15). Chemical pesticides will repel pollinating insects, which will adversely affect the harvest.

Watch how strawberries are cared for in early spring in the video, which shows all the agricultural activities: