Can moss be used as mulch? Sphagnum moss is a tip for great mulch! What material can be used

Can moss be used as mulch?  Sphagnum moss is a tip for great mulch!  What material can be used
Can moss be used as mulch? Sphagnum moss is a tip for great mulch! What material can be used

Mulching the soil was invented by nature itself. A person only spied how a fertile layer is formed under fallen leaves, moisture is retained, and plants survive even the most severe cold without problems. Today there are many mulching technologies using a variety of materials. But the principle remains original, natural - covering the soil with the outside protective layer which gives the desired effect. To carry out this procedure correctly, you need to learn everything about mulching the soil.

The benefits of this procedure for cultivated plants are undeniable.


So why do you need mulching? To free up time for the gardener to do other work or rest, without damaging the plants, and even with benefit for them.

Materials

All mulching materials, of which there are currently more than two dozen, are divided into two large categories: organic and inorganic origin.

The discussion about which type of materials is better is ongoing both among specialists and among amateur gardeners. The choice of category depends on the goals that mulching is supposed to achieve and on the place where the material will be used on a particular crop.

When mulching with any materials, you must comply important rule– it is carried out only after the soil has warmed up well. If you lay mulch on unheated soil, the effect will be the opposite of what was expected - the plants will develop poorly and their growth will slow down.

Organic materials

This group includes the following:

All organic materials differ from inorganic materials in that they can rot in the soil and turn into nutrients that nourish plants, form a humus layer and increase soil fertility.

Organic mulch is considered by many to be the healthiest and the only one suitable for use. But there is one nuance - when some of its varieties rot, nitrogen is drawn out of the ground. It is needed to activate the rotting process of sawdust, bark and shavings. Of course, the plants then experience a lack of nitrogen.

Organic mulch has its drawbacks (as does inorganic mulch). For example, if it takes nitrogen from plants, you have to pre-dild the soil under a layer of mulch with an infusion of manure, droppings or urea to replenish it.

Wood mulch (sawdust)

Sawdust can cake over time and cause damping off of plants.

There are restrictions on the use of bark, wood chips and leaves fruit trees. For example, it is better not to use birch and oak trees at all, or to use them only for conifers. The high content of tannins in them can damage garden and garden plants, slowing down their development.

For decorative conifers Birch and oak mulch can be used. They like it when the soil is acidified, and they are not afraid of tannic components, since the growth of conifers is already slow.

But let's return to the beneficial properties of organic mulch. Large sawdust and wood chips repel slugs. They are not comfortable crawling on them, and if you mulch the beds with these materials, the slugs will leave your garden, despite the presence of tasty plants.

Herbal mulch

Slugs also do not like straw. If you put a layer of fine straw (hay) about 12 cm, after shrinking it will give an ideal covering, about seven centimeters high, that can completely and environmentally protect your plants from all misfortunes.

Plant waste - weeds, grass removed from the lawn, green manure residues are very well suited for mulching not only between rows and near-trunk circles of fruit trees. It is not recommended to lay this type of covering on garden beds. The mulch should decompose over time, but grass clippings and weeds will quickly dry out in the sun and will not have time to decompose. If you wish, you can cover the soil with herbal vegetable mulch in the fall, before the rainy season. Then by spring you will have a good fertile layer.

Pine and spruce needles – best material for covering flower beds. It looks very decorative and promotes healthy flower growth.

Humus and compost

This species rightfully takes first place in the ranking organic materials for mulching.

Rotten manure has the only drawback, or rather, a feature of use that must be taken into account. He has dark color, so it attracts heat. If the site is located on sunny place, and the plants planted on it are not particularly heat-loving, it is better to choose light mulch.

Moss and turf

They are used mainly for the garden, arranging turf in the tree trunks of fruit trees and shrubs. You can cover the ground with ready-made moss taken from the forest, or with pieces of turf, or by planting any ground cover. This mulch will grow into the soil and be durable. In addition to preserving moisture and insulation for the winter, it will protect the garden from erosion and increase the amount of soil in the soil. nutrients.

Leaf mulch

Fallen leaves must be treated with caution. It has already been mentioned above that the foliage of oak and birch will not bring great benefit gardening and flower plants. In addition, foliage can become a carrier of fungal diseases, which are transmitted through the soil to cultivated plants, or, caught by the wind, spread fungal spores throughout the area.

Foliage in pure form, if there is a suspicion of fungal diseases, it is better not to use it for mulching. But it can be processed by special means, put in compost. And when it turns into a nutritious fertilizer, mulch the garden with compost.

Inorganic mulch

  • film;
  • nonwoven materials;
  • pebbles, crushed stone and gravel;
  • coarse sand;
  • paper and cardboard waste;
  • expanded clay

These materials have no nutrients and do not decompose to form humus. Therefore, their properties are limited to protective and decorative. But since they do not rot, they are durable and do not lose their properties and appearance for a long time.

Inorganic mulch is mainly used in floriculture and horticulture. Vegetable beds that require constant cultivation are not covered with crushed stone or gravel, as they interfere with soil cultivation.

Gravel and crushed stone

Bulk inorganic materials are usually used as decorative mulch in flower beds, rose gardens, alpine roller coaster. They can also be used to fill paths and tree trunk circles bushes and trees. But keep in mind that between the pebbles, no matter how tightly you place them, weeds will still grow. You need to think in advance about how to remove them in the future.

Film and non-woven cover

The black film perfectly retains moisture and also protects cultivated plants from weeds, as it inhibits their growth.

But watering is difficult. It has to be done manually, falling exactly into the film holes left for plant growth. Can be held under the film automatically drip irrigation, but it is not easy to control the level of soil moisture.

Under film or non-woven material If the humidity is high, slugs may accumulate and damage young shoots.

Black film has another one significant drawback– it increases the heating of the soil. In extreme heat, tree roots in the ground can “burn” or dry out if overheating is combined with high humidity.

The film is used for mulching potato, tomato, garden strawberries. It is advisable to use it in tandem with straw, with which the film is covered on top.

Paper waste

They can only be used as auxiliary material, mixed with other types of mulch. One, it draws moisture from the soil, dehydrating and drying it. It is good to place paper or cardboard under organic mulch. This way you can almost completely prevent the germination of weeds (

Often, when preparing a site for winter, there is a need to protect certain plants from freezing. For example, irises, whose roots love to bulge above the ground in winter, flowers, daffodils, hyacinths and muscari, which are in a hurry to hatch during prolonged winter thaws.
In such cases, ordinary sphagnum moss can become a beautiful mulch. You can pick it up in the forest without much difficulty.
By mulching flower beds with sphagnum, we not only protect plants from freezing. Unfilled areas of the flowerbed covered with moss will not be overgrown with weeds. Well, greenish islands will look much more picturesque than empty places.
With the same success, you can use moss in the fall to mulch beds with winter garlic.
It is also worth considering the fact that sphagnum moss has excellent disinfecting properties; pathogenic bacteria do not develop under it. It does not rot and perfectly regulates water exchange.


In terms of its own composition, this moss is quite loose. If suddenly you did not have time to remove it in time, the moss will not prevent the germination of bulbous plants.
For mulching, you should not use the moss that grows on trees and stumps. Although it is much more attractive, the velvet pads have a completely different mixture.
This moss is much denser than sphagnum. It can be used to mulch those areas of land where nothing should grow.
In black and wet places, this moss can grow and live its own life. If the grass grows poorly in these places, then maybe it makes sense not to fight the weeds, but to let the moss grow into emerald tussocks, as in ordinary Japanese gardens.


Sphagnum can also be used in indoor floriculture. In pots on upper layers From the soil, magnesium and calcium salts that are poisonous to the plant are collected. After some time, the entire earth becomes salinized. Because of this, the growth of the plant slows down, it begins to hurt, and may even die. The soil around the plant can be mulched with sphagnum, which will maintain its moisture and collect all the salts. It is enough to change sphagnum moss once a year.

Mulch is a material for top soil in a garden to help retain water, prevent weeds from growing and spreading, and control soil erosion. Sphagnum moss can be used for mulch in garden beds, for house plants, to improve soil composition, as fertilizer and much more. In this case, the mulch product is called “peat mulch.”

Different plants grow best in soils with different pH levels that they require. Some plants - radishes, peppers, potatoes, blueberries, raspberries, most spruce and pine trees, azaleas, roses - prefer acidic soils. Gardeners living in areas with alkaline soils, or those who want to grow plants that prefer acidic soils may need to increase the acidity of the soil to help the plants establish. Unfortunately, most types mulch and compost make the soil less acidic. Excellent sphagnum mulch, however, increases soil acidity.

Sphagnum peat (from which mulch) derived from moss sphagnum, a member of the Hypnaceae family, contains long fibers that resist rapid decomposition. Sphagnum usually used as inserts for hanging baskets and for gently improving the soil in areas with sprouts and young plants. But if you have a good supply of it, then sphagnum is welcome as an addition to your compost heap or mixed with other mulches. You can use it yourself, but it is very light and voluminous.

Sphagnum moss gently makes the soil more acidic. Adding just a kilogram of peat to a standard 6 acres will increase the soil pH by about one unit. You can add moss or moss mulch directly to the soil or add moss into the compost before using it. This is what makes sphagnum mulch different - in that it is not applied to the surface of the soil, but is like a layer inside. Sphagnum improves the texture of overly heavy or overly sandy soil, improves aeration and water exchange.

It is an attractive choice for gardeners in part because of its ability to absorb and retain water. It can hold 10 times more water of its weight, gradually giving it away as the moisture in the soil decreases. By adding peat to the soil you can reduce the amount of water that plants need. Moss mulch can also save plant life during extreme drought when water is not available.

Moss sphagnumexcellent environment for certain beneficial organisms, at the same time suppress the growth of fungi that can damage young plants. This makes it an excellent growing additive. indoor plants from seeds and maintaining seedling germination.

Long-fiber sphagnum moss makes an ideal mulch because it acts like a blanket to control soil temperature and retain moisture, allowing for steady plant growth. This keeps the soil in the right microclimate range to better preserve plants from bacterial action, and protects plants from sudden winter freezing and thawing that can destroy roots. Sphagnum moss used as mulch can be left throughout the year to improve plant adaptation.

Some plants, including many orchids, bonsai trees and succulents, grow best in a completely soilless environment. Sphagnum moss provides excellent conditions for such special plants. Moss can remain wet for a long time without rotting and without carrying any substances or microorganisms that can cause harm.

Here it is useful plant may come in handy when building and furnishing your country wooden house.

Every year, gardeners rack their brains over ways to protect the soil from cold, drought, and pests without ruining the plantings. There are many mulch options, and moss takes a well-deserved place on this list due to its useful properties– let’s look at them in more detail.

The material in question is optimally suited as a mulching agent, since it protects plantings and soil from hypothermia, retains moisture, prevents insects from infesting and at the same time allows plant roots to breathe. Moss has all the properties that help improve the yield of crops that prefer acidic soil:

  • cucumbers;
  • blueberry;
  • pepper;
  • potatoes, etc.

It is not recommended to mulch plants such as strawberries and strawberries, as they may rot.

You can achieve the best effect from mulching by using a type of moss called sphagnum. This species grows in forests in swamps where peat forms.

Properties of moss

The material has a number of useful properties that help to grow garden and garden crops. It is also indispensable in cases where it is not possible to carry out ongoing care for plants: water, weed, disinfect from pests.

Sphagnum moss has the following properties:

  1. High degree of hygroscopicity - absorbs and releases moisture well. This effect occurs in any weather: if it's raining, moss absorbs water, preventing the soil from becoming waterlogged, and during drought, on the contrary, it nourishes the earth with accumulated liquid.
  2. Optimal air permeability - the soil under the moss does not rot, so a greenhouse does not form between it and the soil, dehydrating the plants.
  3. Antibacterial - destroys microbes living in the soil and roots, thereby preventing plant rotting.

Pros of using moss as mulch

Advantages of the material:

  • soil temperature control: in cold weather the material warms the soil, in warm weather it cools it;
  • there is no need to constantly water plants covered with moss mulch - it absorbs water and gradually releases it when the substrate dries out;
  • there is no need to constantly weed the beds, since the shelter in question protects them from weeds;

How to use moss mulch for different crops?

The material can be used in the garden, vegetable garden, or greenhouse. The mulching process boils down to the following:

  1. the soil around the plants is loosened, then weeded to remove weeds;
  2. If desired, sprinkle the soil with ash - this will help reduce soil acidification. This measure is recommended in a situation where it is necessary to cover plants that do not need acidic soil;
  3. Moss is placed on the prepared substrate.

In the garden

To achieve greater effect in the beds, moss mulch is placed tightly on the soil under the plant. As a result, the number of rotted and frozen roots is reduced, and harmful insects and bacteria are destroyed thanks to antiseptic properties moss.

Mulching process in in this case carried out as follows:

  1. The soil and mulch are prepared for laying (see the algorithm described above).
  2. Then you need to tightly cover the surface to be treated with sphagnum (in one layer), without leaving unprotected areas.
  3. In latitudes where the climate is warm and dry, the mulch should be watered: this way it will gradually release moisture to the soil.

In the garden

In garden areas, moss is used in the same way as in the vegetable garden - as both mulch and fertilizer.

In addition to these purposes, the plant in question is used as decorative material. In this case, there is no need to lay the mulch in a thick, dense layer: the thinned state will give the flowerbed a neat appearance.

Moss is also used for rooting cuttings and roots. The properties of the material make it possible to create in the soil optimal conditions for strengthening in the ground and subsequent growing season - the percentage of non-surviving and rotten shoots is significantly reduced.

For violets and orchids growing in room conditions, sphagnum will serve as a fertilizer: a thin layer of material will oxidize the soil, which will be useful for these crops.

Moss is a universal plant: it serves not only as mulch, but also as fertilizer, and also improves decorative qualities area in which it is used.

In general, I conduct various experiments on strawberries. Here's another know-how of mine. I noticed that there are no mouse nests near the daffodils. I planted strawberries in the fall of 2012, and along the edge there are daffodils, they don’t interfere with the strawberries in the spring, the strawberries haven’t even begun to grow, but they are already in bloom. I fed the daffodils and got some strawberries. The daffodils will go away, and I will water and feed the strawberries, and the flowers will get enough and they will be pretty. next spring. It's no secret to get large flowers on bulbous plants, even after flowering, they need to be given water and food. And I really didn’t have mouse nests on strawberries, but they devoured my Turkish cloves and tulips. Yes, strawberries and daffodils will sit together for 3 years. Then I remove the strawberries, and the daffodils will follow in a new bed.

And tasty, and beautiful, and stop the mice.

There were no nests on the strawberries and they were not eaten, the lilies were also surrounded by daffodils and were also intact. Tulips and strawberries are a controversial thing; tulips need to be planted every year. That’s why I refused to plant garlic on the strawberries, either on the edge or in the center. There is no doubt that the garlic grows large and the strawberries are protected from it, but the strawberries suffered during the digging, because we plant the garlic deep. But daffodils and strawberries have the same three-year cycle of living together in one place.

Regular and remontant varieties do not cross-pollinate; you do not propagate them with seeds (sexual method), but with tendrils (vegetative method). Yes, and plant seeds if you want (although this is a waste of time), they are in different time They bloom in autumn and even in spring.

Remember only one thing: the remontant one produces a mustache, which will produce a berry in the fall, so do not rush to tear off the new mustache from the remontant one. And here old bush Having produced two harvests in a season, it practically “dies” and ages quickly (this is where they talk about remontant, which means it degenerates). and also remontant varieties, so that the berries are available and watered and fed very regularly, not a lot, namely regularly (once every 10 days (every week is possible) or at least once every two weeks), she thinks that it’s spring all the time and she needs to bloom and give a berry, well, don’t dissuade her.

There is no ideal order and distance between bushes. I plant a new bed with bushes not in two rows as usual, but in one row in the middle of the bed. Now she is gaining color and the mustachioed one will begin to grow antennae. I leave 1-3 tendrils (I cut off the rest), they grow wherever they want (I try to direct them from the middle to the edge of the bed), and by autumn they will bloom and bear fruit. The “old” bush will also bloom again and bear fruit. I feed and sing special food. fertilizer for strawberries (sudarushka, ryazanochka, etc.) These fertilizers have a balanced composition. This best option, because it blooms, bears fruit, and rests at the same time. The bed is overgrown sloppily (but it can be corrected). At the same time, the “old” bush “dies” in almost one season (two harvests or continuous production of a crop - this depletes and ages the bush). In the spring of next year, I remove the “dead” bushes, and the healthy and strong ones begin to work again. As soon as the bed takes on an unpresentable appearance, I plant a new one and dig up the old one.

You also need to know that there are two types of remontant (to put it simply, without getting bogged down in scientific terms):

1. Fruits twice (end of June - beginning of July and the second time - end of August - beginning of September. This berry is large as usual.
2. It bears fruit constantly, that is, it continuously flowers, bears fruit and grows. It is naturally smaller than the first and these are not traces of degeneration, but a specific feature.

I have both of these species, but they sit in different beds; sometimes I have to cover the first one in the fall with a cover so that it doesn’t fall under frost and produces a second harvest. But the second one, as much as it gives out, will be enough.

The strawberries have begun to ripen and, as always, there are two sore points: keeping them clean and preventing the blackbirds from pecking them. This is how I do it. I photographed my daughter two weeks ago, it was still in bloom, but preparatory work were already underway.

I have some of the strawberries under a black covering, with a 3-5 cm layer of mulch under it.

I add pine litter over the sawdust mulch. It won’t acidify the soil, after three years I’ll add lime, and now I water it with infusion of ash.


I lay down straws, I’m not afraid of mice, the beds are planted with daffodils, and in the summer my cat works full time when he’s not sleeping.

Moss is also a very good thing, both as mulch, and the berries are clean, and the prevention of fungal diseases.

For thrushes I put sticks (I have bamboo ones, then they go to gladioli), bottles on the sticks, preferably with wide neck, better from beer. The most important thing is that the poles-sticks-rods stagger in the wind, the cans knock, and now I also tied a polyethylene signal tape (which is used to fence all sorts of dangerous places housing and communal services workers) between the poles, and tied a cut ribbon onto the poles, it moves at the slightest breath, as if robbers were scattering.

Strawberries and raspberries are treated for weevils when only buds form on the bushes and the air temperature is +10, at this time they wake up, begin to have an active sex life and lay offspring in the buds, these offspring eat the filling of the buds and we are left without berries, now it cannot be processed and will be of no use. We take our mistakes to heart and next spring we declare war on the weevil.

The remontant always has spring in her head, she needs to be fed and watered constantly, if you are not a supporter of chemistry, then on Saturday of the even week we infuse mullein, bird droppings, grass, and on Saturday of the odd week we infuse ash. I feed him chemistry on Mondays, but at 1/2 dose. By the way, I don’t like the taste of Elizabeth, but the size is good.

I grew strawberries under cover. The first year I squealed with delight, this year I am removing the last beds with covering. I won’t repeat all the pros and cons, but if you decide to grow on a covering (agrofabric), try it, but select a small bed 1-2 m long, judge the result yourself. I’ll tell you right away that there are no ants on them, no slugs. I started cleaning the beds with the covering, I removed it, underneath it pure land, the mulch is all rotten, only the loaches are indestructible, but pale. But I won’t grow any more on the cover (the main reason is that the yield drops significantly in the second year; the berry gave out all its power in the first year), although I’m happy with the experiment (it ripened early, the yield was significantly higher in the first year of fruiting)

This is what my garden bed looked like with the cover.

To trim or not to trim leaves is an age-old debate. There are thousands of pros and thousands of cons.

If you haven’t pruned it yet, then you shouldn’t, it’s too late, the bushes won’t have time to grow green mass. All pruning should be done immediately after harvest. The main FOR is the removal of old diseased leaves and immediate preventive treatment of “bare” bushes and soil with antifungal drugs (phytosporin, Bordeaux). I trim, feed, sing, process, cover with spruce branches in the cold and always with a full basket.

In general, all berries are prepared for winter immediately after harvesting, and the sooner the fruit-bearing “twigs” are cut out and raspberries are bent, the better they are prepared for winter, and gooseberries and currants love autumn care, the latter can wait until the leaves fall.

Well, I’m almost ready for winter with my strawberry.

The first attempt to cover the nakedness was mulched with sawdust.


And this is what the bed looks like after the first year of fruiting, the beginning of August 2013, the ground is not visible, everything is under mulch, I plant the mustaches in glasses, marigolds from pests and nematodes, now they are frozen and will go into winter in the bed with strawberries, I don’t pull them out, they are in their roots earthworms take up residence.

By the way, I also leave the stems of sunflowers until spring: the roots also work as snow retention for worms, in the spring I shake out the earth before burning the stems (they burn beautifully), the worms just pour out of the roots in “heaps” along with the soil.

Here we sometimes argue: to cover strawberries for the winter or not to cover them.

Everyone has their own approach. I am a REINSURER and always provide cover for a case like today. At night -10 -14 degrees, but no snow. Under a meter layer of snow and at -40 the ground will be -15. May God give us good snow before frost.
Here's what I do on strawberries step by step: bare planting, mulched with sawdust, covered with needles.

And one more thing: the type of mulch matters a lot. I mulch my tomatoes with cut grass - there is no phytoflora, but needles and moss are good for strawberries. In the spring, I rake up the shelter of needles and the result is mulch, the berry is clean and, believe it or not, there is practically no white-gray rot on the needles and moss. Previously, when we picked berries, we specially took a bucket for rotten ones, but in this damp summer there were almost no rotten ones.

I also mulch gladioli and blueberries with needles, pine bark heathers and blueberries.

The top photos are autumn planting this year, and the lower photos are mulched fruit-bearing plantings, the layer of mulch is really visible and it usually becomes larger over three years.

We mulch the earth for several purposes. Various useful earth inhabitants work at the “garden soil-mulch” boundary; this does not require thick layer mulch, remember how in the forest leaf litter, pine litter, grass gradually thin layer cover the ground. Therefore, in the first year of planting, I have a small layer of mulch on my strawberries: for the benefit of the earth and so that the berry does not get dirty. Weeds are growing, but not too actively. Some of the mulch will rot in the first year, but I will cover it again for the winter and add more mulch to bald spots (in my bathhouse there are bags of straw that I collected from the fields, I will add as needed). You also need to remember that mulch is also thermal insulation; in the fall it’s good, but in early spring- not very much (the ground takes longer to warm up, that’s why I rake up the needles), so I add mulch when the ground warms up (just when the berries are blooming), and before that I also pull out the weeds. Well, in the third year, the layer of mulch increases and there are almost no weeds, but it’s time to harvest the berries and start a new plantation, but the land is not depleted, but on the contrary, it becomes richer from the organic matter that I added.

In general, you need to mulch the land wisely. In the greenhouse with tomatoes, I have a very large layer of grass and there are no weeds through it, I mulch the gladioli with needles, after the first feeding and loosening, there is a layer of 6-8 cm and the weeds do not climb.

But if you are tired of weeds, you can grow strawberries under a layer of black covering material, I did, but under the covering I still mulched the soil and this method has its + and -. Go to the Berry Fairy's room. She has everything under cover.

Here the strawberries were mulched with straw, it was also a very good mulch.

I grow Pervoklassnitsa, Darenka and Solnyshko (under this name I bought her from the Victoria company, perhaps this is the trade name of Solnechnaya Polyanka). All varieties differ in the shape of the berries and in taste and in the timing of fruiting. If you have little space, definitely - Darenka. It is really good: fruiting, size, taste, and density. I am generally a supporter of domestic varieties, although I am currently “testing” Corona and Salsa. The crown is inferior to the First-grader, although they are very similar. I haven’t decided on Salsay yet, but for me the density of the berry is important so that it can stand in the refrigerator of young people until they come to the dacha for the next portion; today only Darenka, Stolichnaya and Tsaritsa meet this requirement. Maxim sent the vaunted gigantella to the compost: tasteless, the berry is large, but small, and as a result, the yield is inferior to smaller ones.

“Old gardeners” know what strawberries look like after winter, so I’ll scare the “young” ones a little. In fact, it’s even worse, I’ve already removed the dry leaves, the beds look lumpy and littered, but I like it - it’s mulch, there’s no need to loosen the beds with mulch, the soil is loose, “plump.” In the first photo the beds are from the 2nd year, in the second photo they overwintered the first winter.

Last summer was damp and there were brown spots on the leaves. Now I need to cultivate the beds copper sulfate, Bodos mixture, but I prefer a strong solution of potassium permanganate. You can use a watering can, an old broom or a sprayer. In the first days of May I will feed it, but I will mulch when it blooms (or when I get around to it), in a bag there is hay and straw stored in the fall. You can grow mulch yourself, but I was a bit lazy and sowed just a little bit of mulch. I have not yet removed the sunflower stems - this is snow retention and winter apartment earthworms.

The most terrible animal for strawberries and raspberries is the weevil, at +10 it wakes up and goes hunting, you can find it on the flowers of strawberries and raspberries (but it’s already late, which means you’re late). But before the buds appear, it hides and waits, so I would recommend starting treatment with our favorite Actellik, focusing not so much on the temperature, but on the appearance of buds, they penetrate these buds and do their dirty work. Those. As soon as something similar to a twig with buds appears, it’s all about fighting, we spray the strawberries and then the raspberries, because at that time another bad raspberry beetle appears. And as soon as the berry blooms, that’s it, no treatments, just the second feeding.

If you don’t take care of the strawberries, leaving unauthorized tendrils of 2-3 orders, then bushes will form that seem to be lush, but their leaves are not three-petalled, but five-petalled. There will be no berries on such bushes at all or they will be small. Now the leaves are starting to grow, take a closer look, throw away the five-petal bushes without any pity, if you want to check my words, put a mark.

In general, tags and cups are for me best approach. I pick a berry, I like the bush, I stick a stick in, I take the first-order tendrils from this bush into cups, and I cut off the excess ones.

On average, I have 40 bushes in my garden bed. These 40 bushes sit from the 1st to the third year, they are not added, sometimes I can only replace them if they have not overwintered well. It turns out that there are always 3 beds: 1, 2, and 3 years. Every August of the 3rd year I remove and plant a new one.

We grow a mustache. We take a glass, fill it with soil, place it or dig it into the ground, and place the growing mustache in the glass. The only negative is to make sure that the soil in the cup does not dry out. Nutrition from both the uterine and its roots. You can then cut off the grown mustache and wait until a bed appears, you can plant it in " kindergarten" until spring.


I'm not a particular fan remontant strawberries, but I have my own approach to it.

By repair care slightly different from usual.

There is no ideal order and distance between bushes. I plant a new bed with bushes not in two rows as usual, but in one row in the middle of the bed. Now she is gaining color and will immediately begin to produce antennae. I leave 1-3 tendrils (I cut off the rest), they grow wherever they want (I try to direct them from the middle to the edge of the bed), and by autumn they will bloom and bear fruit. The “old” bush will also bloom again and bear fruit. I feed and sing special food. fertilizer for strawberries (sudarushka, ryazanochka, etc.) These fertilizers have a balanced composition. This is the best option, because it blooms, bears fruit, and rests at the same time. The bed is overgrown sloppily (but it can be corrected). At the same time, the “old” bush “dies” in almost one season (two harvests or continuous production of a crop - this depletes and ages the bush). In the spring of next year, I remove the “dead” bushes, and the healthy and strong ones begin to work again. As soon as the bed takes on an unpresentable appearance, I plant a new one and dig up the old one.

You also need to know that there are two types of remontant: (if you simply don’t bother with scientific terms) The first type bears fruit 2 times (end of June - beginning of July and the second time - end of August - beginning of September. This berry is, as usual, large

The second type bears fruit constantly, i.e. It continuously blooms, bears fruit and grows. It is naturally smaller than the first and these are not traces of degeneration, but a specific feature.

I have both of these species, but they sit in different beds; sometimes I have to cover the first one in the fall with a cover so that it doesn’t fall under frost and produces a second harvest. But the second one, as much as it gives out, will be enough.

For weevils only insecticides. The weevil doesn't care about any needles. I use it as mulch to keep the berries cleaner and the roots warmer in winter; of course, it scares some people away. It seems that experts say and write that berries under pine needles are sweeter. This is a photo from last year: moss, needles, and marigolds. Actually, in three years my needles turn into dust, I’m not afraid to bury them in the ground when digging, although the same experts do not recommend burying needles in the soil. But I believe that if someone processes it in the forest, then there will be people willing to use it in the ground in my garden. In addition, when digging, I add a deoxidizing agent (gumi lime), rotted manure and ash.

Well, I continue to show this. The first photo is the beginning of spring, in the second photo the same bed, the bushes are cheerful, the bed is lined with daffodils, the mice avoid them. I will plant the marigolds in the middle of the beds as soon as the threat of frost has passed, probably in July. I don’t pull marigolds out of the beds for the winter. The more “garbage” there is in the strawberry beds, the better it feels.