New strawberry care
Care for the plantation of the first year of life( novosadka) should be aimed at creating optimal conditions that ensure a high survival rate of seedlings, good growth and wintering of plants.
During planting, the soil is heavily compacted. Upon completion of works related to the planting of strawberries( irrigation, mulching), immediately begin loosening( hoeing) between rows. After finishing the loosening, check the condition of the plants, release the fallen hearts or leaves from the ground or peat.
After planting, it is necessary to monitor whether any of the plants planted have died. In case of attacks, empty spaces are filled from a stock of plants, which in such cases should always be ready. Leave the plantation in a limp state, even with a slight drop in the sky. When the fall planting is better to postpone the repair until next spring. As soon as the soil freezes in the autumn( November), firewood is laid out on snowmobiles for better accumulation of snow.
The earlier in the spring, the soil around plants wilts and warms up, the faster and more active the roots will begin to grow. On wet and heavy clay soils, as well as peat soils, water often stagnates. Therefore, for the outflow of water and for providing oxygen access to the roots, grooves or wells are arranged. On such sites in the future it is better to plant strawberries on ridges.
In the first year of the plantation's life, in spring, after thawing the soil, a mandrel of overwintered plants is produced. When bulging plants they deepen to the root neck, covering the ground or peat with bare roots, free from the ground apical bud( heart).Untimely implementation of these works often leads to the death of autumn plantations.
Young strawberries can develop well on loose soil containing a sufficient amount of moisture and nutrients. To create these conditions, it is necessary to keep the soil on the plantation in a loose and clean condition from weeds. From spring to autumn spend 6-8 loosening. The first loosening is carried out as early as possible, only the ripeness of the soil will come. In the ranks, it is necessary to loosen very carefully, because of the proximity of the root system, narrow hoes or bayonets to a depth of 2 cm.
With negligent performance of this work, plants lag behind in growth, which subsequently adversely affects their productivity. In the spring-summer period, hoeing in row-spacing is carried out after 2-3 weeks, and sometimes even more often, when the crust forms on the soil surface( after rain) or the number of weeds increases;in the spring to a depth of 5-8 cm, in the autumn - by 10-12 cm.
The gardeners involved in the cultivation of strawberries should have a rule: start all work with strawberry strawberries. If 3-4 weedings were carried out on a new plant, then the weeds will be small the next year and we will not be able to weed them out.
In summer, you should constantly monitor the formation of whiskers and remove them 3-4 times during the summer. Leaving the mustache on the plantation until the fall leads to a sharp reduction in yields for the next year.
If in the spring planting the plants remain weak, it is necessary to remove the first appeared peduncles to concentrate the force mainly on the formation of roots and leaves. If, as a result of such a reception in the first summer, you have to give up collecting berries, you should not be upset, next year you can expect a more abundant harvest.
With early planted seedlings, first-class seedlings create a real opportunity to get a good harvest in the 1st year of strawberry life. With such planting, the inflorescence should not be removed.
If strawberries are planted on well-prepared and fertilized soil, then in the first year of her life no fertilizer is needed. In some cases, with low growth, it is possible to feed ammonium nitrate in small doses( 10 g per 1 m2).But it is necessary to bring it not earlier than a month after the spring planting, earlier feeding suppresses the formation of young roots.