Large-fruited strawberry

As mentioned above, in Russia strawberries were widely distributed, alas, under the incorrect name "strawberry".

Selecting the variety

The right variety for your region is the key to success. In the northern regions, it is not necessary to plant not only southern varieties, but even varieties that are zoned for the central part of Russia. Accordingly, and vice versa. You just do not get what the variety can give. Landings will be constantly attacked by diseases, then by pests, as the southern varieties have higher requirements for light and heat, while the

northern varieties, specially created for low-radiation conditions, will be oppressed by excessively high temperature and solar energy. Nothing but disappointment, landing of non-graded varieties does not bring.

So, for example, it was with an unrivaled variety for the North-West Festival. The glory about him was literally all over Russia, but nowhere did she show herself that much like we do. Gardeners of the North West waiting for another trap, when they are offered to grow large-bodied varieties such as Lord, Giantella and others like them. The fact is that these varieties require a very good agrofon. So, for each bush of the Lord's variety, you should annually make at least a bucket of well-pereprevshego compost and give him a large area of ​​nutrition, that is, plant it according to the scheme of 60 x 60 cm. Even so, they give us one very large berry on the peduncle,the rest of the harvest is very mediocre. Recently, excellent varieties of Bounty and Carmen have been widely spread. They have large, leveled berries with dense flesh, which makes them transportable. In this case, excellent taste and aroma. Berries are perfectly preserved when frozen.

Varieties of garden strawberries and we, and abroad created a great variety( already over three thousand!).There is no way to bring them here all. We can distinguish some of them in terms of resistance to one or another scourge. The following varieties are resistant to certain diseases:

Verticillium wilt( viral disease) - Vesnyanka, Eternal Spring, Bylina, Zenga-Zengana, Zenith, Cinderella, Carnaval, Corrado, VIR Ray, Found, Memorable, Purulent, Early Dense, Redgontite, Redgotlite, Redoubt, Ruby, Purple, Spassky, Talisman, Talca, Tribuiti, Tristar, Bounty, Carmen;

leaf spot - Bohemia, Bystornaya, Dawn, Zephyr, VIR Ray, Novelty, Memorable, Early dense, Festival;

gray rot - Bohemia, Borovitskaya, Grenadier, Zenga-Tigaiga, Ray VIR, Poppy, Memorable, Early dense, Ruby pendant, Troubadour, Fireworks, Fairfax, Holiday, Generous, Carmen;

slobber-penne - Ballerina, Eternal Spring, Govorovskaya, Carnival, Lord, Martian, Maherne, Regina, Rozana, Rus, Talisman, Generous, Elista, Jubilee of Leningrad;

spider mite - Eternal Spring, Govorovskaya, Carnival, Rus, Totem;stem nematode - more or less stable Bohemia, the Bystant, Eternal Spring, Dessert Kuban, Carnival, VIR Ray, Early dense, Memorable.

Warning! Susceptible to gray mold rot: Zenga-Zengana, Zagorje's Beauty and Hope.

For Non-Black Earth region, early and mid-range strawberry varieties are zoned: Dawn, Kokinskaya early, Beauty Zagorye, Early Maherauha, Muscat Biryulyovskaya, Nadezhda Zagoria, Pavlovchanka, Roxana.

Variety of medium maturity: Alai dawn, Aliso, Vympel, Desnyanka, Zenith, Hope, Oka beauty, Northern harvest, Festival, Holiday, Generous, Junia Smids.

Medium and late varieties: Amulet, Dobrynya, Zenga-Zengana, Cinderella, Redgontlit, Talisman.

For the North-West, early sorts are divided into early varieties: Dawn, Prinevsky, Early Maherauha, Roxana and the newest varieties created by the well-known St. Petersburg breeder GD Aleksandrova: Sorceress, Beauty, Sudarushka.

The Sorceress is derived from the famous variety of Festival selection of Yu. K. Katynskaya and the variety of foreign selection of the Ox. The bushes are powerful, the peduncles are located at the level of the leaves. The first berries are round, dark red, weighing up to 28 g. The berries of the subsequent collections do not lose shape, their weight decreases to 10-12 g. The plants have good winter hardiness, they are resistant to verticillium fading, fungal diseases are affected in an average degree. According to my observations, it is better to grow this variety in a 2-3-year-old culture.

Beauty is obtained by crossing varieties of Pavlovchanka and Gorella. The bush is tall, with large light green leaves, a high flower-stem, above the level of the leaves. The berries are flaky, weighing up to 34 g. The flesh is red, dense. The variety is fast-growing, so it is best to grow it in a two-year culture. Then this grade will have a high yield. The variety is resistant to wilting, has good winter hardiness and is less prone to fungal diseases.

Variety Sudarushka is obtained by crossing the Festival with Roxanne. The bush is low, spreading. The flower spike is slightly below the level of the leaves. The berries are aligned, in shape resemble a rounded yule, rather large, up to 34 g, bright red. The bush gives a lot of mustache, so it is easy to multiply. Sudarushku is better to grow by carpet, laying plantation according to the scheme 70 x 70 cm. The variety is resistant to diseases.

Varieties of early and middle maturity: Alico, Festival, Holiday, Junia Smides, Generous and newest varieties of GD Alexandrova's Marvelous and Tsarskoselskaya.

Grade Divnaya is one of the best after the Festival strawberry varieties for the North-West. A variety was obtained by crossing the Festival and Holiday sort. The bush is tall, powerful, with large green leaves on thick, high cuttings, so it is well blown by the wind, and hence - a small defeat of berries with gray rot. Berries of the first harvest, large( up to 38 g), regular tulkoconic form, dark red shiny, with dense flesh, excellent taste. The subsequent berries do not change shape and retain a rather large mass( up to 18 g).The grade is distinguished by high yield. The variety is winter-hardy, not much damaged by diseases and pests.

Tsarskoselskaya was obtained by crossing varieties Pavlovchanka and Holiday. Plants of medium height, bushes are semi-spread, with dark green leaves. Peduncles are located below the leaf level. Berries of the first harvest up to 35 g, dark red, regular oval shape, in the subsequent gatherings are faintly small, keeping the shape and attractive presentation.

This variety has very high yields. The variety is winter-resistant and resistant to most diseases. Berries of good taste, with dense flesh. For our region this is the most suitable variety.

From medium-late and late varieties in our region, you can recommend varieties Zeng-Zengan and Talisman. From new varieties - Onega breeding GD Aleksandrova. Onega, perhaps, is one of the most winter hardy strawberry varieties, so it can be recommended for the Karelian Isthmus. He has very large first berries, excellent taste. A powerful bush, a tall flower spike rises above the leaves. The variety is yielding.

Fruiting continues in early August. Therefore, I do not recommend processing it in the fall, it's better to postpone it until spring. And certainly, it can not be mowed. Variety Favorite was obtained by crossing Onega and Bela. Of foreign new varieties of interest are Gold, Kent, Bounty, but the best variety for today is Carmen. It is also resistant to low temperatures, but has a better taste than Onega.

Strawberries can be dusted, therefore, it is better to plant each variety separately from other varieties, and even more so, they can not be planted on a single bed.

Problems of frost resistance

The origin of strawberries from hot countries explains her love for the sun and heat and her evergreen foliage, well wintering only with a snow-covered coat. In areas where there are often winter thaws with subsequent frosts without snow, strawberries may die if the frost reaches 15 degrees below zero, so in snowless winters, it should be covered with lapnik, which detains the originally fallen snow and retains heat. Opened flowers of strawberries and young ovaries die already at a temperature of 0.5 to 1 degree of frost( the core of the flower becomes black).Therefore, for any threat of frost, planting strawberries is better to cover from above directly in the bushes by double lutrasilom, or it is necessary to install a tunnel shelter from the film from the earliest spring until the end of frosts. Buds stand about two degrees of frost, flower buds - 12. Growth buds are more durable and die after the temperature drops to -15 degrees. Rhizome dies already at 8 degrees of frost, while the crown remains alive at -12. That is, the strawberry death of the rhizome occurs with less severe frosts than the death of its evergreen leaves.

Top dressing

Strawberries carry relatively little nutrients from the soil with the crop. Her agronomist N + R + K( total removal of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at a yield of 1.5 kg with 1 m2 of planting) is only 18 grams per square meter for the whole season. The balance between these elements N: P: K in percent is 44: 17: 39.That is, strawberries belong to a group of plants, especially those who love phosphorus. I remind you that the average balance for the group of phosphorus lovers is 36: 20: 44, and this group includes all plants that carry out at least 17 grams of pure phosphorus from the soil per square meter of area per season. Therefore, before planting strawberries in each hole should be added 1 teaspoon of double granulated superphosphate, if you do not apply fertilizer AVA.

Care

Growth of leaves in strawberries occurs in two waves. The first growth of leaves begins in the early spring and lasts approximately 60-70 days, until the fruiting( in the North-West all May and June).After fruiting, these leaves blush, become damaged and gradually die off. They are recommended to be cleaned immediately after the fruiting process is finished and even partially removed during fruiting, in order to improve illumination and air exchange.

The second growth of leaves begins immediately after fruiting. New leaves go under the winter and, if kept until the spring under the snow, then the harvest will be good. If the leaves hibernate not under snow or other shelter, then, as a rule, they die, which delays fruiting until new leaves grow. The flowering period of strawberries is extended for almost a month( in the North-West, the main flowering occurs from mid-May to mid-June).

Typical diseases

The most unpleasant disease is gray rot. Spores of the fungus - the causative agent of the disease live on the surface of the soil and plant remains. By the time of the appearance of the first berries, spores mature, fly out in all directions or are washed off with water, spreading over quite large areas. Getting on berries, they cause their disease. There is a disease in the form of a gray plaque, under which the berries rot.

Berries damaged by gray rot can not be placed in compost, as it will be infected with spores of fungus of gray rot. They should be instilled in a specially designated place for this. When collecting berries, the infected berries must be packed in a separate container. Of the berries you should not make winter blanks, but you can make wine from them, after cutting off all the rotten parts of the berries.

In wet weather, especially rainy and cold, the disease develops rapidly and can ruin a significant part of the crop. Gray rot affects not only strawberries, but other berry crops, such as currants, grapes, it goes even to vegetable crops. In addition to strawberries in gray rot, stems, flowers and even buds can be affected. Particularly strongly contributing to the appearance of gray rot is poor airing of plants due to thickened plantations, the location of the strawberry in the lowlands, and excess nitrogen in the soil with excessive application of organic or urea. Preparations of biological origin "Phytosgurin" or "Phyto-plus" help to save the harvest. Berries should be removed on time, about a day later, not allowing them to overripe on the bushes.

Notes

Once the flowering is over, you need to do the treatment with "Phytosporin". Then the treatment should be repeated at the time of the formation of the first large, still green ovaries, would have noticed that sometimes on green berries there are brown spots? This is gray rot. As soon as they saw similar spots on berries, immediately water the bushes with "Phytosporin".By the way, this drug will protect wild strawberry from other fungal diseases: white spot and brown leaf spot."Phytosporin" is not a chemical preparation. He is not poisonous. It's just humot( that is, organic fertilizer), in which a living bacterium is introduced. Inhabits bacteria in the soil. It is a predator and destroys the pathogens of virtually all fungal and bacterial diseases. A special preservative keeps the bacteria in a hibernation at temperatures from -20 to +40 degrees. While the concentration of the preservative is sufficient, the bacterium is incompetent, but as soon as it enters the aquatic environment with a weak concentration of preservative, it activates and begins to destroy the pathogens of many diseases.

Two other common fungal diseases of strawberries are white and brown leaf spot. Usually, the disease manifests itself in late summer. White spotting - in the form of red spots with white dots on the leaves. Brown - in the form of red-brown spots on the leaves with drying edges. The affected leaves appear to be withered, black dots can be seen on them. Diseases, as a rule, affect the aging leaves. Spores of these fungi hibernate on the leaves of strawberries and on the surface of the soil. That is why in the beginning of autumn it is necessary to water the planting of wild strawberry "Fitosporin" additionally. And be sure to do the sprinkling in the very beginning of spring.

Recently created another very effective drug against all diseases( and even viral!).It's called Zircon. This is not a chemical preparation. It is a mixture of hydroxycinnamic acids, which the immune system of any plant produces for its protection against pathogens. But, if for some reason the immune system produces them in insufficient quantity, the plants stop resisting the diseases. Sprinkling plants with "Zircon", we make up for this deficiency. The leaves suck the drug, it enters the biochemical processes, and the plant easily resists the diseases. If you do not have "Phytosporin" or "Zircon", then use 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid( 1 teaspoon per half liter of water). This same solution can be used to treat strawberry plantings against gray rot immediately after harvesting( orimmediately after mowing the leaves, if you mow down them).And again in the early spring.

Unfortunately, strawberries are affected by mycoplasmal and viral diseases, which manifest themselves in the withering of the entire bush, or the appearance of a mosaic on the leaves, or the appearance of yellow-green flowers. Plants become dwarfish, often they curly crown. Leaves on short petioles become shallow and take an irregular shape. Sucking insects carry the disease from one plant to another and can infect the whole plantation within one season.

. There are no chemical or biological agents for combating these diseases, so sick plants should be dug out immediately with roots and burned. Dug up plants can not be placed in compost. On the place of excavated plants should not be transplanted seedlings seedlings, it is better to plant in these holes marigolds or any other flowers for 3-4 years. You can, of course, change the soil, that is, dig a sick plant with a large clod of earth and send everything to the fire. And on this place bring fresh soil from the overripe compost. Then you can plant strawberries in the same place.

The main pest of

The most dangerous among them is the nematode. It is small( no more than 1 mm), threadlike, completely transparent worm, so it is not visible to the naked eye. There are many types of nematodes. Strawberry is populated with two species: stem nematode and strawberry. Nematodes feed on juice and plant tissues, destroying them, which causes deformation and even death of strawberries. Harvest is reduced by half.

The stem nematode inhabits the leaves together with petioles and peduncles. The leaf plates are curved, the petioles are shortened, thickening appears on them. Plants become dwarfish and die after 2-3 years. It is impossible to take mustaches from infected nematode plants, because they are also infected by a pest. Strawberry nematode, as a rule, inhabits buds, flowers and berries, causing their deformation. More often it manifests itself on the berries of the second and third collections. With a strong pest infestation, the strawberry bushes become like a knotted cauliflower head. The leaves of the leaves are shortened, the whiskers are thickened, the flowers are ugly, dirty-green, the leaves are twisted. The berries ripened on such bushes are twisted and completely unattractive. Almost all the rosettes formed on such plants are also affected by the nematode, and therefore it is not necessary to take new planting material from the infected bushes.

In the spring, in May-June, and in the autumn, in September, it is necessary to check the bushes for infection with a nematode, since at this time the damages of strawberry are particularly well visible. In years with high humidity, the nematode settles particularly quickly. If you discovered a bush inhabited by this pest, you must dig out not only its roots, but also two bushes in both directions from it, and burn everything. Return to the old place strawberries can be no sooner than 2-3 years.

Now a new biopreparation "Nemabakt" has been created, which allows to fight the nematode, but I have not yet experienced its site, so I can not say anything about it. If the bushes inhabited by the nematode are quite numerous, it is better to liquidate the entire plantation and lay a new one by purchasing pure planting material in the nursery. Outlets from your plantation can not be used. It is best to plant vegetable crops on the vacant planting beds. Next year in the spring, the entire bed should be sown with marigolds. Then dig them together with the soil at the end of summer, before planting strawberries. The nematode penetrates into the marigolds, but in them it perishes, and does not settle throughout the garden.

Although experts believe that planting marigolds do not save strawberries from nematodes, but observations of this contradict. Of the infected strawberry bush, the nematode, of course, will not go away, but it certainly will not migrate to other plants if among the strawberries are planted velvet. Therefore, I still recommend planting marigolds among the strawberry bushes after the spring frosts pass. After autumn frosts, when the above-ground part of the flowers die, the velvet clusters need not be removed from the strawberry beds, but leave them to winter, gutting the bush and sprinkling it with soil on the spot. But the usual landing of garlic among strawberries, in order to discourage her weevil, I would not advise doing. Weevil, may, and go far away, but the resettlement of nematodes throughout the plantation of garlic will exactly contribute. If you plant garlic among the strawberries, then after the spring frosts pass, plant the marigolds, alternating them with garlic.

Another rather dangerous pest is a small( about 0.5 cm) beetle, a raspberry-weevil weevil, which hibernates in the soil under the bush-breadwinner and comes to the surface when the soil warms up to 8 degrees Celsius. Usually, at this time, buds of strawberries begin to separate. In the first protruding and not yet opened bud, the raspberry-strawberry weevil and lays the larva. It eats the core of the bud, then leaves the bud and leaves in the soil for pupation.

The first is the bud of the largest berry, and this little gray beetle with a long proboscis deprives us of the most valuable part of the crop. Weevil when biting the larva bites the damaged bud, and it withers. The withered, shrunken bud is clearly visible, and gardeners immediately begin to fight with this pest. But the fact is that the beetle at that time had already switched to raspberry and there was no strawberries on it. Return the weevil back to the strawberry at the moment of growing new, young leaves.

As soon as you notice that there are pinpoint punctures on new strawberry leaves, you know: this weevil returned to refresh itself before wintering with the juice of fresh leaves. Wintering it will go to the soil right under the bushes of strawberries, as soon as the soil temperature in the surface layer drops to 8 degrees. Therefore, we must fight with the weevil in time.

Planting should be sprayed three times. The first time when the strawberries have not yet begun to separate buds( in the Northwest in the very beginning of May).Then - when the buds began to detach themselves on raspberry( early June for the North-West).And the last time at the moment when punctures or small holes appeared on young, new strawberry leaves( beginning of August for the North-West).Here at this very time and you need to do spraying strawberries, raspberries and again strawberries with a solution of one of the preparations - "Tsipershans" or "Fitoverm".Of course, "Fitoverm" is preferable, since it is not a chemical, but a biological preparation, obtained from soil radiation microfungi.48 hours after treatment, sprinkled vegetables, berries or fruit can be eaten. If you do not have anything, sprinkle the planting with the infusion of weeds. The smell disorientates the pest and it leaves your plantation. You can simply collect a beetle in the early morning, when it is inactive, and destroy. From the bushes strawberry beetle is simply shaken on the litter and crushed. One female lays up to 50 larvae!

A slob-penny is also a common pest of wild strawberry. Most often, a penne sucks the juice out of the heart. It is clearly visible - in the center of the strawberry cluster suddenly appears "spittle".This penny, protecting its gentle outer cover from the sun's rays, releases saliva around itself. You can simply bypass the plantation, collect and crush the penny. The tick is large enough and is clearly visible due to drooling.

You can fight with a penny in other simple ways. To do this, pour strawberry bushes with hot water( 65-70 degrees) with the addition of potassium permanganate until a solution of bright pink color is obtained. Such hot souls are useful for strawberries at any time of growth and development. They do not harm her even during flowering. Once you notice that your strawberry is "boring", immediately make it such a hot shower, better, of course, in the evening. Next morning you will not recognize your strawberry, so it will "rise up."But the young strawberry bushes do not suffer a temperature of more than 45 degrees without prejudice to themselves.

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Sometimes in books they write that in addition to potassium permanganate it is necessary to add boric acid to sprinkling strawberries. Observations show that this should not be done. Strawberries do not tolerate boron, the rhizome dies. Do not believe me - check it out. Add in 10 liters of hot water 2 g of boric acid and sprinkle a couple of the last strawberry bushes two or three times per season. In autumn or next spring, take the soil from the rhizome, and you will see that it has become a broken orange. In a year the rhizome will die and at a break it moans dark brown, and the bush will grow and die.

Strawberry transparent spider mite is very small and simple eye is not visible. It is located on the underside of the leaf and is engaged in that it sucks the juice out of it. This greatly weakens the strawberries, and it literally "gets bored".Leaves cringe. With a large population of mites, they acquire oily shine, and then turn yellow and die. With this mite, it is easiest to fight hot water in the same way as with a penny. But you can also use colloidal sulfur( according to instructions) or a preparation against ticks "Apollo", "Neoron" or "Fosbetsid", which are sucking chemical preparations. They are poisonous, they can be used only after fruiting. The non-chemical universal preparation "Phytoferm" can be used at any time.

Useful properties

About the medicinal properties of strawberries is literally known to everyone. And in the leaves and berries is literally the entire table of Mendeleev's elements. Berries are simply a storehouse of vitamins and organic acids needed by the human body. We recommend strawberries to everyone, especially with gastritis, gout, kidney stones and gall bladder, with diabetes. In addition, and this, perhaps most importantly, strawberry berries have a wonderful taste and a wonderful aroma.

Among its merits should be attributed fecundity. Planted - and the next year already received the first harvest. And of course, an important factor is its unpretentiousness. Strawberries grow well and bear fruit in our region. However, there are contraindications. Strawberries can not tolerate people with an allergic reaction to its smell and berries. It is simply dangerous for such people, since it can cause Quincke's edema, even fatal. Therefore start to accustom to this berry of young children carefully, starting literally with a few drops of juice. The allergic reaction to strawberries is lower if the berries are not only washed in cold water, but also by hard boiling water.

Wild strawberries, as well as raspberry and grape berries, live on fermented berry fermentation bacteria. Therefore, when making wine at home, you can put in the wort for leaven the unwashed strawberries instead of yeast, which spoil the taste of wine.