Agrotechnics of strawberry cultivation in open ground
Select a site by exposure. An important agrotechnical measure that determines the high productivity of plantations of strawberries is the correct choice of the site for the plantation, while taking into account the biological characteristics of strawberries and the requirements that it makes for successful growth and fruiting, as we wrote earlier.
When choosing a site for strawberries, preference is given to even places with a small light slope providing excess water runoff, as well as protected wood plantations.
Although strawberries are possible at almost every location, but in some respects it is not completely indifferent to which slopes the plantation is located on. With southern slopes( referring to Non-Black Earth), the berries are sometimes not too large, but they win in quality, whereas at the northern slope they win in magnitude, losing usually in quality.
If the slope of the site has a significant slope, then with proper preparation and it can be successfully used for a strawberry culture, especially if the slope faces east or southeast. In order to make such a site suitable for breeding strawberries, you can resort to terracing it with ledges, giving each ledge a width of about 50 cm, and dig a ditch to drain rainwater. Thanks to the increased effect of sunlight, the fruit ripens here earlier, so that the cost of terracing will be rewarded with considerable profit, as the berries will ripen earlier.
For strawberries, it is better to divert areas with natural protection. For her, protection from the harmful effects of wind is very important. Forest edges or garden plantations contribute to the accumulation and even distribution of snow, which creates a peculiar microclimate on the strawberry plantation.
When selecting a plot in the garden, it is necessary to take into account that the strawberries grow better and bear fruit when nothing overshadows it. However, when placed near fences and walls, it overheats and suffers from drought. Partial shading of plantations is favorable in the afternoon.
Choice of plot by soil type. Due to superficially located accessory roots, strawberries prefer moderately moist soils with good water retention and water permeability. The groundwater level should not exceed 1.0-1.2 m from the soil surface.
Strawberries grow on any soil, but its productivity is directly dependent on the quality of the soil. For it, sandy loamy and medium loamy soils are best suited, in the southern regions - ordinary chernozem on loess and washed on deluvial loam. The least favorable are peat and calcareous soils, which require significant improvements before they will be able to more or less profitable strawberry culture. Light sandy soils, although it can not be considered quite favorable for the industrial culture of strawberries, however, and they can be quite suitable for a sufficient amount of moisture.
Site breakdown. In the garden gardens the plot of the plot is carried out as follows. Choose one straight line, for example, along the border of the garden and a right angle is beaten to it. This can be done with a simple cord. The cord is measured and marked with knots of distances of 3, 4 and 5 m. A part of the cord in 3 m is stretched along( in parallel) the established straight line and clamps the pegs at the end of the cord and 3 m away marked by the knot. Then peg in the marked node( between 4 and 5 m) pull the cord so that the triangle is formed. The angle between sides 3 and 4 will always be straight. Further breakdown of the site is carried out using a tape measure or a measured cord.
Crop rotation. The productivity of strawberry plantation is limited to 4-5 years, with productivity in the first two years higher than the following. Therefore, strawberries are grown in a crop rotation, in which it should occupy plots for at least as many years as all other crops combined to create conditions for reducing the number of pests and diseases( nematodes, mites, verticillium wilt).
In the garden area, strawberries are planted every year, in the old place after 3 years, alternating with the cultivation of vegetable crops. For this, the site is divided into 7-8 parts. In the first year, strawberries are occupied by 2-3 parts, in the second and subsequent - one by one. Beginning in the third year, and with a good state of the plants from the fourth, one part of the old strawberry is digested every year. First, old plants are removed( burned or composted).The same is done with diseased and weak plants on fruiting strawberries, so that they do not infect others.
As a precursor of strawberry from crop rotation, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, aubergines are excluded due to infection with common disease - verticillium wilt.
The main task of the strawberry crop rotation crop is to increase soil fertility, decrease the number of weeds and suppress the vital activity of nematodes and wilt pathogens. A good predecessor for strawberries are some of the siderial crops that are smelling at the end of flowering.
As syderates select such crops, which are previously removed from the field, which allows you to timely prepare the soil for planting. In the Central and North-Western regions of the Non-chernozem zone, the best siderates are vetch-oatmeal, pea-oat mixture, mustard, phacelia. After cultivation, the siderates are ground and plowed into the soil. Ciderates are able to build up a large green mass, the scale of which is equivalent to introducing 1.5-2 kg of manure per 1 m2 into the soil.
Organic and mineral fertilizers can be placed under a sideral culture, which significantly frees the site from weeds.
The complex of measures for pest and disease control also includes reducing the duration of the use of strawberry plantations to 3 years instead of 4-5.