Soil preparation for strawberry
For strawberries with a shallow root system, one of the conditions for obtaining high yields is the cultivation of the soil before planting. Cultivation of strawberries in one place for 3-4 years entails a fairly high annual biological removal of nutrients: nitrogen - 13.1 g, phosphorus - 6.2 g and potassium - 18.2 g per m2.The bulk of them remain in the plants, less removed with a crop, a mustache and dead leaves.
Maintaining a positive balance of nutrients in the soil can only be provided by cultivated soil with a high content of organic matter and good agrophysical properties. That's why good soil preparation for planting strawberries is of the greatest importance from all agrotechnical measures for the effective cultivation of strawberries. It includes liming, cleaning the site of weeds, introducing basic fertilizers and plowing the soil.
Sorrel horse - indicator of acidic soils
Liming of soil. Sod-podzolic soils occupying a huge territory in Russia, in most cases, have an increased acidity, which adversely affects the growth and development of many cultivated plants. Strawberries better tolerate excessive acidity than other berry plants, such as currants, but this does not mean that it is harmless to her. Strawberries seem to be harmful not so much in itself acidity, as related to it adverse chemical and physical changes in soil: deterioration of the structure and poor mineralization of organic matter.
To eliminate excess acidity, the soil is limed. Lime, neutralizing excessive acidity, along with it improves the physical properties of the soil, i.e.makes it friable, more heat-consuming and moisture-consuming and indirectly contributes to the accumulation of nitrogen and phosphorus in it in a form that is accessible to plants.
Observations found that strawberries are capable of yielding high yields over a wide pH range.
Soil liming under strawberries should be carried out only at pH below 5.
However, not all sod-podzolic soils need liming. The need for liming soil can be judged by the natural vegetation that develops on it. In particular, the characteristic feature of the soil, which is excessively acidic and in need of liming, is the presence of horsetail, pike, moss, sorrel and thorium. To solve the problem of the necessity of liming of this or that site, it is better to conduct a special chemical analysis of the soil for acidity, which makes it possible to establish, in addition, the rate of lime addition. As a material for the liming of acidic soils, usually ground limestone, burnt lime, calcareous lime, calcareous tuff, marl, dolomite. If laboratory analysis of acidity is not possible, it should be remembered that heavy clay soils require a larger dose of lime than light sandy loams, with the same acidity.
Liming the plot is better in advance( 2-3 years before planting), so that the lime mixes well with the soil and reduces its acidity. To reduce the acidity under strawberries, it is advisable to use dolomite( dolomite flour) in a dose of approximately 400-600 g per 1 m2.Dolomite is also a source of magnesium on acidic soils.
Sorrel Sorrel - Indicator of Acidic Soils
Field Horseradish - Indicator of Acidic Soils
When preparing for planting strawberries, the site should be cleaned of weeds. The most difficult of them are the perennial ones: couch grass, cornflower, yellow and pink sow. In recent years, on the fields of strawberry crop rotation, herbicides are widely used. However, in amateur gardening to maintain the ecology of the site, it is better to carry out manual weeding and sampling of rhizomes in the previous years before planting.
Introduction of basic fertilizers. The main attention is paid to filling the soil with high doses of organic and mineral fertilizers before planting.
When preparing the soil for each 1 m2, 5-6 kg of organic fertilizers are applied( reparted manure, compost, peat compost).In the absence of organic fertilizers, old hay, sodom in the amount of 5-6 kg per 1 m2, or freshly cut and crushed green mass of lupine, oats, rapeseed, mustard or other siderates in the amount of 15-18 kg per 1 m2 can be added for digging. Simultaneously, 50 g of simple superphosphate and 20 g of potassium chloride are added. Approximately half of the mineral fertilizers are evenly scattered over the site and proceed to digging or bayonetting the land to a depth of 35-40 cm. At the same time, during the digging, the earth is cleared of roots and weeds. In places where there is a lot of May beetle, the main attention in digging soil should be turned to a thorough soil release from its larvae and pupae. The second half of the fertilizer is applied after digging and is closed to a depth of 10-12 cm.
Hard to eradicate weed - grassy creeping
Hard to eradicate weed - bindweed of the field
The digging of the site, as well as the preliminary fertilizer, must be performed in the fall to frost so that the land can properlyto freeze during the winter. If, for one reason or another, the digging is carried out in the spring, you should still leave the dug ground for a short time( about a month), so that the loose ground settles somewhat. If the planting is started at the end of the summer, then it can be planted immediately after digging, as the soil is still loose and the plants are taken better and faster. If the strawberries are occupied by a new site, where there is sod, the soil is cooked for a year, loosened and planted for one season vegetable or sideral culture( lupine, mustard).
In order to create a plant-friendly strawberry for the air-water regime of the soil, it is necessary to perform deep pre-plant processing of the soil without carrying out soil horizons that are poor in nutrients.
It is not recommended to plant strawberries in freshly prepared soil, since when settling its roots, the seedlings are bare. It is necessary that the site be without ridges and depressions, well aligned. Therefore, before planting, the soil is carefully cut with rakes, superficially 300-400 g per 1 m2 of nitroammophoski and rolled with a roller.
Gardeners can use prefabricated composts as an organic fertilizer. For their preparation, peat is used, all sorts of plant waste( weeded weeds, fallen leaves, tops from vegetables and potatoes, turf, etc.) and feces. Lay compost in ground heaps in the width of 1.5-2 m. First pour a 15-20-centimeter layer of peat, and on it put in layers of 20-30 cm plant material, which is moistened with a solution of feces, slurry or water. Above the pile cover with peat. Compost should be systematically moistened. The temperature in the compost in the first 5-6 days after their laying rises to 60 ° C, which provides disinfection of feces from helminths and some other pathogens of human diseases. After 2-2.5 months, the compost is shoveled and 1.5% superphosphate is added to it from the approximate weight of the compost. In autumn, the ready compost, representing a relatively homogeneous mass, can be introduced into the soil.
The value of any compost as organic fertilizer is very high, it completely replaces good manure, and with the addition of mineral fertilizers or ashes - even more valuable than manure.
Phosphoric and potash fertilizers can be replaced with ash at the rate of 100-120 g per 1 m2, nitrogenous - well-bred peat extracts in the amount of 10 kg per 1 m2.
Very important for strawberries is wood ash. It contains a significant amount of substances necessary for plant nutrition, namely: 8-13% potassium oxide, 3-8% phosphoric acid and 30-50% calcium. Ash should be stored under the roof, as potassium salts are easily soluble in water and can be washed by rain. You can make ash either before planting or during the growth of strawberries when processing the soil instead of potassium fertilizers.