MY REVIEWS ABOUT STRAWBERRY VARIETIES, FEEDING AND CARE TIPS

Sometimes it seems that nothing new can be said about strawberries - so much has been written about them. But this is a misconception: the topic is actually inexhaustible, and even if you do not grow strawberries, read this letter anyway - you will certainly want to plant them at your place!

STRAWBERRY PESTS

This year we have harvested an unprecedented harvest of garden strawberries, which we habitually call strawberries. I think this is due to favorable weather conditions. May turned out to be quite cool and rainy, flowering was abundant, and varieties of different ripening periods bloomed at the same time. Only the latest ones - Malvina and Pandora - began to ripen when the entire crop of the remaining varieties was already harvested. However, in May, there were also minor frosts, as a result of which the centers of some strawberry flowers turned black. As for pests, there were few of them: timely treatment helped.

ALL YOU NEED FOR THIS ARTICLE IS HERE >>>

The strawberry weevil is enemy number one. In early spring, he lays eggs in buds that have not yet blossomed and gnaws

them. Every day I looked for and collected such buds, which helped to reduce the pest population on the site. The fight against the weevil should be started in early spring, as soon as the peduncles begin to emerge.

There is also such a pest as thrips. When the strawberries are affected, the berries remain small and hard, do not pour, but dry, although they remain sweet. As gardeners say, "raisins" the berry. Thrips are very small, but if you blow strongly into the middle of the flower, they scatter, and they can be seen on white petals.

Well, another enemy is the strawberry mite. Its presence is indicated primarily by twisted leaves, which eventually become covered with a yellowish bloom, the affected bushes become dwarf. Bushes heavily affected by this pest are best removed and burned. I fight all pests with biological products that are now on sale. I tried folk remedies, but I realized that they need to be used constantly, since they do not destroy pests, but only scare them away.

SUPPLIES FOR STRAWBERRY - VORONEZH OPTIONS

Now I'll tell you about dressing. Like many people, I prefer green. But I cook them a little differently. I fill a large black plastic bag with freshly picked grass, tie it tightly and leave it in the sun for a couple of days. Then I half-fill a spacious container with this grass and fill it with water to the brim - after two hours you can water it. After such feeding, the plants actively increase the green mass, while there is no unpleasant odor, it smells only of fresh grass.

As for ash, I use it too, but with great care. After all, the soil in the area is alkaline, and the ash contributes to an even greater alkalization, so I use it as foliar dressings.

Many people make the mistake of using ash and superphosphate at the same time. When they are used together, a compound is formed that is inaccessible to plants.

A striking example is the appearance of top rot on tomatoes. It would seem that they put ash in the hole, then they treated the bushes with ash, and thanks to it, the tomatoes will not be affected by the disease, but the ash does not work, it is indifferent to the top rot. Here is the result of the combined use of ash and superphosphate.

But back to strawberries. I mulch it with pine litter - it acidifies the soil, and strawberries, as you know, love slightly acidic soil. For those who have acidic soil, I advise you not to use needles, but deacidify the soil with lime, dolomite flour or ash.

THREE EXPERIMENTS WITH STRAWBERRY IN VORONEZH REGION

I did some experiments last year. One of them is this: on the same bed with strawberries after fruiting and in early spring, I cut off all the leaves, and left the other bed untouched. So, I didn't notice much difference. I draw a conclusion: to cut or not cut the leaves is a purely personal matter for everyone. But correct and timely pruning of leaves helps to rejuvenate unproductive bushes, stop the outbreak and development of fungal and bacterial diseases, and significantly reduce the number of insect pests. For the same purpose, we remove the mulch that has overwintered in the beds in the spring.

Only it is impossible to carry out a complete pruning of remontant strawberry bushes and varieties of continuous fruiting (NCD) - this can significantly reduce their growing season.

The only thing that is needed is to immediately cut off diseased and dried leaves, extra mustache on remontant strawberries, and in the fall - flower stalks that will not give berries until frost, but will take a lot of strength from the plants.

Another experiment of mine. Last season, in mid-July, I sprayed some bushes with boric acid, and in August such varieties as Lord, Zenga-Zengana, Festivalnaya, White Swede and others suddenly bloomed. Later I learned that these varieties are conditionally remontant and give a second crop under favorable conditions. Of course, it was not as plentiful as at the beginning of summer, but the berries were all large and sweet.

I was scared that these fruiting bushes would not give a full harvest next year, but fruiting in August did not prevent the strawberries from planting new flower stalks, and this summer they bore abundant fruit. I was especially pleased with the good old Zenga-Zengana variety: I counted 35 peduncles on one bush alone, and this is about 2 kg of delicious berries!

Next experiment. Last fall, I planted a new variety, California Miracle - I took the first three rosettes from one mustache. As expected, the third rosette did not yield, and the first two did not yield much, with some of the second rosettes yielding better than the first. Now we are waiting for the harvest from the third outlet next year, because there are no "boys" and "girls" in the garden large-fruited strawberry. It's just that the third and subsequent outlets do not have time to lay fruit buds - as a result, there is no harvest. But this is not bad, because according to the rules, all flower stalks must be removed in the first year so that the bush itself grows and develops, and does not waste energy and nutrition on ripening berries.

STRAWBERRY PARADOX

I cannot but pay attention to the article "15 years of science in spite of". Sorry, but in the photo I did not see large berries. This is the result of the fact that strawberries have been growing for 15 years in one place and planted with three to four bushes in one hole. The minimum distance between the bushes should be 9-10 cm. This distance is usually maintained for nesting, when three seedlings are planted in a triangle every 10 cm. Bushes develop and grow not only in height and depth, but also in width.

With a thickened planting, the bushes interfere with each other, develop poorly - and, as a result, small berries. You can't argue with science.

After all, we do not plant other crops in three or four in one hole! By the way, I want to tell you a paradoxical case from my strawberry practice.

When we first purchased the site, and this was at the end of summer, only a few black currant bushes grew on it. It was the most favorable time for growing strawberries. The saplings were given to me by a neighbor, who assured me that she had good, large varieties that had been growing in one place for ten years. Of course, I knew that seedlings should be taken from two-year-old plants, but there was no choice. And in the spring my bushes bloomed and gave a meager harvest of small berries. In the summer, I removed all these bushes, and planted new sockets taken from them. And now they have already given a good harvest of large sweet berries. Now the neighbor has taken the seedlings from me: she never believed that it was from her strawberries that I have such a wonderful harvest! I had to explain that strawberries grow in one place for four years, then their yield drops, the berries become smaller.

True, some large-fruited varieties, such as Chamora turusi (photo 1), Gigantella, Kamrad winner (photo 2), Marshal, Onda, Marmelado, Maxim, have more potential, and they can grow longer in one place without harming the crop. Basically it is litter of a medium late ripening period and the first berries are given in the form of a scallop. Varieties Asia (photo 3), Lord, Jolie, Zephyr, Giant Jorney (photo 4), Skala, California miracle, Clery are of medium ripening and have berries of a more regular, conical shape.

OLD STRAWBERRY VARIETIES AND NEWS

This year I purchased several new large-fruited varieties: Japanese Tsunaki and Kiss Nellis, as well as the old, well-known variety Mashenka. By the way, in the article "How I built horns for strawberries" in No. 18 for 2020, the author describes the Jubilee variety. There is no such sort, however, like the Typhoon. Perhaps the author is referring to the Moscow Jubilee variety, which for some reason is popularly called Mashenka.

Last year, my collection was replenished with remontant varieties of continuous

breakthrough fruiting - Murano, Truffle de Paris, Altes, Crapo 10, Sweet Ann (photo 5), etc. All varieties are worthy, fruiting all summer, before frost, I especially liked Truffle de Paris (photo 6) - fruitful, with a beautiful, dark , an unusually sweet berry. But I will never give up Elizabeth I.

Of the usual varieties, I would like to highlight Mice Schindler - a late variety with a not too large, but very sweet berry with a raspberry flavor. Variety White Swede (photo 7) - medium-early ripening, with a large berry, suitable for allergy sufferers. Surprisingly, this variety is sweeter than some red varieties! I even managed to get acquainted with an agronomist who was at the origin of the reproduction and distribution of this variety in Russia. Since the variety did not have a name, but it was brought by a breeder from Sweden, it was named the Swede.

And, of course, I cannot but mention the Merchant. We have already written a lot about her, I will not repeat myself, I will just say this: if I want the landowners, I go after the Merchant's wife (photo 8). Some people don't like her because she has large bones, uneven berries or a lot of mustaches. But all these disadvantages are compensated by excellent taste.

Now a new variety has appeared - Merchant's Wife improved Gift (photo 9).

I don't know why he is called the Merchant Improved: in my opinion, there is nothing in common with the Merchant, and even outwardly they are very different. Her berries are sweeter, of the correct conical shape, they do not have a green nose, the bushes are more squat, ripens a week earlier, but gives even more mustache. Photo 10 shows the large-fruit team.

Well, it's time and honor to know. I have many more secrets of growing this crop, but I will tell you about them next time. I want to wish good health to all my fellow gardeners. There will be health - there will be crops!