Features of planting and care for strawberries Marshmallows
Among the many varieties of strawberries, frost-resistant and unpretentious varieties are especially popular among gardeners. These varieties include strawberries Zephyr - Danish breeding berry with the earliest possible ripeness. Read more about it in our material.
Description and Characteristics of Strawberries Marshmallows
To figure out how to grow Strawberry Marshmallows in your area or in a greenhouse, you first need to learn more about all the characteristics and properties of the berry, as well as to understand what its features and advantages over other varieties are.
Fruits and Yields
Strawberry Marshmallow refers to large-fruited crops. Its flesh is tender and sweet, without voids. The weight of one berry is from 40 to 60 g. The color is saturated red, the seeds are yellow-green in color. Productivity is high: even despite the fact that the bushes are small, a summer resident can collect up to 1 kg of berries from one bush. All of them ripen at the same time and due to the structure of the stem do not fall to the ground.
Grade Features
Among the features of the variety, a small bush can be distinguished, which, however, bears fruit well; resistance to cold and immunity to diseases, as well as unpretentiousness to the composition of the soil. Marshmallows are often chosen specifically for industrial breeding, to conduct their own business. These berries are unique in endurance, and only a few varieties can compete with them.
Winter hardiness
Strawberries Marshmallows are resistant to frost and tolerates them well, but with the condition that a rather high layer of snow lies on the surface of the earth. If winter is with severe frosts, but little snow falls, the variety will not survive the cold. With a sufficient snow layer, the plant is able to survive frosts up to -35 ° C.
Important! At the roots, survivability is maintained at temperatures up to -10 ° C.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
Like any variety, Strawberry Zephyr has its pros and cons.
- The following qualities are attributed to the advantages of Zephyr gardeners:
- a large weight of berries;
- their fineness is constant throughout the season, in contrast to grinding in other varieties;
- high taste characteristics;
- resistance to cold;
- resistance to parasites and diseases;
- early fruiting (if planted in a greenhouse) - already at the end of April the breeder will be pleased with the first crop;
- on the ground with good care and a moderate degree of darkness, the crop can be harvested before the end of August;
- in the first year of planting comes into bearing.
- The disadvantages of the variety gardeners include:
- the variety’s love for partial shade (in open ground with strong sun the plant may die);
- poor resistance to drafts.
Did you know? In the homeland of the variety, in Denmark, strawberries are very popular. During the period of active fruiting, Danes practice strawberry self-collection - they go to the fields as families, pick berries and hand them to farm owners, who pay for the picking services.
Growing Features
When growing strawberries of the Zephyr variety, attention should be paid to the climatic conditions in which it will grow, as well as to the soil.
Climatic conditions
Like any summer berry, Zephyr loves the sun, but in moderation. The ideal time for planting seedlings in the ground is the period of the end of April. The first crop ripens after 3 months, after which the bushes are prepared for wintering.
The variety does not like the bright sun, therefore, the ideal place on the site for this strawberry is the partial shade side with moderate airflow, in no case a draft or a site with direct sunlight.
Seedling soil
For strawberry seedlings, Zephyr is suitable for medium acid soil, and humus is added to the soil before soil planting. The amount of compost applied per 1 m² should not exceed 5 kg. After making it, the earth should be loosened well and only then plant seedlings.
It would be ideal if cabbage or beets grew on the plot before planting the seedlings. Learn how to grow strawberries in winter.
Landing Features
When planting strawberries, Marshmallows need to know how to choose the right seedlings, when to plant it and by what technology.
Choosing the best seedlings
Many gardeners buy ready-made strawberry bushes and plant them in the ground. Healthy seedlings have fully colored leaves, pure monophonic stems.
Before planting, the plants are "accustomed" to the soil (they put the boxes with seedlings in a cool place so that they receive a signal for active development - a plant in a cool way naturally perceives such a temperature as the onset of spring). After several weeks in a cool room, you can start planting in open ground.
Important! When planting, take the bushes from the box along with large clods of earth. So the plant can easily tolerate the change of soil.
Landing time
The ideal time is the end of April. In this case, by the end of July, the farmer will receive the first harvest of delicious and healthy strawberries. If the landing in April did not take place, you can transfer it to the end of August. This is usually done in the southern latitudes.
Landing pattern and technology
The distance between the rows of marshmallows Zephyr should be 60 cm. The distance between the bushes - 45 cm. Plant plants in an open, moderately shaded area. The depth of the hole for one bush is not more than 25 cm.
A little water is poured into the dug hole, then a bush is placed, the roots are straightened, and then the root system is covered with earth. After planting the bush, you should water the soil again so that the water reaches the roots. It is advisable to sprinkle freshly planted strawberries with coniferous mulch.
Proper plant care
To strawberry Marshmallow brought a good harvest, you need to properly care for the plant throughout the growing season.
Watering and feeding
Excessive moisture marshmallow variety Zephyr does not like. Culture prefers moderate watering and a small shadow. As a top dressing, humus is introduced into the soil before planting strawberries. The use of chemical fertilizers is advisable in large areas, the harvest from which is the main way the farmer earns. Twice a month, phosphate and potassium salt solutions are introduced into the ground.
Soil care
Timely weed harvesting is a basic rule of soil care. All varieties of strawberries love weed-free soil, and Marshmallows are no exception.
To slow the growth of weeds, a basal shelter from coniferous mulch is used. Instead of needles, you can use straw or dry mowed grass. Please note that all the time from planting to the end of the fruiting season during the onset of cold weather, strawberry bushes need to be watered, mulched, harvested weeds, fed and trimmed tendrils so that the beds do not turn into thickets. In such thick beds it will be very difficult to harvest.
Did you know? Strawberry perfectly removes age spots and freckles. In addition, she has the ability to whiten the skin and even teeth.
Diseases and Pests
Marshmallows - a variety that is most resistant to diseases and pests. Even before flowering, it is advisable to treat the bushes with chemical agents from parasites and rot. An additional preventive measure against diseases is the absence of weeds in the rows of plants. Weed grass is almost always the "home" for parasites, so the soil protected by a layer of mulch guarantees not only slow weed growth, but also the health of the bushes in general. To destroy slugs, ticks, nematodes and weevils, such means as Inta-Vir, Karbofos, and Karate are used. In autumn, the plant is sprayed with solutions in which ash or vinegar is mixed (for 10 liters of water, 200 ml of vinegar or 3 kg of ash).
Harvesting and storage of crops
The berries of this variety are harvested in the usual way: they are picked together with green tails and a small part of the stem. Strawberries are placed in plastic boxes or in baskets. Ideally, if the tank is ventilated due to openings in the lower part. The density of the berry ensures that garden strawberries are not damaged during transportation. Even after washing, the berries do not “flow”, as is usually the case with milder varieties.
Observing all the rules for growing and caring for the Zephyr strawberry variety, you can get a rich harvest of berries with high taste. Garden strawberries are well stored and retain their beneficial properties even after freezing. It is suitable for long transportation and is great for making fruit salads, jams, preserves or strawberry pastille.
