Correctly planting strawberries in open ground is not as easy as it seems at first glance. There are many nuances associated with the timing, preparation and direct landing process. Regarding the issue of planting care, the gardener should study in advance information on the proper cultivation of the crop in order to prevent mistakes. Further in the article - about how to plant a crop in open ground, what period and conditions for planting to choose, and how to properly care for plantings.

Features of garden strawberries

Garden strawberries - a perennial herb from the genus Strawberry. Scientific name - Pineapple Strawberry. The plant looks like a compact bush with bright green triple leaves. Petioles have an average length of 23 cm. Before setting fruits on the bushes, white buds with five petals bloom. Flowers are collected in multi-flowered inflorescences. Most varieties of strawberries are characterized by bisexual flowering.

Did you know? The three world leaders in industrial production of strawberries include China, the USA and Mexico.

Harvest strawberry bushes - berries, in botany they are called multi-roots. The color of strawberries in most cases is red, only shades vary - from maroon to pink. The pulp is reddish or white. In addition, there are hybrid varieties with white berries. On the surface of the fruit are seeds. Grains are also called real fruits or nuts.

Landing methods

The classic strawberry planting methods are single-line and two-line. Seedlings planting schemes are as follows:

Landing type	The distance between seedlings, cm	The distance between the rows, cm
Single line	fifteen	60
Two-line	twenty	thirty

Culture can be planted in other ways. Agronomists distinguish options for trapezoidal or vertical beds, film tunnels, planting in plastic bags.

Single and double row strawberry planting

Trapezoidal beds

The essence of the trapezoidal beds - in landing on an elevation from the ground. A platform is built from the soil and strengthened with a wooden frame. The basis of such beds can be a mixture of land with small branches and dry grass. From above the structure is covered with agrofibre with slots in which seedlings are planted. The method is preferred in areas where groundwater is closer than 0.8 m to ground level.

Film tunnels

In regions with extreme frost, it is recommended to build film tunnels. For construction, arcs are placed above the beds and a polyethylene shelter is pulled. Thus, a small greenhouse is obtained, which protects the plantings from cooling.

Did you know? Strawberry is a cultivar of wild strawberries. Cultivated varieties were bred in the Netherlands in the 18th century.

The design makes it possible to maintain an optimal microclimate for plantations, in particular, temperature and humidity. If a lot of moisture accumulates and condensation settles on the walls, the film tunnel must be opened for ventilation.

Plastic bags

Planting seedlings in plastic bags provides planting mobility. Bushes can be moved to another place without harm to the culture. For planting, plastic bags are filled with fertile soil. Strawberries are looked after, as during a normal planting - they are fertilized, watered, and the soil is loosened. The downside of the method is the insufficient supply of the root system with oxygen.

Vertical bed

In a small area, strawberries can be planted vertically. For the construction of vertical beds using ready-made structures and slides. You can also make vertical structures from pipes, plastic bottles or barrels. The appearance and shape of such beds depends on the wishes and fantasies of the gardener.

Planting strawberries in the open ground

Landing in open ground is associated with a number of nuances. First of all, the gardener should decide on the timing and plot. Further, it is important to study the technology and rules of autumn and spring planting.

Important! The air temperature at the time of transplanting should be +15 ... + 25 ° С.

What time to plant

Planting dates depend on the region of cultivation. Depending on the climate, seedlings can be planted in spring, summer or autumn.

Southern areas	beginning of September
Middle lane	end of March - mid-April; beginning of August - end of September
Northern areas	end of May - beginning of July

Soil for strawberries

The survival and growth of the bushes is affected by the quality of the soil. Strawberries love two types of substrate:

1. Loamy . Belongs to the fertile. Soil passes air well due to friability and quickly warms up under the sun. Due to the presence of clay in the loam, moisture is well retained.
2. Sandy loam . Sandstones easily pass water and oxygen to the roots of the plant. This allows the rhizome to develop better. The substrate dries quickly, which is why a crust does not form on the surface.

Also pay attention to other indicators of soil. Soil acidity is important - pH should be 5.5-6.6, which indicates neutral or weak acidity. Groundwater should lie at a level no closer than 0.8 m to the ground.

If the soil on the site (or the terrain itself) is not suitable enough for planting a crop, its composition can be changed independently. The table below shows how to adjust the plot:

Problem	How to fix
Heavy clay soil	Make sand or sawdust
High acidity peaty soil	When digging, add dolomite flour or lime
Substrate with too low acidity	Add peat to the soil
Groundwater above 0.8 m above ground level	Plant seedlings on bulk trapezoidal beds

Planting strawberries in spring

For spring planting should be prepared in the fall. 6 months before the estimated planting time, dig the soil and apply a mixture of humus and wood ash. If preparation is not carried out in the fall, top dressing can be applied directly to the wells. When choosing a classic pattern for spring planting, it is preferable to use a two-line pattern.

Read more about planting strawberries in spring.

Planting strawberries in autumn

With autumn planting, training is carried out in a few weeks. Fertilizers are also introduced into the soil - humus and wood ash. For better wintering, bushes should be planted more densely than during spring planting. It is optimal to choose a single line circuit with a distance of 15 cm from each other.

Otherwise, the technology of autumn and spring planting is the same:

1. Treat the root system of the strawberry bush with a clay mash.
2. Dig holes to a depth of 10 cm.
3. Pour 0.5 L of water into each well.
4. Place the seedlings in the holes and dig to the level of the root neck.

After planting, water the bushes.

Strawberry Care

To get a delicious berry crop, the plantings must be properly looked after. Mandatory crop care includes pruning, watering, fertilizing and transplanting.

How to crop

For plantation health, strawberry bushes should be pruned regularly. The procedure is carried out 4 times a year:

Pruning time	How to crop
In the spring at the beginning of the growing season	Nip off old leaves
Summer	Remove excess sockets and damaged leaves
After harvest	Trim old leaves
Before wintering	Cut sick foliage

An important feature of pruning is to pinch off the leaf so that a small part of the petiole remains. Removing the kidneys is not recommended.

How to water

The recommendations for irrigation are largely influenced by the type of soil. So, loams are watered less often than sandy loam due to better moisture capacity. Average watering rules are as follows:

• in cool weather without precipitation - every 2-3 days, 6 l per 1 m²;
• in a warm period without precipitation - every day, 6.5 l per 1 m²;
• in the heat - every day, 8–9 liters per 1 m².

Important! It is not worth watering the bushes in warm periods with a large amount of rainfall - with waterlogging, the development and spread of fungal infections is possible.

After each watering, loosen the soil between the rows. It is necessary to fluff up the soil even after rain. The procedure is especially important for loamy substrates. Loams are quickly taken by the crust, if the soil is not loosened in time.

Fertilizer

Strawberry dressing is performed at certain stages of development, when the bush needs individual trace elements.

An approximate feeding calendar is shown in the table below:

The timing	Recommended Substances
The beginning of vegetation in the spring	Liquid manure, bird droppings, urea, ammonium nitrate
Before flowering	Potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, potassium salt, Kalimagnesia, nitroammofoska, wood ash
At the time of ovary formation	Boron solution (2 g per 10 l of warm water), spraying
When ripening fruit	A mixture of mullein, wood ash and nitroammofoski, humic products
After picking berries	Wood ash, dry phosphorus-potash fertilizers, compost, liquid mullein

Transfer

With proper development, strawberry bushes are overgrown with new horns or rosettes. Because of this, over time, planting thicken. In addition, during the growth in one place, the culture depletes and depletes the soil. Bushes receive insufficiently useful elements from the soil, and berries, therefore, are smaller. To avoid the problem, the bushes must be replanted.

Learn more about how and when to transplant strawberries to another place.

Transplant dates are indicated in the characteristics of a particular variety. On average, garden strawberries are transplanted 3 years after planting. The procedure can be carried out:

• in April;
• in July - August;
• in September - October.

For most varieties, strawberry bushes in early autumn are considered optimal.

Types of propagation of strawberries

Strawberries can be propagated in three ways: mustache, dividing the bush or seeds. Each of the methods has its own nuances.

Read also our e-magazine on strawberry cultivation.

Mustache Strawberry Propagation

Strawberry bush is also called a uterine bush. In the process of development, he lets out a mustache. These are elongated shoots from which subsequent sockets grow. The appearance of the mustache and the structure of the bush - in the photo below:

Mustache propagation is a popular strawberry breeding method. The procedure is easy to do with your own hands. The process of reproduction is carried out according to the following technology:

1. Mark bushes with large ovaries of one-dimensional fruits.
2. Prepare pots with fertile soil.
3. Make a recess in the substrate and moisten it.
4. Plant the first outlet in a pot without cutting it off from the uterine cut.
5. Nip off the remaining mustache on the bush.
6. Subsequent sockets on the rooted mustache must also be removed.
7. When 5 leaves develop on the outlet, separate the new bush from the mother plant and transplant it to a permanent place.

Reproduction by dividing the bush

If a strawberry lets out few mustaches or doesn't let them at all, it can be propagated by dividing the bush. You can divide the plant for 3 years after planting a seedling. Often this method is used during transplantation in order to simultaneously change the planting location and propagate bushes. The breeding technology is as follows:

1. Dig a bush before the growing season or after picking the fruit.
2. Divide the plant so that on each part there are 3 leaves and a whole horn.
3. Transplant individual parts to new places according to the standard scheme.

Seed propagation of small-fruited remontant strawberries

The seed propagation method is more suitable for professionals. The method is more time consuming and complex than breeding a mustache or dividing a bush. The disadvantage of seed propagation is that daughter plants often do not inherit varietal characteristics.

Important! By the time of transplantation, the air temperature should be + 25 ° С. It is advisable to plant seedlings in open ground in May. In heated greenhouses, year-round cultivation is possible.

The technology for breeding seeds is as follows:

1. Remove grains from the skin of berries with any convenient method - a toothpick, tweezers or other tools.
2. Dry the planting material.
3. Fill the container with a fertile substrate.
4. Place the seeds on the ground, being careful not to sprinkle them.
5. Moisten spray crops.
6. Place the container in a warm place.
7. Periodically moisten the soil with a spray gun.
8. When seedlings with 3 leaves grow, dive bushes on separate slides.
9. Keep watering the plantings.
10. Shrubs with 6 leaves transplanted in open soil.

Even an inexperienced gardener can afford to plant strawberries - just know the basic characteristics of the culture and the principles of planting bushes. With the right planting and care of the plantations, the farmer will definitely receive a rich harvest as a result.