How to plant strawberries and to care for her, to get a large crop of excellent berries? Here are five key components of success.
The right choice of beds. One of the most important decisions of a green thumb is not what he wants to plant strawberries, and where he is going to do. The area for planting the strawberry plants should not be located on the southern slope, where the snow melts earlier than in other places of the site, leaving the plants without protection in the spring frosts. Also, do not position the bed in the lowlands, due to excessive coolness or highly susceptible to wind place, for the same reason. A bed to align and make a small slope to the southwest. The location of the area for strawberries in a few years need to change. The more bushes to plant, the harvest will be smaller. The optimal distance between seedlings and 40-50cm.
Selection of seedlings. Selecting plants it is necessary to pay attention to attractive, well-developed root system, fairly large plants. When landing it is necessary to shorten the roots to inches and to place them vertically in the soil.
Site preparation and planting plants. To prepare the beds thoroughly to remove weeds, dig over the soil several times, treated with ammonia solution to destroy insect larvae. Spring to produce mulching the area with compost, spread on top of agrotextile or roofing. In the material to make holes through them into the soil to plant strawberry bushes. This is to ensure that in the garden grew only berries, no weeds. With the same purpose, to plant the strawberries in the soil, and then mulch of dried pine needles.
Fertilizing and watering. You do not need much to fill in the area with seedlings of strawberries, but also to prevent the drying of the soil also should not be. Fertilize and special integrated nitrogen fertilizing is necessary several times a season.
Preparing for the winter. The best protection for berries in winter, will serve as a snow cap. But while the snow still fell, late in the fall to make soil mulching around the bushes and cover the strawberries with a thin layer of straw. In the spring of of excess coating to remove.
