Are you satisfied with how many strawberries you manage to collect from the garden beds per season? If the answer is yes, you can be congratulated as an experienced gardener! In most cases, growing this capricious berry brings nothing but frustration: weeding it is difficult, you constantly have to trim the mustache, remove old leaves, the berries are sometimes small, sometimes watery, or do not ripen at all. But all this can be overcome if you know the basic rules on how to care for strawberries during the spring-summer season.
Caring for strawberries in the spring will be the most labor-intensive, but it will have the greatest impact on the harvest. After carefully tidying up your strawberry beds in the spring, all you have to do in the summer is to ensure that the plants remain healthy and the soil moist and free of weeds. Well, after harvesting, the strawberries will need to be prepared for wintering. Let's look at all stages of care in more detail.
After harvesting, strawberries will need to be prepared for wintering
Clean thawed strawberry bushes from dry, dead leaves, and immediately remove frozen plants. Top layer the soil with which you mulched strawberries in the fall needs to be removed (up to 3 cm) - this way you will further reduce the number of pests that overwintered in the mulch, and in addition provide the root system with warming from sun rays. Avoid the common mistake of adding a thick layer of soil in the spring, otherwise root system will not begin to grow for a long time, which means that the ripening of the berries will be delayed for more late date. If you don’t want to remove the autumn bedding, then thoroughly loosen the soil between the rows of strawberries to a depth of 7 cm.
Video about proper care for strawberries
Caring for strawberries in spring necessarily includes mulching and fertilizing plants:
- after loosening, sprinkle the beds with sawdust, fine straw, peat crumbs or ordinary humus, while simultaneously feeding the plants with nitrogen fertilizers;
- when fresh leaves appear on the bushes, under each plant you will need to add a solution of mullein with the addition of ammonium sulfate;
- in early May, feed the strawberries with complex mineral fertilizers.
To prevent the occurrence of diseases, strawberry bushes and the ground around them will need to be sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate even before the buds open.
Watering strawberries should be once a week in the morning warm water. Before flowering, watering by sprinkling is allowed, and once flowers and berries appear, it is recommended not to get water on the plants themselves. Make sure that no weeds appear in the beds: mulching with sawdust is convenient because weeds simply will not be able to grow through the compacted layer of sawdust, but water and fertilizers will freely pass to the strawberry roots.
Strawberries should be watered once a week in the morning with warm water.
Summer strawberry care includes:
- constant weeding of beds;
- watering once a week;
- carefully inspecting plants for pests or signs of disease;
- timely removal of damaged parts of plants and the strawberry bushes themselves;
- adding sawdust or straw when setting the first berries so that the ripe berries do not become dirty or rot;
- fertilizing before flowering with water with the addition of potassium sulfate and nitrophoska;
- regular collection of ripe berries along with the stalks;
- fertilizing after harvesting until August 10 with water with nitrophoska and wood ash.
In case of heavy rains, you can cover the strawberry bed with film
In case of heavy rains, you can cover the strawberry bed with a film to prevent the plants from becoming waterlogged during flowering and fruiting, otherwise diseases may develop and the berries will become watery.
Preparing strawberries for winter
Having collected the last berries from the strawberry bushes, you can start preparing the plants for a comfortable winter. All leaves of each bush are cut off at a distance of 10 cm from the surface of the ground, as well as all the mustaches. As a result, only stems should remain from the strawberries, but don’t let this scare you - before winter, fresh leaves will still have time to appear, and the plant will become even stronger and survive better. winter cold.
Video about pruning strawberries
One tendril coming from a strawberry bush can be left for propagation by digging the rosette into the soil. From her to next year it will turn out good new bush, from which you will immediately receive berries. By replacing strawberries every two years in this way, you can achieve a constant harvest, and if you also know how to properly care for strawberries, the productivity of your strawberry plantations will increase by at least 15%.
Spray trimmed strawberry bushes with preparations against pests and diseases, and then feed the plants with mineral fertilizers. Prepared strawberries late autumn will need to be re-mulched sawdust, or with a 5 cm layer of peat. Do the filling carefully, trying not to cover the bushes. You will remove this autumn bedding from the garden bed in the spring, ensuring the strawberry roots are warmed by the spring sun.
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The capricious berry needs constant attention; it can be achieved without hassle. good results not possible. To harvest a tasty and rich harvest, you need to know how to care for strawberries in the spring, then the rosettes will be strong and the berries will be large. Experienced gardeners easily cultivate strawberries and know all the intricacies of growing berries all year round.
How to care for plantings in early spring
First of all, after the snow melts, the beds are cleared of debris with a rake, old film, mulch. Last year's mulch should be raked and burned. During the winter it accumulates large number harmful insects, which begin to awaken with the first rays of the sun. Rest assured, having done this work, you will save half future harvest. If it was produced in the fall, then there is no need to remove it.
spring strawberry care, cleaning old leaves
The bushes need to be cleared of dead leaves and cuttings, and dead and diseased rosettes must be removed. It is convenient to use pruning shears while working, this way the growing point will not be damaged, and bad leaves will be neatly cut. There is no need to pour fresh soil onto the beds. In spring, the soil is not warmed up enough, so the development of the root system, and therefore the rosette with leaves, will be postponed to a later date.
spring loosening of the soil around the bush
Loosen the soil between the rows and around the bushes to a shallow depth. This will loosen the soil crust, improve air exchange, and increase the access of oxygen to the roots. Caring for plantings in the spring months involves not only cleaning the beds, but also applying useful microelements For active growth, pest control, frost protection.
Spring treatment of strawberries from pests and diseases
With the arrival of spring, it begins, which plays a significant role if there is a desire to receive good harvest in summer. It is best to prevent the appearance and spread of unexpected inhabitants in advance, so carry out prevention in a timely manner.
To treat plantings in the spring, you don’t have to run to the store and buy expensive drugs. You can use folk remedies in pest control. The most common method is considered strawberry processing hot water , which will help get rid of strawberry transparent mites, sawflies, leaf beetles, pennies and other harmful microorganisms ( water temperature 65 °C).
- Effective folk prophylactic An infusion of garlic with pine needles is considered to be used against diseases and pests. Grind a glass of garlic, add 400 grams of needles (can be replaced pine extract), pour 2 tablespoons boric acid, fill with warm water, leave for a week. Treatment with the product is carried out 3-4 times per season.
feeding strawberries with infusion - pictured
How to fertilize beds in spring
Spring treatment of the ridges includes fertilizers and supplements, which are so necessary for plants for good and active growth after a long winter. In spring the bushes don't have enough nutrients, which were introduced in the fall, since plants can be severely weakened and damaged in winter.
If you know how to properly fertilize rosettes in the spring, you can grow powerful healthy bushes and in the summer collect a generous harvest of berries. First year strawberry it is not fertilized unless fertilizing was applied during planting, but it always needs useful substances and microelements.
Spring feeding is carried out in the last ten days of April, when the air temperature outside is positive and a couple of new green leaves grow on the bushes. You can use ready-made complex mineral supplements, or prepared with your own hands.
organic fertilizer (from nettle) for feeding strawberries
It is better for novice gardeners to use ready-made mineral fertilizers, which contain everything necessary elements for the growth and development of seedlings, the purpose is to provide complete nutrition for plants (Strawberries and Strawberries, Kemira Lux, Ryazanochka, Pokon for strawberries, Vital-Dunger made in Germany). Fertilizers are applied with the arrival of spring and after the final harvesting of berries, at the rate of 20-30 grams per square meter landing
- From organic fertilizers gardeners successfully use infusions of nettles, compost, humus, wood ash, chicken droppings and others. Chicken manure is very similar in composition to mineral fertilizer. It is recommended to apply it not in dry form, but diluted with water. One part of fresh droppings is diluted with 20 hours of liquid, then the strawberries are watered under the bush at the rate of 0.5 liters ready-made fertilizer per plant. Fresh, undiluted chicken manure should not be added to the beds; the plants may suffer severe burns and stop growing.
Feeding with yeast in combination with other organic components is very effective, especially during the period of growth and budding. It is prepared as follows: in an ordinary plastic or metal barrel Approximately 1 kg of wood or grass ash, 3-5 kilograms of mullein or bird droppings, 4-5 rotted straw or leaves, 4-5 humus or compost are laid
Everyone loves strawberries - both children and adults. However, the process of growing berries usually occurs with a number of difficulties, which is due to the specifics of caring for the crop in different periods. For example, not everyone knows how to care for strawberries in the spring.
Caring for strawberries in the spring at the dacha begins immediately after the snow melts from the beds and the soil dries out. Autumn shelters beds are cleaned first in the spring. After this, all debris is removed from the site, and the crops are cleared of last year’s leaves. Old tendrils and dried inflorescences are also cut off. Spring care for strawberries also provides for the elimination of dead individuals. Only after this can the seedlings be planted in unprotected soil.
Cut leaves and dried grass should be burned, as this best way defeat last year's diseases and “drive out” pests. “Clean” bushes should be treated for preventive purposes. It is best to spray with Bordeaux mixture or another copper-containing substance. In the spring, such treatment is carried out twice.
Video “Feeding in spring”
From the video you will learn how to properly feed beds with berries in the spring.
Spring feeding
Growing and caring for strawberries are inseparable from each other. After all, only by properly watering and fertilizing can you reap a rich harvest. Spring is a period when berries especially need fertilizers. After all, they will help individuals quickly “come to their senses” after winter and put out new buds. However, the benefit of fertilizing will only be if the application is timely and the amount of fertilizer is appropriate. An excess of nutrients will make the crop a giant, but such individuals will bloom much later and bear less fruit.
Fertilizing young bushes
Young strawberries planted last year in the spring can be left unfertilized or fed with a solution of a bucket of water, half a liter of chicken manure or cow manure and a tablespoon of sodium sulfate. Each bush is watered with this mixture in the amount of 1 liter.
Fertilizing adult bushes
After 2-3 years, the soil loses fertility, and the plant experiences a lack of nutrients. Therefore, to harvest a rich harvest, you need to know how to process strawberries, as well as when and with what. In spring, you need to process the crop three times:
- after the formation of a couple of leaves;
- before flowering begins;
- during the period of active fruit formation.
For the first time, nutrients should be added at the end of April. Depending on the area and climatic conditions the deadline may change. At this time, it is better to introduce organic matter: mullein or chicken droppings. They are scattered under the roots of each bush, and sprinkled with earth on top (layer - 2-3 centimeters). In addition, it is permissible to prepare a liquid solution. To do this, you need to dilute a liter of manure in a bucket of water. Each individual should be watered with this solution. 
A good option for feeding yeast. They usually contain many useful substances - proteins, amino acids, micro- and macroelements. Yeast as a fertilizer will help the plant grow and the roots to firmly establish themselves in the soil. You need to dilute 0.2 kilograms of baking yeast in half a liter of water and leave for 20 minutes. Afterwards, the finished mixture should be poured into a container with 9 liters of water. Each plant must be watered generously with the prepared mixture.
Growing and caring for large-fruited strawberries in the spring involves the following application of fertilizers during the flowering of the strawberries. During this period, it is worth feeding the plant with minerals.
These substances have a significant positive influence on taste qualities and berry size. As a result, the strawberries will be sweet and large.
It is better to apply the next fertilizer after flowering has ended. During this period, the culture is watered with a solution that consists of 2 tablespoons of nitrophosphate, 1 tablespoon of potassium and a bucket of water. Ready solution Each bush is watered at the root. For each individual, only half a liter of the mixture is enough.
Today there is a huge range of products on the market mineral fertilizers, which are easy to buy at specialized points of sale. However, they are used only according to the instructions indicated on the packaging. Any violation of the recommendations may destroy the plant or make it impossible to eat its fruits. Particular attention should be paid to the doses of fertilizer and under no circumstances should they be violated. 
Foliar feeding
Strawberry care in spring The advice of experienced gardeners suggests that in the spring you can fertilize not only the strawberry root, but also the berry bush itself.
Growing strawberries involves spraying the plant with a solution containing nitrogen or organic matter. Such feeding has a positive effect on the growth of crops and increases their ovaries. Spraying helps useful solutions absorbed directly into the leaves, which accelerates the positive effect.
It is best to spray the bush in the evening, when there is no wind or precipitation. 
There are 2 types of mineral fertilizers: highly mobile and low mobile. The first group usually includes phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and nitrogen. They are perfectly absorbed into as soon as possible. Such substances enter the roots, leaves of the plant and their buds. The second group consists of iron, boron, copper and manganese. These substances are absorbed more slowly and do not give effect as quickly. That is why you need to spray very carefully so that the beneficial substances reach their destination.
So, summer cottage plot – great option for growing strawberries. But only if the gardener knows what to do with strawberries in the spring. After all, growing strawberries has its own characteristics, which everyone who decides to start growing it should know.
Video “Care”
From the video you will learn how to care for strawberries.
Strawberry care early spring
Spring care of strawberries ensures the success of the future harvest by 80%, which is why it is so important to help the plant recover after a long winter.
Caring for strawberries in early spring
Experienced gardeners know how to care for strawberries in the spring. The process typically includes the following activities:
- first they wait until the threat of frost has passed and the bushes have finally “thawed out”;
- then remove dry and frozen leaves;
- remove the layer of mulch laid in the fall - this will allow the root system to warm up faster and the plants to grow;
- the final stage is weed removal and loosening.
As you can see, the procedure is simple, but processing strawberries in early spring is simply necessary, otherwise they will not bear fruit. bountiful harvest.
Spring fertilizing of strawberries - what to fertilize with
When the spring processing of strawberries is completed, including basic care procedures, you can begin feeding the plants in your area.
The further south your region is, the earlier you need to start fertilizing:
- for areas with mild winters and a warm climate, for example, Moscow, this is done in mid-late April;
- for northern zones, including the Urals - a little later, approximately in mid-May.
For these activities to be effective, it is important to clearly know the flowering time of the varieties that grow on your site and understand how to care for strawberries.
The fact is that if you fertilize the plants too early, the beneficial substances will quickly go into the soil, and during the flowering period the bushes will not get anything. If strawberries are fertilized later than necessary, the harvest may be delayed, or even be meager.
In addition, it should be taken into account that different soils this culture may respond differently to tuk. This is understandable, because the composition of the soil can differ significantly in different areas, and sometimes even in the same area. Therefore, you should carefully consider the choice of fertilizing composition that is planned to be used for processing strawberries in the spring.
Tuki are mineral substances that saturate the soil. Mixed into soil to restore nutrients necessary for plants for proper development, since over time they are depleted, especially when growing vegetable crops
What fertilizers are needed for strawberries?
The main minerals necessary for strawberry growth are primarily potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus:
- Nitrogen is responsible for the taste of berries and their size, but its excess, on the contrary, makes the fruit less sweet. With a deficiency of this mineral, the leaves turn red.
- Potassium is very important when feeding strawberries in the spring, because its content in the berries increases their shelf life and increases their sugar content and sweetness. If you notice that the tips of the leaves on the bushes have turned yellow, you should know that the plant clearly lacks potassium.
- Phosphorus takes part in the processes of growth and development of roots; its deficiency has a bad effect on the endurance of the plant. A lack of phosphorus is manifested by leaves turning dark green or reddish.
There are inorganic fertilizers:
- nitrogen: ammonium nitrate, urea;
- potassium: potassium sulfate, potassium nitrate;
- phosphorus: superphosphates.
Organic fertilizers for strawberries in the spring contain nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and are also environmentally friendly. They have a positive effect on soil properties and growth, although the berries do not grow as large as when applying inorganic fertilizers.
These include:
- wood ash;
- manure;
- humus;
- chicken droppings.
There are also complex fertilizers- more often ready-made mixtures containing a balanced complex of useful substances. They should be used according to the instructions on the package, which indicate the timing of application and dosage.
Here are some of them:
- Ammophos;
- Diammophos;
- Nitroammofoska;
- Nitrophoska.
Complex ones are the most convenient, but if you prefer to set your own fertilizing rates, remember that fertilizers are applied in combination: that is, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus in combination with each other. Only nitrogen, if necessary, is added separately, since it is especially important to regulate its content in the soil.
Periods and methods of applying fertilizer for strawberries
During the season, strawberry beds need 3 feedings at different periods of their development:
- It is best to apply the first fertilizer for strawberries in the spring, when heavy soil is behind. winter time, and ahead is the season of active flowering and fruiting;
- Then - immediately after harvesting;
- Final stage- fertilizing strawberries in the fall, around mid-September, to help the bushes resist diseases, pests, and endure the winter well.
Remember that this crop usually grows in one place for 4 years in a row, then the old bushes need to be replaced with young ones.
Fertilizer application depending on the life cycle of strawberries
In the first year, young strawberries, as a rule, are not fertilized, since fertilizing is applied to the soil immediately before planting the bushes.
In the second year, the following potassium-phosphorus mixture will help to care for strawberries in the spring, before flowering: humus and water 5:1, add 150g of potassium sulfate (or potassium nitrate) and 60g of superphosphate. Consumption - 1 bucket per 3-4 m (watering into the furrows of the rows). In the future potassium-phosphorus fertilizers applied again in the second half of the growing season in the same dosage.
Nitrogen fertilizers may not be added this year if they were already added during planting. It is also not recommended to apply them in the spring, before flowering, as this will negatively affect fruiting.
Fertilizing with nitrogen later than August worsens the winter hardiness of plants. But after harvesting, you can just add:
- ammonium nitrate: it is either scattered on the site at the rate of 1 kg per 100 sq.m., or diluted in water (20-30 g per 10 liters of water), which is used to water the site at the rate of 0.5 liters per plant. When watering, make sure that the solution does not get on the leaves.
- urea in a dosage of 1 tablespoon of dry fertilizer per bucket of water, solution consumption - 0.5 liters per bush.
In the third or fourth year, caring for strawberries consists of feeding only organic fertilizers in the above ways.
Strawberry care in spring. Fertilizing with organic fertilizers
If you grow strawberries in small quantities “for yourself”, and the farm has a sufficient amount of manure and bird droppings, then it is quite possible to get by only with organic fertilizers.
Manure, humus, chicken droppings, and wood ash are natural sources of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. It is enough to fertilize strawberries with them once at the beginning of the season at spring treatment, throughout all 4 years of growth.
- Manure and humus are simply scattered around the area after cleaning the beds in the spring, consumption is no more than 5 kg per 1 sq. m. m, then the soil should be loosened.
- How to treat strawberries with wood ash in the spring: you can do it dry, pouring a handful under each bush, or diluted - 1 glass of ash per 1 liter hot water, let it brew for a day, then bring the water to 10 liters, and water at the rate of 1 liter of solution per 1 sq.m. land.
- It is more convenient to use chicken manure in a solution: 0.7 liters of fresh manure per 10 liters of warm, settled water. The solution consumption is 10 liters per 6-8 bushes for a mature plant, and 24-26 for a young one.
Bottom line
So what to do with strawberries in spring? Care and feeding are what is necessary for the full growth of this beloved garden culture. She can't do without additional food, which will significantly increase productivity, resistance to diseases, pests, and adverse environmental factors.