Growing remontant strawberries: planting and care

In this article, we will consider the agricultural technology of growing remontant varieties of strawberries: planting and care, breeding methods. What needs to be done so that the cultivation of remontant strawberries brings stable yields.

If you translate the word "remontant" (from French) into Russian, you will get "re-bloom". This is the main and most pleasant distinctive feature of remontant strawberries - they delight us with their berries from early summer to late autumn.

The choice of planting material

If you buy seedlings of remontant strawberries, then first of all pay attention to the appearance of the bush. A good planting material is a formed bush with at least 3-4 true leaves, of a "healthy" green color, without any damage. Also, the bush should have a developed root system (at least 6 cm in length) and a large central bud (heart). The larger the heart, the higher the harvest of berries will be for the next planting season.

Growing remontant strawberries: planting site

It is recommended to plant remontant strawberries on flat, possibly slightly inclined to the southwest, sheltered from the wind. Strawberries should not be planted in the lowlands. There is a high probability of developing various diseases, as well as a decrease in yield due to a lack of heat. But the southern parts of the site are also not suitable for planting strawberries. Since after the early melting of snow, the bushes can be affected by recurrent frosts.

An important role for the cultivation of remontant strawberries is also played by the lighting of the area intended for planting. In the shade, strawberries bear fruit less actively, and berries have a sour and watery taste.

The best soil composition for strawberries is loam.

Strawberry precursors

The best precursors for strawberries are dill, radish, lettuce, garlic, peas. After harvesting these crops, the land on which it is planned to plant strawberries in the future is sown with siderates.

Good neighbors for strawberries are parsley, sage, and cucumber herb. But with potatoes, they must be separated, tk. they suffer from similar diseases and are attacked by the same pests.

Growing remontant strawberries: planting

Landing dates

Since the remontant strawberry activates its growth twice a year, in spring and summer, the timing of its planting for the middle zone of our country is, respectively, spring (after the soil warms up to 12 ° C) and the second half of summer (from late July to mid-August) ... But the most optimal time for remontant varieties is still spring. If you plant seedlings in mid-May, then from July to September you can enjoy the first harvest of berries. In addition, a plant planted in spring has more time to take root properly.

Site preparation

The garden bed set aside for the cultivation of remontant strawberries is cleared of weeds and dug up. The earth is well loosened, it should be as light as possible.

Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are used as fertilizers for application to the soil before planting strawberries.

Before planting strawberries, you should also see if there are a large number of wireworm and Colorado potato beetle larvae in the soil, these insects can damage your seedlings.If necessary, you can treat the soil with ammonia water.

The bushes are planted in a prepared hole with a diameter of about 20 cm, on the bottom of which a nutrient mixture of compost, ash and vermicompost is preliminarily placed.

Before planting, the lower leaves of the seedlings are cut off, so the bush will direct all its strength to the survival of the roots. The bush is planted in a hole with a large lump of earth. Pay attention to the position of the heart in relation to the soil surface. It should not be buried, but at ground level.

Planting scheme for remontant strawberries

Strawberries, actively growing in breadth and giving a mustache, are planted in rows. The distance between rows should be 70cm, and between plants in a row - 30cm.

Varieties of remontant strawberries for growing that do not give a mustache can also be planted using the carpet method, observing the distance between plants of 25 cm for small-fruited varieties and 40 cm for large-fruited ones.

After planting seedlings, the soil is mulched. Hay, straw, sawdust, pine needles are suitable as mulch. Moisture is retained better on mulched soil, and the berries do not come into contact with the ground, which reduces the likelihood of infection with various rot.

Planting strawberries on black foil is now popular. To do this, a black film is spread on the already properly cultivated land, cuts are made on it crosswise, and bushes are planted in them. With such a planting, the black film essentially performs the function of the same mulch, providing the necessary moisture and protecting the planting from weeds.

Remaining strawberry varieties for outdoor cultivation

Good harvests in central Russia give the following varieties of remontant strawberries.

• Small-fruited varieties: "Early Kokinskaya", "Alba", "Koketka".
• Large-fruited varieties: "Freska F1", "Elizabeth 2", "Albion"," Marade Bois ".

Plant care

Watering, loosening, weeding

Repair strawberries are sensitive to lack of moisture, especially on hot days. Make sure that the ground is constantly moistened to a depth of about 4 cm.

If you want to get the desired yields, weed the strawberry beds in a timely manner and loosen the soil. Loosening should be done with care so as not to damage the roots and the mustache you need. If the soil was mulched during planting, then this will significantly reduce your labor costs for loosening the soil.

Protection against diseases and pests

Always closely monitor the condition of your plants in order to take the necessary measures to improve the situation in a timely manner.

So, when gray rot appears on the berries (first spots are formed, and then a white fluffy bloom becomes visible), treat the bushes with copper perchloric oxide, and destroy the already affected berries to prevent further development of the disease. This problem is relevant in cold and damp summers.

If strawberry bushes are affected by powdery mildew, use a pale solution of manganese, or colloidal sulfur. Signs of this disease in strawberries are curling and browning of the leaves. Unfortunately, the affected bushes will have to be destroyed in order to avoid the spread of infection.

Top dressing

Due to the fact that remontant strawberry varieties have a continuous fruiting cycle, they need much more nutrients.

The first feeding of strawberries is carried out after the snow cover disappears. It is carried out, as a rule, after pruning the bushes, using nitrogen fertilizers.

Both organic fertilizers (mullein solution, bird droppings) and mineral fertilizers (nitroammofosk) can act as a source of nitrogen.

A good natural source of nitrogen can be infusion of nettle and wormwood. For its preparation, nettle and wormwood are poured with water and insisted in the sun for a week. Then they filter, so as not to bring the seeds of these weeds into the soil, and water the bushes.

The second feeding is carried out during the flowering of the strawberry. Now the bushes need potassium.
For these purposes, pour the potassium nitrate solution on the strawberries (1 tsp.l per 10 l of water, the consumption of working fluid is up to 500 ml for each bush), or spray with a solution of zinc sulfate (no more than 2 g per 10 l of water). You can also use boric acid spraying (5g per 10l).
The next feeding is carried out after the end of fruiting.

As a fertilizer this time, natural dressings are well suited. So, you can scatter wood ash in the root circle of the bushes, and then embed it in the soil, or pour the bushes with an ash solution (1 liter of ash in a bucket of water, leave for several days, and then dilute with water until a light gray color is obtained).

You can also use a yeast solution. To prepare it, dilute 50g of live yeast in 1 liter of warm water with added sugar, leave for 2 hours, before use, dilute with water in a ratio of 1: 5 and pour the strawberries under the root.

Growing remontant strawberries in the open field: getting ready for winter

In late summer - early autumn, all flower stalks are cut from the bushes. And with the onset of freezing temperatures, leaves and whiskers are also cut off. Although many gardeners practice pruning remontant strawberries in the spring.

After pruning, as a preventive measure, you can treat the soil with special agents against various infections, fungal diseases, pests.

To protect the bushes from severe frosts in winter, you can cover them with straw, cut grass, leaves.

Growing remontant strawberries and reproduction

The first and, perhaps, the main way of reproduction of remontant strawberries is with a mustache. Of course, it is suitable for those varieties of strawberries that these very mustaches form. It is with this method of reproduction that the seedlings retain all the varietal characteristics inherent in the mother plant.
Only the first mustache from the bush is suitable as planting material. They are left on the mother bush no more than five. The strongest young bushes with roots are selected for planting.

Another breeding method is by dividing the bush. With this method, the mother bush is divided into several so that each newly obtained bush has enough roots. This method is used at the end of summer. All planting material should be planted by early September, so that the plant has time to take root before the onset of cold weather.

There is also another way to propagate remnant strawberries - by seeds. Planting material with this method will always be absolutely healthy, however, it is also the most labor-intensive method.

Information on the intricacies of planting, care and reproduction of remontant strawberries will help to obtain the desired harvest volumes throughout the season.