Strawberries have excellent taste and aroma, are a valuable dietary food and have medicinal properties. They contain vitamins, provitamins, macro- and microelements, sugars, organic acids. They are used fresh, frozen and processed.
Fresh berries are very useful for the prevention and treatment of diseases of the heart, kidneys, liver, gastritis, stomach and duodenal ulcers, constipation, gout, loss of energy. They have the ability to lower blood pressure and have a good effect on multiple sclerosis. The presence of P-active substances, pectins and folic acid in berries helps to remove radioactive substances from the body, purify and renew blood. The leaves and roots of strawberries also have healing properties.
Strawberries are a perennial herb. The aerial part of this plant consists of leaves, shortened shoots (horns), long cord-like shoots (whiskers) and peduncles. The root system is represented by rhizome and adventitious roots.
This plant is not very hardy. In the Urals, it can die in late November - early December in the absence of snow cover or in April with the onset of frost after the snow melts. Snow cover of 20–25 cm ensures good plant preservation.
An important condition for growing and obtaining annual yields of this crop is the correct choice of varieties and preparation of the site for planting.
Strawberry is a light-loving plant. To plant it, you need to take an open, well-lit, ventilated place.
It is quite demanding on soil fertility. In terms of texture, the best soils for it are light and medium loams. Clay, sandy loam and sandy soils are also suitable for cultivation, but they must first be improved by the introduction of organic fertilizers, up to 20 kg per 1 sq. M. Peaty soils are cultivated by the introduction of clay, 5–8 kg, 250–400 g of lime, 50–60 g of phosphorus-potassium fertilizers per 1 sq. M. To accelerate the decomposition of peat, organic fertilizers are also introduced in a small amount. All this is embedded in a layer 30–40 cm deep. Strongly acidic soils are of little use; it grows well on neutral and slightly acidic soils.
On a strawberry plantation, you need to have 3-4 fruit-bearing areas of strawberries of different ages. As they age, the plantings are grubbed and replaced with vegetables, and the area from under the vegetables is planted with strawberries. If there are no signs of plant damage by strawberry nematode, strawberries should be placed after vegetable crops such as onions, garlic, peas, beans, beans, carrots, beets, radishes, dill, parsley, celery, lettuce and flowers (marigolds, marigolds, petunia , tulips). Cannot be placed - after potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, zucchini.
Garden strawberries are planted in spring, in May, and in the second half of summer, at the end of July, August. The September dates are unacceptable for the Middle Urals. The area allotted for it should be flat or have a smooth slope. The prepared soil for planting should be loose, cleaned of perennial rhizome weeds.
All fertilizers intended for application are divided into 2 parts. One half is brought under digging (on a full bayonet of a shovel), the other is embedded in the soil to a depth of 10–12 cm. On moderately fertile areas, 6–10 kg are applied, on poor areas - 15–20 kg of organic fertilizers (humus, compost) per 1 m2 and add 100 g of superphosphate and 150 g of wood ash.
The best placement is a single line 60–80 cm between rows, 20 cm in a row. Rows are arranged from north to south. If the groundwater is close and water stagnates on the site, strawberries are planted on the ridges. The ridge is made 120 cm wide, 15 cm high and two rows are placed, stepping back from the edge of the ridge to the first row 20 cm.
After breaking up the plot, the twine is pulled (the twine must be portable), along which a groove is always made on one side, which is spilled abundantly and the seedlings are immediately planted into the "mud". The apical bud (heart) should be at ground level.
After planting, the plants are watered (1 liter per bush) and mulched with humus or peat with a layer of 3-5 cm. If there is no rain after planting, then it is necessary to water until the plants take root. As the soil dries up after watering, its surface is loosened.
When planting in spring, the stems that have appeared are removed from the seedlings. In the future, the new plants are weeded, loosened, watered as needed, and excess mustache is removed outside the row, the width of which should be no more than 30 cm at the base of the plants.
In the spring, as new leaves grow, old dried leaves are removed, simultaneously with loosening the top layer of the soil.
If the plants are frozen or were depleted by a bountiful harvest, fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers is carried out, at the rate of 3 g of active ingredient per 1 sq. M.
Watering on fruiting strawberries is carried out before flowering, during the period of filling and ripening of berries, at the end of the harvest and pre-winter watering - with a moisture deficit.
Immediately after harvesting, dried and diseased leaves are removed, whiskers and rosettes are removed, aisles (up to 6–10 cm) are dug up and fed with complex fertilizers at the rate of 4 g of active ingredient nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium per 1 sq. M.
In the absence of snow at the beginning of winter and with a significant drop in temperature, the strawberry plantation is covered with needles, leaves, shavings.
The climatic conditions of the Middle Urals do not allow the full use of introduced varieties from various regions of the Russian Federation and countries of the near and far abroad. At the Sverdlovsk horticultural selection station, the problem of improving the assortment is solved by breeding varieties that combine a high level of adaptation to the local climate.
For planting in amateur gardens of the Middle Urals, strawberry varieties of the station selection are recommended - Orlets, Daryonka, Duet, Watercolor and introduced varieties - Corrado, First Grader, Totem.
Orlets. The variety is winter-hardy, the berries ripen early and amicably. Productivity up to 111 kg per one hundred square meters. Berries have a beautiful elongated-conical shape, bright red, with a neck, shiny. The first berries are up to 25 g, the average weight for the entire harvesting period is 9.7 g. The pulp is red, juicy, dense, with a dessert taste. The berry is dry, does not lose its attractiveness and quality during transportation and storage.
The bush is sparse, which creates good conditions for airing. Due to this, the incidence of gray rot berries in the years of its epiphytotic decreases and the marketable yield increases.
The variety is demanding of a high level of agricultural technology and responsive to good care with the obligatory annual pumping of the bushes, can be grown according to a compacted planting scheme.
Daryonka. The variety is highly winter-resistant, early ripening. Differs in amicability of ripening, quick return of the harvest. Productivity up to 170 kg of berries per one hundred square meters.
The berries are round-conical in shape, with a small neck, dark red, shiny. They are very attractive. The first berry is up to 30 g, the average weight is 14 g. The pulp is dark red, evenly colored, juicy, dense. The taste is excellent. The transportability of the berries is high.
Duet. The variety is distinguished by high yield, early flowering period, and simultaneous ripening of berries. The variety is valued for its high level of adaptation to a complex of unfavorable environmental factors.
In recent years, cases of frost damage to strawberry plants have become more frequent at the beginning of winter, before the establishment of sufficient snow cover and in early spring after the snow melts, due to recurrent cold weather. This led to significant freezing and mass death of the bushes. Under such conditions, the Duet variety shows high winter hardiness.
The berries are large, the first up to 30 g, the average weight is 12.6 g. The shape of the berries is regular, obtuse-conical, without a neck. The color of the berries is red.The pulp is red, juicy, medium-dense. Sweet and sour taste with aroma. Transportability is good. It is weakly affected by gray rot.
Watercolor - winter-hardy, elite seedling. Productivity due to large-fruited is high. The berries ripen together in mid-late periods. The bushes are tall, densely leafy, semi-spreading. The plants have strong peduncles, so the berries do not lie on the ground, which allows for better ventilation and not damaged by rot.
Berries in the first harvest weighing up to 35 g, average weight up to 13 g, truncated-conical shape, flattened from the sides, without a neck, shiny. The color of the berries is red, very elegant. The exterior is impressive.
The pulp is light red, tender, juicy, sweet and sour taste. A very valuable quality is that the berries remain rather large until the last harvest.
Corrado - variety of selection VSTISP (Moscow). The variety is of medium late ripening, winter-hardy. Productivity up to 136 kg per one hundred square meters.
The berries are obtuse-conical, without a neck, aligned, intense red, shiny, very attractive, but not transportable enough. The mass of berries in the first harvest is up to 20 g, the average weight for the entire harvesting period is 16.7 g. The pulp is red, juicy, medium-dense, with a dessert taste.
The variety is by its nature highly productive, the load of the peduncles with the harvest is very large. Due to the instability of berries to gray rot, it is recommended to raise the peduncles on a support at the beginning of flowering.
First grader - a variety of selection of the Research Institute of Horticulture of Siberia (Barnaul). Highly winter-resistant variety, medium late ripening. Productivity up to 160 kg of berries per one hundred square meters. A special feature of this variety is its large fruit size during the first three harvests. In the future, there is a uniform decrease in berries in terms of harvest, while maintaining a beautiful shape, color, presentation. The berries are large, the first up to 40 g, the average weight is 12.8 g. The shape of the first berries is barrel-shaped, the next ones are obtuse-conical. The color of the berries is bright red, with shine. The appearance is spectacular. The pulp is red, medium-dense, sweet and sour.
Over the course of many years of study, the variety is distinguished by a complex of economically valuable traits (high winter hardiness and yield, large-fruited, marketable appearance, resistance to unfavorable factors of vegetation - drought).
The disadvantage of the variety is sensitivity to gray rot.
Totem - a variety of American selection. Medium-hardy, yield up to 70 kg of berries per one hundred square meters. The berries are conical, red, shiny, attractive. The largest berries weigh 25 g, the average weight is about 10 g.
The pulp is red, medium-dense. The taste is sweet and sour, dessert. The transportability of the berries is good.
This variety is valued for its late maturity, it begins to ripen at a time when the main crop of other varieties has already been harvested.
Based on materials from the newspaper "Ural Gardener" No. 18, 2012
