How to care for strawberries in spring after winter: tips and rules for spring care

Almost everyone, without exception, loves strawberries, so there is a berry bed in almost every summer cottage. But not all summer residents manage to collect decent harvests every year, because garden strawberries (strawberries) are a rather capricious culture that requires a lot of attention and care. So, one of the reasons for poor yields is improper care or even lack of spring care.

How do you need to care for strawberries in spring so that they will please you with a rich harvest this season?

Well, let's understand the main stages and rules of spring care for garden strawberries.

When to start work on a strawberry garden in spring: when to start caring for strawberries in different regions

Work with strawberries in the spring on the site begins immediately after the snow melts.

Depending on climatic conditions, the timing of the beginning of spring events varies significantly.

And in order to properly care for strawberries (regular and remontant) in spring, it is necessary to take into account the climatic features of growing crops in different regions and, accordingly, start spring work on time:

• So, in the southern regions, they start caring for a strawberry bed in early spring - in mid-March, immediately after the ground dries up a little.
• In the Central lane (Moscow region), after winter, they begin to care for strawberry bushes much later - in the second half of April.
• In the Northwest (in the Leningrad region), as well as in the Urals and Siberia, spring care for garden strawberries begins towards the end of April-beginning of May.

How to care for strawberries in spring: basic activities

Despite the different start times of work, the scheme of spring strawberry care activities is approximately the same.

So what should you do with strawberries in the spring to get a good and tasty harvest?

The composition of measures for caring for strawberries in spring includes the following:

1. opening after winter (removal of the winter shelter);
2. trimming;
3. loosening and weeding;
4. watering;
5. mulching;
6. top dressing;
7. treatment against pests and diseases.

Video: what is important to do for strawberries in spring

Opening bushes after winter

It is necessary to remove the shelter from the strawberries in the spring when all the snow has completely melted and melted. At this moment the plot cleaned of mulch laid in autumn, and also removed from the beds all the remaining trash (it is very convenient to do this using a fan rake).

Together with organic residues, you will get rid of many insect pests and fungal spores left over after wintering. In addition, open soil warms up faster with the sun's rays, which stimulates the plant to start growing.

Note! Do not be very upset if several plants pulled out of the ground during the cleaning and cleansing of the beds. Most likely they were very weak or sick. Healthy bushes are usually well rooted and not easy to pull out.

Pruning

Pruning correctly in spring will help you tidy up your strawberries in spring.

Advice! How to do it right trim strawberries in spring, you can read more inthis article.

So, in order for the bushes to develop normally and hurt less, immediately after opening them, they must be examined for damage and foci of disease (especially fungal ones, which you can identify by spots on the leaves). And then remove any dried, damaged or diseased leaves strawberries.

All dry and diseased leaves collected after spring pruning must be burned.

If you do not plan to propagate strawberries, then all the whiskers that appeared last year should also be removed so that the plant directs all its forces to laying flower buds, which means that in the future you will get a good harvest.

Important! Strawberry leaves should be cut very carefully so as not to catch the heart and healthy young plates. Due to such damage, the plant will be sick for a long time and may even die.

And of course, pruning should only be done with a sharp pruner or scissors.

Video: pruning strawberries in spring

By the way! More detailed information regarding trimming strawberries in spring waiting for you in this article.

Loosening and weeding

Then you can proceed to loosening the soil and weeding (simultaneously)... The purpose of this garden manipulation is aimed not only at improving aeration (so that the soil and, accordingly, the roots of the plant "breathe") and water permeability of the soil, but also at retaining moisture in the soil layers.

Important! It is necessary to loosen the soil around the bushes very carefully, since most of the roots of strawberries are located at a depth of less than 5 cm (it has a rather shallow root system). Therefore, near the bushes, the soil is loosened with a small hoe.

If in some places the roots are slightly bare after winter, they are slightly huddled (sprinkled with earth). Young plants, which were slightly sucked into the soil during the winter, and their growing point was in the ground, are slightly raked.

In the process of loosening and weeding, it is important not to cover young leaves with soil.

By the way! If you fundamentally do not mulch the beds and your strawberry bushes literally "drown" in weeds, then you should try using herbicides (weed killers), for example, the same Lontrel-300D.

Watering

If the snow has melted for a long time, the soil has dried out, there is no precipitation and the bed is dry, then at this very moment the garden strawberries really need watering.

It is especially important to water the strawberries in a timely manner in the spring if you have rather old bushes (2-3 years old), in which, as a rule, the "heart" has risen above the ground, which means that it is very dry.

By the way! As mentioned in the previous paragraph "Loosening and weeding", such bushes must be additionally sprinkled with earth, covering the "hearts".

In the future, in the spring, strawberries are watered with slightly warm water, in the morning or in the evening once a week. Before the first flower appears, the garden bed is moistened by sprinkling. And during the period of flowering and fruit setting, since moisture ingress on the aboveground part is undesirable, watering is carried out exclusively at the root, or a drip irrigation system is used.

Mulching

To reduce moisture evaporation and prevent weed growth, in the spring they produce mulching strawberry bedsa thin layer of sawdust, straw or fertile soil - humus, compost, peat, vermicompost.

Advice! More details about mulching strawberries in spring and read in autumn in this material.

As a rule, the berries that lie on the mulch look much more attractive, they rot less often, they do not need to be washed, which significantly increases the shelf life.

Also, strawberries are often grown under a covering material, usually black.

By the way! As for strawberries already planted in a covering material (spunbond), then in the spring it does not need to be removed, but only dry and damaged leaves should be cut off.

By the way! More details about mulching strawberries in spring and read in autumn in this article.

Top dressing

The next major step in the proper care of strawberries in spring is enriching the soil with nutrients.

Note! You should not rush to the first feeding. You can start feeding garden strawberries only at a soil temperature of at least + 8-10 degrees. At a lower level, the roots do not absorb and assimilate fertilizers.

Complex mineral and organic fertilizers are used as top dressings for garden strawberries. And for greater efficiency, the plants are alternately pampered with both root and foliar dressings.

Advice! The site already has detailed materialabout spring feeding strawberries.

By the way! It is convenient to combine the first feeding of strawberries in spring with watering.

Naturally, it is important to know what fertilizers are best for watering strawberries in spring in order to get a good harvest.

As a rule, in early spring, under strawberry bushes, they first of all bring nitrogen fertilizers (for a set of green mass), for example, urea (carbamide), ammonium nitrate.

Important! Mineral fertilizers should be applied strictly on wet soil, i.e. first water with water, and then spill with a solution of mineral fertilizer.

Then, when the strawberries start to grow, new leaves will begin to actively grow, you need to use potash-phosphorus fertilizers (for setting flower buds), or even better, a complete complex fertilizer such as "Nitroammofoski".

The last time strawberries are fed in the spring just before flowering (again, potash-phosphorus fertilizer).

Concerning organic fertilizers for strawberries, then you can feed the strawberries in springinfusion of chicken droppings (Pour 1/3 of a bucket of chicken manure with water, let it brew for 3 days, then add during watering in a ratio of 1:20, that is, 0.5 liters of solution per 10 liters of water). And also spill the solution wood ash or powder it on wet ground, right on the bush (ash is also an excellent assistant in protecting strawberries from diseases and pests).

Again exist special fertilizers for garden strawberries, for example, the same Gumi-Omi "Berry" for raspberries, strawberries and other berry bushes (which is also made on the basis of chicken manure), as well as Agricola, Fertika (all for berry crops).

Important!The site already has a detailed articleabout feeding strawberries in spring.

Video: the first spring feeding of strawberries

Treatment against diseases and pests

Processing strawberries from diseases and pests is the most important stage of spring care, since moderately warm weather with frequent precipitation is an ideal environment for the development of fungal diseases (the same gray rot).

To protect strawberries from diseases and pests, you need to carry out several prophylactic and therapeutic sprays with fungicides and insecticides (including acaricidal action, i.e. against ticks).

By the way! The site already has an article on the processing of strawberries in the spring from diseases and pests.

Preparations for treating bushes from diseases and pests can be of both biological and chemical origin.

Of course, it is believed that it is safest to spray strawberries with biological products or use folk remedies (although they may not be of biological origin), since they are safe for human health. However, it is in the spring (before fruiting) that chemical preparations should be used, especially if your strawberry bushes are often affected by various diseases (gray mold) or insect infestations occur on them (the same ticks).

Note! Discover ticks possible only by characteristic features (cannot be seen, they are very small): the strawberry leaves shriveled and stopped developing, while they have an olive-oil shade.

As for the processing scheme, the first time strawberry bushes are sprayed bordeaux liquid or copper-containing preparations immediately after cleaning mulch and organic debris from the garden.Second time - before flowering. This time they are treated with more serious chemical or biological preparations. Third time - after the first flowering and the formation of ovaries.

Important! It is necessary to spray not only the leaves, but also the soil between the bushes, since the pathogens hibernate in the soil.

Among biological products aimed at combating fungal diseases (powdery mildew, gray mold), distinguish Fitosporin, Fitolavin, Alirin, Gamair, Trichocin (against gray rot), against pests - Fitoverm (against ticks), Bitoxicillin, Lepidocide (against a complex of pests - leafworm, sawfly, fireflies, moth).

The most popular and effective chemical preparations for combating strawberry diseases are Bordeaux liquid (1% solution), Horus, Skor or Raek, Topaz, with pests - Actellic (against a complex of pests), Tiovit Jet (against powdery mildew and mites), Slizneed ( from slugs and snails), Ant (from ants).

By the way! The site already has materials about how and what to fight with slugs and snails, and with ants.

Video: how to process strawberries in spring - practical advice

Advice! More complete information on the processing of strawberries in the spring from diseases and pests you can find in this material.

Transplant and landing

Strawberry bushes grow well and bear fruit within 3-4 years. Then they need to be multiplied or divided, in other words, transplanted to a new place. It also quite often happens that strawberries may simply not survive the winter, which means that you will need to replace them.

Advice! And how transplant garden strawberries to a new place in spring, — in this material.

In addition, in the spring you can buy and plant new strawberry seedlings in open ground.

By the way! About, when and how to plant strawberry seedlings in the spring in open ground, readin this article.

By the way!Instead of buying expensive enough seedlings, you cangrow your own by planting strawberry seeds for seedlings.

Video: transplanting strawberries in spring

Common mistakes in strawberry care in spring

Novice gardeners often make mistakes due to lack of experience. To save berry bushes from negative consequences, it is better to familiarize yourself with popular misconceptions in advance.

So, we can distinguish the following mistakes that beginners can make when spring strawberry care:

• very deeply loosen the soil near the bushes;
• do not water the bushes, although the weather is dry (there is no precipitation or they are insignificant);
• during pruning, they touch and damage the growth point (heart);
• apply too much nitrogen fertilizers or do not feed at all;
• do not moisten the soil before applying mineral fertilizer;
• do not carry out treatment for diseases and pests;
• when landing, they deeply deepen the heart;
• they forget to plant strawberries once every 3-4 years, and it ceases to bear fruit normally.

Taking care of strawberries in spring for a good and tasty harvest is not difficult at all. It is enough to complete all the necessary activities and avoid mistakes. If you pay close attention to the process, you can do everything at the highest level without any problems and get a wonderful harvest.

Thus, in order to obtain a high-quality and generous harvest, it is necessary to include all of the above measures in the care of strawberries (for regular and remontant) in spring. They will help the culture to awaken after winter and prepare for fruiting in summer.

Video: how to care for strawberries in spring