All gardeners and gardeners begin the development of their plots with the planting of garden strawberries (colloquially called strawberries). Strawberries open the fruit season, they are tasty and fragrant. They are loved by adults, but especially by children. Growing strawberries seems to be a simple, but troublesome business.. The plant needs constant care, especially attention should be paid to strawberries after harvesting.
With the harvest of the last berries, the time for preparing strawberry bushes for the next year's harvest immediately begins, since with the advent of spring, strawberries take strength for the growth of young foliage, flowering and fruiting from the accumulated stocks of last year's season.
So the struggle for the future harvest must begin immediately after the harvest of the current and it consists in the fact that before winter the strawberry bushes have time to grow a good root system and stock up on nutrients.
To do this, immediately after harvesting, you must:
- if the beds with strawberries were covered with mulching material(straw, sawdust) it is better to remove it now, as diseases and pests could accumulate in it;
- to weed the beds with strawberries to remove weeds, because they take food from the soil;
- soil loosening under bushes and aisles must be performed to better air exchange roots, this should be done carefully, trying not to damage the root system and at the same time it is necessary to spud strawberry bushes, sprinkling the growing roots with earth (the main thing is not to fill up the heart);
- remove old leaves and extra mustache;
- make timely watering beds of strawberries;
- carry out top dressing plants;
- do some processing strawberries to avoid plant diseases and pest control.
Autumn top dressing of garden strawberries
Foliage and mustache removal, pruning scheme
In garden strawberries, leaf renewal occurs three times per season.: spring, summer and autumn. On average, the life span of strawberry leaves is 60-70 days, after which they age and die.
Spring regrowth of foliage plays a major role in fruiting. In the period after fruiting, the second stage of the formation of new foliage begins - this is the period of laying flower buds and accumulation nutrients future harvest. autumn foliage important for a good wintering bushes.
Signs of leaf aging are the appearance of whitish, red or red spots on them. While the leaves die naturally, they take extra nutrients from the plant and deplete the plants. So it is desirable to remove old leaves from the fruiting bushes 2-3 days after the end of fruiting without damaging the growing young leaves and hearts.
At the same time as the leaves, we also remove the extra whiskers. If needed planting material to increase the strawberry plantation or replace old bushes with new ones, you need to leave the first outlet from the mother bush. She is the strongest and most productive. We remove all other regrown mustaches so that they do not deplete the mother bush, already weakened by fruiting.
As a result of mowing foliage, we partially get rid of diseases and pests., which are populated by aging foliage.
All cut foliage should be removed from strawberry beds. You can’t use it as a mulch, so lay it in compost heaps can.
Pruning is done with secateurs if the strawberry beds are not large. If the size of berry plantations exceeds the ability to process them manually, the trimming process will help to complete the electric trimmer or lawn mower.
The cutting height should be 5-7 cm, the growth point (hearts) should not be removed. Pruning of old foliage is performed on bushes older than 2 years; on one-year-olds, only dried and diseased leaves are removed. After pruning, berry plantings must be loosened and watered.
Do I need to water in the fall?
The soil on the strawberry beds should be wet, because after fruiting and pruning the foliage, the plants should recover as soon as possible, lay fruit buds, and grow the root system. Watering should be plentiful, at least once a week during dry periods.. To avoid sunburn leaves should be watered in the morning or evening hours. After watering, it is necessary to loosen the beds in order to prevent the formation of a crust on the soil surface. To keep the soil under the berry bushes in a wet and loose state, it is best to mulch the beds.
Mulching is the best way to retain moisture
The mulched soil becomes looser. In the process of mulch decomposition in the soil, nutrients are accumulated and enriched with beneficial microorganisms. Mulching inhibits the growth of weeds, which makes it easier to care for plantings.. Berry beds look more aesthetically pleasing.
Garden strawberries under black covering material
As mulch, you can use sawdust, straw, chopped dry grass(if there is a lawn, then after mowing it, dry the grass in the sun and spread it between the bushes and in the aisle), compost or leaf humus, needles. You can cover the ground under the bushes with spandbond(preferably black, weeds practically do not grow under it) or lay new plantings of strawberries immediately on high ridges covered with black covering material.
Feeding after fruiting
In the period after the harvest, the strawberry bushes are weakened, all the forces are spent on fruiting. To restore plants, stimulate growth processes and lay flower buds during this period, top dressing is especially necessary.
Experienced gardeners recommend feeding three times. Immediately after pruning the leaves in August, you need to feed nitrogen fertilizers to stimulate the growth of young foliage. Two weeks after the first fertilizing with organic matter with the addition of phosphorus and potassium, it will contribute to the laying of flower buds. In mid-September, the third top dressing is performed with a solution of mullein.
There are many options for top dressing, the choice is yours. E it can be mineral supplements or organic.
mineral
- Ammophoska- contains in its composition nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, as well as magnesium, calcium, sulfur. Consumption of 20-30 grams per 1 m 2 in dry form is scattered on the beds, then covered with a chopper in the soil and watering is carried out. You can water the bushes with a watering can by preparing a solution at the rate of 20 grams ( Matchbox) fertilizer per 10 liters of water.
- Nitrophoska and nitroammophoska at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water.
- There are also special mineral fertilizers for strawberries, containing all the fertilizers necessary for it.
It is impossible to apply fertilizers containing chlorine under strawberries, it is contraindicated for it.
Water-soluble fertilizer Crystalon for strawberries and wild strawberries
organic
- Mullein.
It can be worn both dry, used for mulching between rows, and in the form of an infused solution.
To prepare the solution, one part of the mullein is poured with 10 parts of water., insist the mixture for a day, after which the solution can be applied under the plants. In this infusion, to enrich it with trace elements, you can add one part of the ash.
- bird droppings.
In dry form, it is better not to apply it under growing bushes, as you can burn the roots and destroy the plantings. To prepare the infusion, 1 part of bird droppings is diluted in 10 parts of water. and insist at least two days. Then 1 liter of the solution is diluted in 10 liters of water and the plants are watered.
- herbal infusion.
Up to half the volume of grass (weeds from weeding, nettles cut from the lawn) is placed in a barrel or other large container, ash is added, everything is filled with water to the full volume and left to wander in the sun for 10 days. You can add 200 grams of yeast to the barrel, they will speed up the fermentation process and enrich the infusion with microorganisms. The finished infusion is diluted in a 1: 1 ratio with water and strawberry bushes are watered.. The infusion not only fertilizes the plants, but also contributes to the deoxidation of the soil.
It is useful to add wood ash to strawberry beds, which is rich in potassium-phosphorus fertilizers and trace elements, and helps to reduce soil acidity. Ash is added after pruning the leaves, watering and loosening the soil.
The main thing is not to overfeed the strawberries so that they do not begin to fatten (to increase the green mass of the leaves, and not to lay flower buds). Better to underfeed than to overfeed.
Disease and pest control
After harvesting, it's time to start fighting diseases and pests, because this cannot be done during fruiting. After pruning the leaves, strawberries are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate in order to disinfect the remaining petioles and treat the soil under the bushes from fungal diseases.
If a weevil wound up on strawberries, then berry plantings are treated with Intavir twice with an interval of two weeks. You can prepare an iodine solution: 10 drops of iodine per 10 liters of water and process the plants.
To avoid damage to strawberry plantations by strawberry mites, plantings are treated with insecticides a wide range actions ("Fitoverm", "Fufanon", "Aktellik", "Kemifos") immediately after harvest and in the fall.
When processing strawberries, it is desirable to add fertilizers to tank mixtures, thus combining foliar top dressing with the fight against diseases and pests.
Autumn care for garden strawberries, preparation for winter
Caring for strawberries in the fall consists in removing weeds and loosening the soil, mulching bushes and row-spacings with humus and foliage. Single diseased and old leaves are removed from the bushes.. It is impossible to drastically cut the foliage, the bush will not have time to grow foliage, it will go into the winter weakened, it may not endure the cold and freeze.
The exposed roots of plants need to be covered with earth or well spud, but the heart (growth point) cannot be covered.
From frost, the beds are covered with branches, dry foliage, spruce branches. It is not worth covering with hay or straw - mice can get under them and gnaw on the roots.
If you properly care for strawberry plantations after harvesting, do not leave them to their fate, then next year you will definitely have a bountiful harvest of sweet, fragrant berries. This will bring joy and pleasure not only to you, but also to your children and grandchildren.
For good fruiting strawberries require year-round care for this crop. Once harvested, strawberry bushes require special care to recover. With proper preventive maintenance, strawberries increase fruiting by at least 15-30 percent.
The fruits become larger, juicier and sweeter. Any variety of simple or remontant strawberries is grateful for care and berries grown by one's own hands are strikingly different from store-bought ones.
How to care for strawberries after fruiting
Care after picking berries in July
In July, after the fruiting of strawberries, the care corresponding to this period is carried out, these are:
- mustache trimming,
- dried leaves,
- weeding,
- top dressing,
- hilling strawberries.
In July, after picking berries, the plants begin to grow new leaves, the formation of new horns, the growth of whiskers with lateral rosettes intensifies and new flower buds are laid.
First, the beds are weeded. Excess mustache and dried leaves are removed. Reddened leaves are removed first. It is impossible to cut off foliage and mustaches, you can only cut it off, otherwise the bush will be damaged and will hurt.
For trimming, sharp scissors or secateurs are taken. It is better to burn old leaves in order to avoid the reproduction of pests. If young leaves curl or take on a corrugated shape, this is an indicator of strawberry mite infestation and the plants should be treated with acaricidal preparations.
If the central leaves turn yellow, the petioles are thickened and short, this is a sign of a nematode. At the same time, the plant is dug up, treated with boiling water and removed from the site.
After pruning, the old mulch is removed from the beds. The soil around the strawberries is loosened, fertilized, watered.
The aisles are loosened 10 centimeters deep. Around the plants, loosening is done by 5 centimeters. The bushes are spudding. 
In this case, the roots must be completely closed, and top part the bush should remain above the ground. This is especially true for plants that do not grow for the first year, since their root system starts to rise above the ground.
For top dressing, mineral fertilizers are taken with an admixture of trace elements. About 30 grams of fertilizer goes per square meter. For this, a special fertilizer for garden strawberries, Fertik, ammophoska is suitable. 
Fertilizers containing potassium chloride should not be used, as it slows down growth and impairs fruiting. Fertilizers are embedded in the soil to a depth of about 6 centimeters. 
In addition to these fertilizers, you can use last year's humus. It crumbles from above. It will improve the structure of the soil and make it more fertile.
You can also fertilize the beds with diluted chicken manure (15 parts of water and 1 part of manure). When feeding, we must not forget that this solution should not fall on the foliage, otherwise burns will appear on the plants, which provokes the development of diseases. A high concentration of the solution can generally destroy the bush. So this species top dressing is not used so often.
In dry weather, the beds are watered. Soil moisture should be maintained until the end of the season. Watering is done once a week in a bucket per square meter. 
For best results, drip irrigation can be used. This type of irrigation will allow you to get right amount moisture and at the same time the plants do not rot, as the soil does not become swampy.
The soil around the bushes is mulched with chopped grass, peat, straw. 
Caring for strawberries in August
Proper care is required to get a bountiful strawberry harvest next year. The last month of summer is the best for this.
Care includes:
- leaf pruning,
- mustache transplant,
- preparation of plants for wintering.
Old leaves are cut off. If varieties grow in groups, the first to be processed early varieties. Then come the averages and late varieties, this will allow you to evenly care for the plants and prevent them from overgrowing, which leads to the threat of infection with diseases and pests. 
Mustaches are cut with an indent of 10 centimeters from the base of the bush. After pruning, young foliage and core (horns) remain on the bush.
Mustaches with new rosettes and young roots are planted to form young bushes. To do this, the strongest instances are selected, while the weak ones are removed.
For better yields, after harvesting, the strongest mustache remains on the bush. A new mother bush will grow from it to replace the old one. This operation is carried out every three years. 
And the spots are treated with therapeutic and prophylactic spraying of strawberries.
For spraying, drugs such as Karbofos or Aktellik are used, this is protection against weevil and strawberry mites; Azocen and Topaz are used for the prevention and control of powdery mildew; 1% solution of lime and blue vitriol saves bushes and berries from rot, spotting.
Feeding the bushes during this period increases the degree of frost resistance of the plant and promotes the formation of flower buds.
Top dressing with fertilizers
For fertilizers, fertilizers with nitrogen are taken (a strong urea solution is not suitable).
Complex mineral fertilizers should include: 1 part nitrogen, 2 parts phosphorus, 4 parts potassium. AT finished version, it can be: Fusco, Autumn, Autumn. All these preparations, except for the base, contain other useful substances. 
Fertilizer Autumn in its composition does not contain nitrogen, which allows it to be used even in a later period, but this preparation contains all the elements that are necessary for the growth and good fruiting of strawberries.
In the form of organic fertilizers suitable: peat, horse manure in granules, humus, bone meal.
Bird droppings are not used to avoid excess nitrogen.
Mineral and organic fertilizers should not be mixed. In rare cases, when the soil is depleted, mineral and organic top dressings are applied over the entire area of the beds. If the strawberry planting area is quite large, this mixture can also be used.
After feeding, the plants are covered with mulch, and for wintering, the bushes are covered with leaves, needles, potato tops, and straw. Dry weather is chosen for shelter, otherwise the layer may compact and cause the formation of pests and diseases within the layer or lead to root rot. 
The layer of mulch covering plants from frost should be at least 7 centimeters. In addition to mulch, non-woven material is used, for example, spunbond.
Caring for remontant strawberries after picking berries
Remontant strawberry differs from standard varieties in that it gives several harvests per year. Proper care guarantees not only abundant harvests, but also the formation of new bushes, which allows you to quickly breed this variety on the site.
To obtain a second and third good result, flower stalks are necessarily thinned out.
After each fruiting, reddened and diseased leaves are removed from the bushes. Mustaches of the first order remain on the uterine bush. It is best to root them in prepared cups for further seating. After the end of the season, the cups are collected, the mustache is cut off from the main bush and they can be planted in prepared beds. 
When caring for remontant strawberries, watering should be done more often than when watering standard varieties, but less plentifully. For irrigation, it is better to take heated water. The soil must be moist, but not swampy, otherwise the strawberry root system may begin to rot.
Remontant strawberry varieties are demanding on fertilizers and must be constantly supplied with potassium and nitrogen. When preparing the soil for planting new plants, phosphate fertilizers are added.
Do not leave bushes with berries under the snow After harvesting the last autumn harvest from the plants, it is necessary to cut off all the foliage, flower stalks and cover the bushes with a special non-woven material that will protect the plants from frost.
Remontant strawberries, in comparison with simple varieties, have a short life span and after two years the plants must change new ones. Some varieties do not produce mustaches and are easier to care for, but seeds are used to propagate them, which complicates the breeding process.
July and August are suitable for updating strawberry plantations. By autumn, the bushes take root and easily endure the winter.
In preparation for winter, flower stalks and leaves are cut off from the mother bushes. Bushes are hilled so that the roots are covered with soil. But the core must remain open, otherwise it will begin to rot. Prepared beds are covered with foliage, grass. 
Remontant strawberries, in addition to the standard growing method, can grow on trellises, columns, and in tunnels.
To protect plants on trellises, protective plants, such as corn, are planted on both sides of the strawberries, which remains to winter and additionally saves the strawberries from freezing.
After the last fruiting, strawberries are covered with a breathable non-woven material that saves the planting from freezing. When grown in tunnels, fruiting lasts until the first frost.
In the warm period of Indian summer, the covering material rises on one side to allow air to circulate. Even with lower temperatures under the material, strawberries fully ripen and do not lose their taste.
And remontant, and, in particular, this applies to the period after fruiting, as the plants are depleted, grow and may begin to hurt.
With careful and careful care, the yield increases, the size of the berries of even small varieties becomes larger, the fruits are saturated with moisture and sweetness.
And in every region, even rather cool ones, you can choose suitable option, which will delight you with a tasty and fragrant harvest.
So the strawberries stopped fruiting. But this does not mean at all that the bushes can be left alone until spring. Handling of strawberries after harvest must be proper if you want to harvest full baskets of the crop. Right Action will keep the plants in a healthy state, prepare for the cold period and abundant fruiting.
For the fruiting of a crop such as strawberries, post-harvest care is extremely important. That is why, after picking berries, the plant still requires weeding. During the latter, it is necessary to remove rotten and unripe berries, dry and diseased (with symptoms of infection with a fungal disease) leaves.
It is also necessary to remove the grown tendrils so that they do not weaken the mother plant.. By the way, this is a great period for getting strawberry seedlings. For this, part of the antennae is left to form the so-called "babies". They will have time to take root, and closer to autumn they are transplanted to a new place.
It is also worth gently loosening the earth between the rows - to aerate the soil. If you are afraid to disturb the root system, just pierce the ground with a pitchfork every 5 cm. If straw was laid under the bushes, do not remove it, but gently mix it with the top layer of soil. Gradually, the litter will become rotten, and then completely decompose and fertilize the soil.
Spraying - when and with what?
Strawberry farming after harvest also involves spraying. This procedure protects the crop from diseases and pests. Do not forget that pruning leaves 2-3 weeks after harvest also serves this purpose. You can limit yourself to pruning if in spring and summer, that is, during flowering and fruit ripening, the plant was protected by a biological product against gray rot, for example, Polywersum WP.
After the end of such mandatory procedure like pruning strawberries after harvest, spraying against fungal diseases can be performed. This is especially important if the fruits are massively rotted and moldy, or specific spots appear on the leaves. Amateur gardeners, having several beds, use a tool such as Topsin M 500 SC.
If the berries have been damaged by the strawberry nematode pest (Aphelenchoides fragariae), which sucks the juice from the leaves and flower buds, it is worth spraying with Ortus 05 SC or Sanmite 20 WP.
If the fruits have been damaged by bevels (Otiorhynchus), which gnaw on the edges of the leaves, it is worth using the remedy Dursban 480 EC or Pyrinex 480 EC. Both the plant and the land around it are processed (repeat after two weeks).
Feeding strawberries after harvest is the most important procedure
After carrying out all the above procedures, you can start fertilizing. For strawberries, nitrogen and potassium supplements, as well as phosphorus, calcium and magnesium, are especially important. will help them form new strong shoots.
Probably, you cannot find such a gardener who would not grow strawberries in his garden. After all, both children and adults love it. Fragrant juicy berries are not only tasty, but also very healthy, as they are rich in vitamins and minerals.
That is why everyone who grows it wants to get a rich harvest. But in order to achieve this, strawberries need to be looked after not only when they bloom and bear fruit. Care of strawberries after harvest is of great importance. This is directly related to the laying of future berries, therefore experienced gardeners give strawberries during this period Special attention.
The berries are harvested - why do we need care now?
Some people think that regular autumn harvesting is enough for strawberries. But the thing is that strawberries cease to bear fruit very early, and there is still a lot of time until autumn. Over the summer, the beds can become so overgrown with weeds that autumn harvesting will be very difficult, which is why strawberry care after harvest is required.
In addition, the bushes that have finished fruiting must again replenish their strength, accumulating them for the next season, which will be almost impossible to do in the vicinity of weeds.
Among other things, it is at this time that strawberries begin to form young leaves and lay flower buds again. Numerous mustaches appear, which also weaken the mother bush if they are not cut in time. Against the background of this process, the old foliage slowly dies off, preventing the new one from developing normally.
All these factors already indicate that post-harvest care for strawberries is necessary. But that's not all.
Various pests and pathogens that have accumulated over the season on old leaves try to move to new young leaves. And they may be quite enough. After all, everyone knows that during fruiting, strawberries are not recommended to be weeded, and even more so treated with chemicals.
So, in addition to the accumulated dying old leaves, it is also necessary to loosen the aisles. Since the roots of strawberries are already shallow, the resulting adventitious roots may even end up on the surface of dense soil. And this is just at the moment when strawberries need enhanced nutrition so much.
In fact, it turns out that it is still far from feeding in the fall, there are not enough nutrients in the soil, and strawberries remain on a starvation diet. But as already mentioned, the better it gets stronger and lays more flower buds, the more berries can be collected next year. Here are some more reasons why you need to process strawberries after harvest.
What activities should be carried out with strawberries after harvesting?
Based on the foregoing, there is a need to carry out comprehensive measures, of which the proper care behind the plants.
It is as follows:
- pruning old leaves and removing mustaches;
- destruction of weeds and loosening of the soil;
- timely watering;
- treatment for pests and diseases;
- top dressing.
Pruning old leaves or mowing?
Many people ask if strawberries are mowed after harvest. In most cases, yes. Since, thanks to this, strawberries can be freed from old leaves and open the way for new ones, which grow just during this period. Just do it very carefully.
This procedure should be started when at least a week has passed after picking strawberries. The leaves are mowed at a height of 7-8 cm, so as not to damage the growing points, after which they are removed with a rake.
In a few days, the strawberry bushes will begin to be covered with young leaves, and soon the bed will take on its original appearance.
If you are not a fan of mowing and are wondering when to trim strawberries after harvest, then you can also do this after 7-10 days.
Old leaves are cut to the same height, without affecting the growth points. This is how each bush is treated. This method is suitable when you need to cut strawberries after harvesting in a small area.
In addition to young leaves in summer, strawberries begin to throw out mustaches. If you want to propagate it, then some mustaches can be dug in. The rest should be disposed of, because they take a lot of strength from plants.
How to tidy up the beds?
Once you've upgraded your strawberries after harvest, what's next? Of course, to put in order the beds.
Destroy all the weeds that managed to occupy it during ripening, once again walk with a rake, removing the remains of the leaves, and you can start hilling each plant with a chopper. During this period, some bushes begin to bulge the roots, which leads to their drying out, and the plants cannot grow normally. That's why hilling is necessary. Just be careful not to sprinkle the heart with earth.
After that, it remains only to loosen the aisles well.
Watering strawberries
Caring for strawberries after harvesting involves mandatory watering. Since the soil in the beds should be well moistened. It should be watered abundantly, but infrequently, given the weather conditions. To preserve moisture, the soil must be mulched, for which peat is suitable. Do not allow the formation of a crust after watering. Therefore, you need to loosen the soil around each bush and between rows.
Spraying strawberries
The summer period, when the berries are harvested, is the most the best time to take care of plant health. Treatment of strawberries after harvesting from diseases is carried out with various preparations.
Which of them to use depends on various plant diseases, determined by their appearance:
- if damage to young leaves appears, then the earth mite is to blame. Spraying with colloidal sulfur diluted with water or such preparations as Fitoverm, Actellik and Titovit Jet help to get rid of it;
- the presence of brown spots on the leaves indicates viral diseases. In this case, they are treated with Bordeaux mixture;
- if rotting berries were observed, then the plants were struck by a fungus - gray rot. To eliminate it, you need to spray the bushes with a solution of a popular fungicide - copper oxychloride.
Processing strawberries after harvesting is also a preventive measure.
First, the affected leaves must be removed immediately, carefully examining the bushes.
And secondly, manganese is a reliable assistant in this case. Dilute a weak solution and not only spray the bushes with it, but also water the soil in the garden.
Top dressing strawberries
Do not know how to feed strawberries after harvest, and why do it? First of all, so that next year it bears fruit well. Indeed, as mentioned above, it is at this time that flower buds are formed that determine the next harvest.
For summer top dressing, complex fertilizers produced specifically for strawberries, such as Rubin, Ryazanochka or Agricola, are perfect. They must be applied according to the instructions, combining this procedure with watering and loosening the soil.
If you are wondering what else to feed strawberries after harvesting, then you can also use humus, wood ash or ammophoska for this purpose.
Preparing for winter
This is not a complicated matter, but it is obligatory, since the next year's harvest will also depend on this stage.
You have already figured out how much attention strawberries require after harvest, what to do with them throughout the summer. It remains to figure out how to prepare it for the winter.
Do not be surprised, but you have already done part of this preparation. After all best protection from winter colds - these are healthy, overgrown leaves and the absence of pests. So it was not in vain that you tried all summer, putting the bushes in order, feeding and treating them with remedies for diseases, and also removing weeds and loosening the beds.
Now it remains for you to mulch the plantings with sawdust or peat in October, making a layer of no more than 5 cm, and in November cover them with spruce branches or raspberry branches so that snow lingers on them later. This will be the best hiding place for strawberries.
If you think that garden strawberries (strawberries) can be left alone after fruiting, then you are deeply mistaken. Many people wonder when to prune strawberries. Just after the harvest garden strawberries and you need to pay maximum attention, since it depends on your actions during this period how juicy, tasty and sweet the berries will be next year. The main thing is to make a thorough and complete processing of strawberry plants. And if you do everything right, then you are guaranteed an increase in yield next season (it can range from 35% to 40%, which is not bad at all). And it is necessary to start taking care of the future harvest when it is already necessary to cut the strawberries after harvesting immediately.
Caring for strawberries after harvest
In July you collected beautiful harvest berries, fully enjoyed their taste and made preparations for the winter: now we need to think about how to “thank” strawberries so that they restore their strength and stock up on new ones. To make this happen, we do the following:
- we remove dry foliage and the old mulching mass from the beds: after all, it contains those pests and pathogens of various diseases that have such a detrimental effect on plants;
- weed out weeds;
- trim the mustache and old leaves;
- we dig up bushes with a nematode and mercilessly destroy them (so that the disease does not spread further);
- we loosen the soil not only in the beds, but also in the aisles;
- water (as needed, that is, only when there is no rain for a long time);
- we carry out treatment from diseases and pests;
- we fully feed the plants;
- we mulch the soil (for example, with peat).
On a note! It is not necessary to cut off or mow all the foliage from strawberry bushes: you can overdo it. Only unnecessary (that is, already yellowed and flawed) foliage is subject to removal.
And now let's dwell on each stage in more detail.
The crop is harvested: we prune strawberry plants
Some people are hesitant to trim the strawberries, maybe "it will do." There can be only one answer: of course, it is necessary. After the crop is harvested, it is mandatory to weed the beds, removing withered foliage and all weeds. We burn the cut leaves immediately and in no case send them to the compost. It is also not worth arranging a layer of mulch from them. The thing is that pests can remain on the leaves, and they themselves can be infected with diseases. When to prune strawberry leaves? In July, right after the final berry picking.
Important! We do not recommend making a complete (total) pruning of leaves from bushes (we do it only when strawberry plantation subjected to fungal infection or pest infestation). It is necessary to cut off selectively (only old and drying leaf blades).
Young bushes, which are only one year old, should not be touched at all: let them grow and gain strength.
As for the mustache, it is imperative to remove them, because if this is not done, then all the forces of the bush will be directed to the growth of new mustaches and flower buds: but we do not need this, because then we will not wait for the berries. And we cut off the mustache as close as possible to the center of the outlet. But if you have plans to propagate strawberries, then you can easily do this by digging in some whiskers.
On a note! When to prune strawberries (i.e. remove their leaves and whiskers)? The procedure must be repeated several times per season.
Cut strawberries correctly
On how well you trim the bushes and choose the right moment for this (that is, when it will be most effective to cut strawberries after picking berries), its fertility in the next season depends. We remove old leaves as follows:
- we cut them or mow them at a height of 8-9 cm (to avoid damage to growth points and healthy leaf mass) using a garden knife, pruner or scissors;
- comb out the cut leaves with a rake.
Advice! In no case do not cut off the leaves with your hands: by pulling the leaf, you can pull out either the entire bush or part of it, thereby violating the root system. Such actions will lead to the fact that the damaged plant, having become ill, will recover for a long time and is unlikely to give a large number of berries.
When is it best to prune strawberries after harvest? Most likely, this is 8-11 days (no less) after the completion of fruiting.
Reasons why you need to cut the leaves of strawberries without fail
At the end of the fruiting of strawberry bushes, the second wave of the formation of new leaves begins, when it is simply necessary to cut the leaves of strawberries. Otherwise, all the forces of the plant will be spent only on their growth, and not on laying new flower buds. As a result, next summer you will have a lot of green leaves and very few berries.
In addition, pests try to quickly crawl from old (“tasteless”) leaves to new (“tasty”) ones and settle there. Why not? In general, we repeat once again that the most suitable moment when it is worth starting to cut strawberries is the July days (immediately after fruiting).
We loosen the soil
Advice! At the end of loosening, you can please your "favorites" and spud them with fresh soil (about 20 mm high). Moreover, special attention should be paid to bushes in which the root system is bare (most often this applies to plants whose age is 2-3 years). But be careful: the soil should not fall into the center of the bush.
Processing strawberries does not hurt
Chemical treatment of plants during this period will not interfere in any way, since during the picking of berries it was completely excluded (by the way, weeding was not recommended either). Especially if, when processing strawberries, you notice that some leaves look like corrugated paper: this is a sure sign that it is not dozing, but is doing its dirty work. In this case, we treat the plants with anti-mite devices (“Thiovit Jet”, “Fitoverm”, “Aktellik” or colloidal sulfur diluted with water), strictly following the instructions on the packages.
If the leaves are found brown spots, then, most likely, the plants picked up viral diseases. We process them with Bordeaux solution.
If the berries rot, then the plants are affected by gray rot: we spray the bushes with copper oxychloride (a popular fungicide).
Advice! Before chemical treatment of the bushes, we recommend removing all diseased, old and pest-infested leaves from the garden.
Upon detection of yellowish leaves (located in the central part of the plant), the thickness of the petioles of which has increased significantly, we conclude: the bushes are affected by the nematode. It is useless to take any measures in this case, sometimes even spraying does not help. It is easier to get rid of diseased plants.
Advice! After removing the affected bushes from the garden, we strongly recommend that you shed the soil with very steep boiling water.
But it is better, as you know, to prevent a disease than to cure. Therefore, the following can be suggested as preventive measures:
- constantly inspect the bushes and, if sick are found, immediately remove them;
- spray the bushes and soil in the garden with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Feeding strawberries after harvest
For nutrition strawberry bushes well-rotted compost (or biohumus) is excellent, which is poured onto the beds directly to the roots. Ash, which is scattered between the bushes, can also serve as a good top dressing (based on the calculation: 2-liter jar per 1 m² of plantings).
Important! Due to the fact that wood ash does not combine well with fresh manure, you should not use them together.
Mineral top dressing, consisting of a mixture of ammonium nitrate, superphosphate and potassium sulfate (in a ratio of 1: 3: 1), diluted in water, is also not forbidden.
Getting ready for winter
After all the work has been done, when it is no longer necessary to cut the strawberries, you can think about winter preparations. And they consist, first of all, in the fact that in October to bring or peat) under the plants with a layer of at least 50 mm. Then, in November, cover them with spruce branches or raspberry branches so that the snow cover does not put much pressure on the plants.