How to fertilize strawberries now. How to feed strawberries in spring? Feeding methods for a good harvest. Foliar feeding of strawberries in spring
A lot is known about the benefits and taste of strawberries. It contains a lot of vitamin C, folic acid, fructose. In order to get a good harvest of this delicious berry from your suburban area, you need to take care of feeding. The land on which the bushes of garden strawberries grow depletes over time. This happens within two years, if you do not fertilize the strawberries additionally.
Fertilizers for strawberries
Differences in feeding new bushes and transplanted one or two years ago are due to the need for nutrients: some more - others less. When replanting new plants, it is necessary to ensure the growth of the root system and a safe wintering. In the old bushes, in the autumn, buds and inflorescences begin to be laid, so they need a different composition of fertilizers, which will be aimed at the development of future fruits.
Fertilizer for strawberries can be both mineral mixtures in which the composition of substances is balanced - nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus, and organic solutions prepared at home.
Mineral
During the period of growth of green mass - leaves and shoots, strawberries or strawberries need nitrogen. It stimulates rapid growth and allows for abundant fruit in the future. Urea for strawberries is the safest substance, but you cannot exceed the dosage, since sugar will leave the fruit.
This is how we sprinkle the urea on the strawberries. The main thing is not to overdo it
Complex mineral fertilizers - this is the basis of plant life. More nutrients are needed for flowering and fruiting species.
Before and during flowering, the berry bush consumes a large amount of potassium. The taste depends on its presence in the soil. The source of potassium can be mineral supplements - potassium sulfate, potassium magnesium. Fertilizers for strawberries with sulfur are more preferable, as they also protect bushes from diseases and pests
Video: We feed strawberries during flowering. Author's recipe from Ekaterina Snytko, an experienced gardener
In the autumn after harvest, plants need to recuperate before wintering. Potash mixtures are introduced before the start of wintering together with organic matter.
Organic matter also contains potassium, so you should calculate required amount additives. It is better to save a little than to oversaturate the soil and damage the roots
Phosphorus influences the growth of the root system, so you can't do without superphosphates and ammophos. Superphosphate for strawberries - autumn dressing. It is not washed out of the soil during the winter months.
Many summer residents prefer ammophos for growing strawberries, as it contains nitrogen and phosphorus. At the same time, phosphorus is in an easy-to-digest form, quickly dissolves in water. It can be used for root and foliar dressing urgently - at the first signs of a lack of nutrition in plants. Ammonium phosphate is especially effective in combination with nitrogen nutrition, as it simultaneously stimulates the growth of green mass and roots. Ammophoska for strawberries and humans is harmless, but dosages must be observed.
Strawberry Phosphate Fertilizers acidify the soil making it suitable for the plant.
As a result, these berries grow.
When feeding berries, minerals must be used strictly according to the instructions so that when they are eaten they do not cause poisoning
In addition to mineral fertilizers, it is necessary to introduce a complex of trace elements once per fruiting season. The main microelements are iodine, boron, copper. It is best to apply these elements by the foliar method, because the solutions protect the leaves from diseases and are absorbed faster. He loves strawberry milk additives, so summer residents sometimes use diluted milk. How to feed strawberries - milk, whey or kefir - is not difficult to decide. What is, you can use it. The berry prefers slightly acidic soils and dairy products maintain a pH level that is favorable for plant growth.
Organic
The best fertilizer for feeding strawberries is considered organic - manure or chicken droppings. There are some rules for using mullein and droppings so as not to damage the plants' root system.
- In spring, fresh manure cannot be used, since it has not undergone heat treatment and may contain seeds weeds, insect larvae, bacteria.
- Chicken manure is a very powerful additive that can burn plant roots and must be diluted many times.
- Fresh manure can be applied to the soil in the fall. During the winter, it will decompose by soil bacteria and will be available to the root system. In this case, manure performs the function of heating plants.
- Fresh organic solution should not get into the outlets and leaves. This is especially true for chicken droppings.
Wood ash as fertilizer for strawberries is used by almost all amateur gardeners. This top dressing is a source of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen, which is used in the fall to restore soil fertility, in the spring for irrigation in the form of a solution. Feeding strawberries with ash also enriches the earth with trace elements, but it must be applied in large quantities - up to 500 g per square meter.
Top dressing with your own hands
At home, you can prepare top dressing with your own hands - infusion of herbs, compost, mulch.
For green fertilization, you can use cut grass. The most useful nettle, as it contains many vitamins and minerals. The herb is filled with water in a large barrel and infused for up to 10 days. Next, water the strawberries or spray the leaves. Plant residues serve as additional feeding.
It doesn't look very attractive, but it is an excellent fertilizer for strawberries.
For making mulch, hay or straw, as well as tree bark, are suitable. This layer protects the bushes from freezing in winter, in summer from overheating and from the growth of weeds. Bark mulch has other beneficial properties:
- creates conditions for the reproduction of earthworms that loosen the earth;
- serves additional source food;
- bark phytoncides protect the soil from pests and fungal infections;
- maintains a slightly acidic soil pH.
And the strawberry gives an excellent harvest when mulched
Mulching is carried out in the spring in the month of May or in the fall in September. Before that, top dressing is applied, and the plants are watered.
The bark must be heated in the oven before use to remove the fungus
At home, you can prepare the best fertilizer for strawberries - based on baker's yeast, which contain proteins, potassium, nitrogen, trace elements - iron, copper, iodine, calcium, zinc.
Yeast is useful for young, newly transplanted bushes, as it stimulates root growth and accelerates survival. Feeding strawberries with natural fertilizers increases yields and improves the taste of berries.
To prepare a yeast solution, you need to take 1 liter of water and dissolve 50 g of yeast. Then dilute the concentrate in 5 liters of water. Apply 0.5 liters under the bushes. Yeast can also be added to green fertilizer.
Foliar additives for strawberries
Foliar feeding of berry bushes is best done in the morning or evening, when sun rays do not burn the leaves and the solution can be absorbed completely.
Microelements are introduced by spraying: manganese, iodine, calcium, copper, boron. Trace elements protect berry bushes from diseases and fungal infections. Use ready-made formulations or homemade solutions.
Foliar dressing is carried out in the intervals between the introduction of the main mineral or organic substances.
Signs of nutritional deficiency
With a lack of nitrogen, the leaves are small, yellowish. Bushes grow poorly, tendrils do not form. It is important to add nitrogen at the stage of green mass growth - in the spring. During the fruiting period, nitrogen supplements are not added, as this reduces the number of berries and their quality.
The lack of potassium affects primarily fruiting. Plants are more likely to be affected by rot and insect pests. The foliage around the edges dries up and turns yellow.
Lack of phosphorus is more often manifested in acidified soils. Small purple leaves are the main symptom of phosphorus deficiency. Chalk or lime should be applied first, and then phosphorus fertilizers. In this sequence, the nutrients will be better absorbed by the strawberries.
It is difficult for a non-professional to determine the deficiency of trace elements in plants, because it is in many ways similar to the lack of basic nutrients. Therefore, for prevention, it is best to use complex micronutrient fertilizers in the form of spraying.
Nutrient Application Calendar
The main period for fertilizing berry plants is autumn. If the question arises of what kind of fertilizer to feed the strawberries after fruiting, then in the presence of manure or droppings, of course, organic. The soil after strawberries is depleted faster and needs replenishment, and organic matter is an easily accessible form of nutrition.
Strawberries are grown by almost everyone who has at least some land plot. But for many gardeners, it does not give good yields. Then the site is overgrown so that it is almost impossible to find small berries on it. Dry plants cover almost the entire territory. And it happens that there are berries, but absolutely tasteless. How to care for strawberries so that they please with a high yield?
Spring strawberry care
Some gardeners shelter strawberry plantings from frost for the winter. the shelter is removed. They scoop out all the excess. Then a layer of earth a few centimeters thick is removed from the site. This is usually last year's mulch. Together with it, various pests and fungi are destroyed. If this is difficult to do, then you need to dig up the area shallowly, trying not to damage the roots of the plants. Strawberry bushes are cleaned of dried leaves, dead plants are removed. If there are few of them, then new ones can be planted instead. But this should be done as early as possible so that the strawberries take root before the onset of heat.
under the film
Some gardeners cover their strawberry beds with plastic wrap. Some make a semblance of a greenhouse and hide the entire area under one film. Others prepare a shelter from arcs for each row separately. The strawberry underneath it develops and blooms much faster.
Plant feeding
Feeding of strawberries is carried out in early spring, immediately after the snow melts. The site is fertilized with nitroammophos, infusion of chicken manure or mullein, ash. It is important that fertilizers contain a large amount of nitrogen, which the plant so needs, weakened by the cold. The presence of this element in sufficient quantities makes it possible to grow large and sweet berries. You can water the strawberries in early spring with iodine solution (30 drops per bucket of water). A glass of ash is added there, previously filled with boiling water and strained.
There is a dispute between gardeners about the timing of introduction organic fertilizers... Some bring manure in the winter. Such feeding of strawberries in early spring in the snow is useful because it will crush the manure by the growing season and ripening of fruits. Phosphorus, potassium, and other beneficial substances contained in humus will affect plants. Others are against this, since manure, falling on a strawberry outlet, can burn it. But if you bring it in in the fall or during a period when there is no snow, then you can place it between the bushes.
Feeding strawberries in early spring with chicken droppings will be more effective if you apply it in the snow. It is highly concentrated and can do more harm than good if used directly. But, brought in through the snow, it decomposes and loses its aggressive properties. This makes it easier to care for the strawberries in early spring.
No feeding of young strawberries planted this year is carried out. After all, it is planted in specially prepared soil, and it does not need extra loads during the rooting period. If you had to transplant older bushes, then they must be supported with fertilizers.
Feeding strawberries in early spring with small doses of fertilizer is complicated by the fact that it is difficult to evenly distribute it over the area. To do this, the substance must be mixed with sand or dust. It will be distributed evenly, individual particles will not stick together.
Recently, it has been increasingly used to fertilize plants, including strawberries, baker's yeast. More than half of their composition is proteins. There are many amino acids, mineral elements, trace elements. Feeding strawberries in early spring with yeast stimulates the growth of the ground part and root, strengthens the plants. There are many recipes for watering plants and foliar feeding. The easiest: stir 200 grams of yeast in a little warm water and bring to 10 liters.
They are used with bread and grass. To do this, a bucket of chopped grass is poured into a large barrel (70 liters), a pound of dry bread and yeast each. The composition infused for a couple of days is used for watering strawberries. Some gardeners, however, find that applying yeast has a short-term effect, and then the soil will become rocky.
Fertilizing strawberries in early spring with urea (a tablespoon per bucket of water), half a glass of ash with the addition of potassium permanganate and (two grams each) gives a good result. It not only fertilizes the soil, but also disinfects the roots.
You can buy ready-made for example "Kemir". It must be entered strictly following the instructions. Otherwise, instead of large juicy berries, you will get small and tasteless ones.
In May, strawberries bloom, therefore they are not fertilized during this period.
Leaf dressing
The first strawberries in early spring are carried out when three leaves appear.
Strawberries do not tolerate chemical fertilizers very well. You can take urea (urea). But be sure to halve the dose.
The second time is treated with urea before flowering. But it must be borne in mind that the smell of the drug is unpleasant for bees. If it does not have time to weather, then insects will weakly pollinate the plants. You can add some kind of fungicide to the carbamide.
Fertilizer overdose
Gardeners often apply more fertilizer to get the best harvest. But you do not need to exceed the norms specified in the instructions for the drug. By appearance strawberries can be determined to be overfed. If the strawberry leaves turn from green to dark brown, then the soil has received too much fertilizer. If the leaves were covered with brown dots, then the bushes were sprayed with a too concentrated solution. To eliminate the consequences, the site is watered with clean water, the plants are sheltered from sunlight.
When using insecticides, they often do not pay attention to the fact that they already contain fertilizers. Therefore, you should not add them additionally.
Preparing the soil for planting
The strawberries are transferred to a different location every four years. The site is free from various infections and fungi for six years. Only after this time can strawberries be grown on it again.
Before planting strawberries, carefully prepare the soil. The beds on which it will grow are covered with a layer of peat or humus, dug up with the ground.
Soil care
The soil is loosened in spring to a depth of five centimeters. This activates the plant roots. If the site is not mulched, then you need to loosen the soil after each rain, watering, fertilization. You can cover the area with moss or sawdust, preferably stale.
Mulching the site will save you from applying herbicides and make it easier to care for the plants.
Disease and pest control
To prevent infection of berries with gray rot, the bushes are sprayed before flowering (a tablespoon of the drug in a bucket of water).
To combat powdery mildew apply (potassium permanganate) or sulfaride solution.
Bushes infected with a nematode are visible in the garden right away. They have curved leaves, thickened whiskers, deformed flowers. To get rid of this pest, use the drug "Nemabakt". Of folk remedies - planting marigolds on the site. Their phytoncides prevent pests from multiplying.
Weevil is a small red beetle with a long black nose. He lays eggs in a bud. As a result, it will not turn into a berry, since the worm that has emerged from the egg gnaws the bud from the inside. Strawberries from weevils are processed with Fitoverm. It hibernates under strawberry bushes. Therefore, removing the topsoil in the spring, you remove part of the weevils from the site.
Strawberries are grown in different climatic zones.
In temperate climates, strawberries grow in open ground, and in cold areas the berry is grown in greenhouses.
How to fertilize strawberries. Fertilizers
Growing strawberries requires certain conditions.
For many gardeners, the first strawberry harvest is disappointing: the berries are small and watery.
To receive good harvest it is important to use suitable fertilizers.
Fertilizers are divided into:
- organic;
- mineral.
Organic fertilizers include:
- humus;
- wood ash;
- milk serum;
- siderates (plants).
Mineral fertilizers:
- complex (ammophos, nitrophos, diammophos, nitroammofosku);
- potash;
- nitrogen (amide, nitrate, ammonia-nitrate);
- phosphoric (bone meal, vivianite, simple and double superphosphate, open-hearth slag, precipitate, phosphate rock).
The best way to fertilize strawberries also depends on the soil.
How to fertilize strawberries: organic fertilizers
Fresh manure is not used. It can be used as a fertilizer, scattering between rows, immediately before the onset of frost. Until spring, manure will turn into humus and will serve not only as a source of nutrients for plants, but also as mulch that prevents the growth of weeds.
Humus is also used directly when planting berries. It is poured into prepared holes or scattered over the soil surface at the rate of 3 kg per 1 sq. M.
In the fall, strawberry beds are mulched with sawdust, peat, and covered with leaves or straw. In the spring, rotted organic matter passes into the soil, saturating it with nitrogen.
In spring, liquid fertilizer from chicken manure is also used. They are watered with aisles (around each bush - no more than 500 ml), trying not to get into the area at the roots. Chicken manure is diluted as follows: for 10 liters of water - 1 liter of manure.
To saturate the soil with potassium and nitrogen, you can use an infusion of nettle. To prepare the infusion, the plant bushes are placed in a container and filled with water. Before use, the infusion is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20.
Wood ash contains phosphorus and potassium. A bucket of water requires a glass of ash. Mix the solution thoroughly before use. For 1 sq. m requires a glass of solution. The fertilizer works for several years. Along with the ash, nitrogen fertilizers should not be applied, so that the release of ammonia, which is harmful in large quantities for berries, does not begin.
Serum contains many beneficial substances. It is recommended to use it together with manure, humus or ash.
How to fertilize strawberries: complex fertilizers
Nitrofos is produced in the form of granules. Fertilizer is used with a low content of potassium in the soil and a high content of phosphorus. For 1 sq. m requires 80 g of fertilizer.
The nitroammofosk contains sulfur. Used for feeding strawberries in summer, after flowering. For 10 liters of water, 1.5 is enough matchbox... Water the strawberries with plenty of water immediately after feeding.
Ammophos contains nitrogen and phosphorus. The fertilizer provides the berries with all the essential nutrients and strengthens disease resistance.
Diammophos contains magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen. Available in granules.
How to fertilize strawberries: potash fertilizers
Potassium chloride acidifies the soil, therefore it is recommended to use it after liming on acidic soils. Not recommended for strawberries due to the chlorine content, which is bad for berries.
Potash salt oxidizes the soil, creating signs of salinity in arid regions. Contains chlorine.
Potassium sulfate can be used for feeding strawberries, since it contains a small amount of chlorine. It is considered the best potash fertilizer.
How to fertilize strawberries: nitrogen fertilizers
A lot of nitrogen is found in urea and nitrate. Without nitrogen, the berries lose their taste, become small and inconspicuous. These fertilizers are well suited for any soil, have a positive effect on the growth and development of plants. Nitrogen fertilizers must be applied carefully, since an excess of nitrogen negatively affects the taste of berries.
Urea is used for incorporation into soil and foliar dressing. The soil is sprayed with a solution (for 10 liters of water - 50 g of urea). The solution is enough for 100 sq. m. It is forbidden to mix with superphosphate and ammonium nitrate.
Ammonium sulfate can be used as the main fertilizer. Contains ammonia in a form available to plants. Acidifies the soil, per 1 kg of fertilizer, you need to introduce 1.3 kg of chalk or lime.
Ammonium chloride contains chlorine, which is poorly tolerated by strawberries. It is permissible to use the fertilizer only in the fall during deep plowing.
Ammonia fertilizers (ammonium sulphate, ammonium chloride) should be used with caution, as high ammonia content can cause plant poisoning.
Sodium nitrate alkalizes, the introduction of 1 kg of fertilizer has an effect identical to 0.3 kg of lime or chalk.
Calcium nitrate also alkalizes, but the effect is somewhat less - 1 kg of fertilizer is similar to 0.2 kg of chalk.
Sodium and calcium nitrate are the safest for plants. It is not recommended to apply nitrogen fertilizers to the soil in autumn.
How to fertilize strawberries: phosphate fertilizers
Simple superphosphate quickly binds in acidic soil, so its efficiency increases after liming. It is applied to the soil to a depth of more than 10 cm. This fertilizer must not be mixed with urea and ammonium nitrate. For 1 sq. m - 20 g of fertilizer.
There is simple superphosphate in powder form and granular, double granular.
Bone meal transforms into the form available to strawberries more slowly than superphosphate. They are used long before planting strawberries on acidic soils. For 1 sq. m - 30-40 g of fertilizer (twice as much as superphosphate).
Phosphate rock is an alkaline fertilizer that transforms into a form that is available for strawberries, only on acidic soil. Used for plowing. It works for about three years, so the dosage is twice that of superphosphate.
Open-hearth slag reduces the acidity of the soil. Contains phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, cobalt. Transitions into the state available to strawberries slower than superphosphate.
The first time fertilization is applied during the preparation of plants for winter. They are applied directly to the soil.
For the second feeding, after picking berries, it is recommended to use mineral complex fertilizers. At this stage, plants form roots and new buds. During flowering and fruiting, strawberries are not fertilized.
Nitrogen fertilizers are applied to light soil in the spring, and to clay soil - in the fall.
The next top dressing is around mid-September. As a fertilizer, it is advisable to use wood ash with a mullein - half a glass of ash per bucket of cow dung (fermented). After a couple of weeks, the strawberries are fertilized with this solution: a glass of ash, 2 tbsp. l. nitrophos, 30 g of potash fertilizers.
When transplanting bushes to a new place, the soil is fertilized with 8 kg of organic fertilizers and 30 g of mineral fertilizers.
Not every gardener can boast of being rich chernozem soil on your site. Again, not every gardener, even if he decided to practice natural farming, is able to replace all his traditional beds with more fertile organic ones in one sitting. Especially when it comes to strawberries that have been growing in one place for several years.
In order not to be left in the season without real fragrant and sweet strawberries, many summer residents have to rely on top dressing. Today we will talk about when and how to feed strawberries for optimal growth, lush flowering and appropriate fruiting.
During summer season Strawberries are usually fed three times: in the spring, in the summer after the main harvest, and in the late summer or fall before winter preparation. Remontant strawberries are especially responsive to feeding; they must be fed at weekly intervals.
For the first time, strawberry bushes are fed in spring, at the very beginning of the summer cottage, as soon as the snow melts and the weather is more or less warm. The first feeding is aimed at stimulating the growth of fresh shoots and leaves, therefore, it must contain nitrogen.
Recipes for spring feeding strawberries
For each strawberry bush, it is necessary to pour 0.5-1 liters of liquid fertilizing, depending on the size of the bush.
The second feeding of strawberries is carried out in the summer, towards the end of July after the main harvest of berries has been collected. It would seem why? The fact is that at this time the formation of new roots begins and flower buds for the next season, so the plants will benefit from additional potassium and trace elements.
Recipes for the second strawberry feeding
Pour about 0.5 liters of any of the above fertilizers under each bush. Alternatively, the ash can not be dissolved in water, but scattered directly under the bushes. After two weeks, it would be good to repeat the feeding: after all, at this time the plants need nutrition most of all.
The third feeding of strawberries in autumn
The last third feeding of strawberries is recommended to be carried out in mid-September in dry weather, when the harvest has long been harvested, and the bushes are beginning to prepare for the coming winter. As a rule, young (one-year-old) plants especially need the third feeding in order to successfully overwinter.
Recipes for autumn feeding strawberries
Each bush will have enough from 250 to 500 ml. such feeding.
For those who do not like mineral fertilizers at all and grow strawberries according to the rules of organic farming with mandatory mulching, we recommend feeding strawberries with vermicompost infusion four times a season. The first time in early spring, then before flowering, the third time during the ovary of berries and the last time after fruiting.
We wish you success and big harvests!
