Big strawberry
Strawberry is a popular name for a hybrid of two wild species of strawberries. By crossing Chilean and Virginia strawberries in the 18th century, gardeners obtained a viable “mulatto” — pineapple strawberries (garden). Most people call the berries of this plant strawberries. In Anglo-America, the fruits of this perennial plant are generally called “Victoria,” remembering the victory of the local followers of Georg Mendel over nature and both types of strawberries.
Morphology of strawberries
Pineapple strawberries or strawberries are a perennial herbaceous plant. The size of an adult individual ranges from 20-25 cm. The “kit” includes petioles and large trifoliate leaves of rich emerald green color.
The fruits of the large strawberry develop from five-petaled white flowers. The size of the peduncle depends on the variety of large-fruited strawberry - another botanically seasoned name for “our” strawberry.
The fruit of the plant is a micro-nut. They are located on the surface of an overgrown, juicy receptacle (berry). The color of the berry depends on the variety, but its color range varies from white-pink to intense pink-red. Taste – muted notes of strawberry, enriched with undertones of pineapple, kiwi, apple.
Choice of variety
The choice of strawberry variety directly depends on the goals of the gardener and the area in which the land is located. If a plant is grown “for oneself” in order to please the family with a plate or bucket of strawberries, then the owners of the site want to get the following plant:
- Shade-tolerant. In this way, the areas between the trees in the growing garden are filled.
- Frost-resistant. The fact is that at -15°C, uncovered by snow or bio-technogenic material, the plant freezes.
- Drought-tolerant or moisture-tolerant plant. This parameter depends on the climate, amount of precipitation and humidity coefficient of a particular area.
If the choice of variety is made by an entrepreneur, then to almost all but the first mentioned parameters one should add productivity, the speed of ripening of a particular strawberry variety, as well as the ability to maintain a marketable appearance for a long time. The nuance is that 70% of all berries grown and consumed in the world are strawberries. Therefore, amateur gardeners, farmers, and farmers of all sizes are showing increased interest in the “commercial version” of the berry.
The specific strawberry variety is selected depending on the region in which the plant is planned to be grown. Any specification is amateurism. What to do? Contact the nursery closest to your home. Contact a representative of the company that supplies seedlings. This is the only way you will receive a complete list of strawberry varieties for a specific request - for aesthetics, personal consumption, commercial activity, recommended for cultivation in your area.
Nuance: Strawberry merchants will be interested in the breakdown of varieties by ripening time; we recommend paying attention to the variety strawberry bogota or its analogues. In this way, it will be possible to dose the supply of more expensive early berries to the market, as well as mid- and late-ripening fruits that are of interest to the mass consumer.Planting strawberries
The ideal soil for planting strawberries is one with a pH of 5.6-6.0. These are domestic chernozems, chestnut, partly gray forest and sod-podzolic soils. If the soil is acidic or alkaline, it can be brought to the required pH level by adding appropriate chemicals.
A caveat: it is advisable that groundwater does not come close to the surface of the earth. The required minimum is a difference of 1 meter between the first layer of groundwater and the strawberry root system.Crop rotation is mandatory. If a farmer plans to achieve commercial success in growing large strawberries, then he should forget about planting garden strawberries after cabbage, flowers, nightshades (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers) and cucumbers. The reason is the mass of pests and common diseases that remain after these plants.
The best option is to plant strawberries in a field where representatives of the legume family of crops previously grew. However, such a “predecessor” — every plant's dream. Cause? The ability of beans, lentils, peas, soybeans to saturate the soil with nitrogen, as well as the absence of common diseases. The period of growing strawberries in one place cannot exceed 4 years. At the same time, already in the 3rd year one can observe a minimal drop in yield.
How to plant, what to plant?
Let's start with what exactly needs to be planted to get big strawberries. Previously, berries were propagated either by seeds or by shoots - the so-called “green cuttings”. Today, everyone who has an idea about intensive agriculture has stopped this vicious practice. The reason for rejecting the “old-fashioned method” — disease, which the new plant is guaranteed to receive from the parent.
What to do? Advanced large strawberry nurseries use in-vitro seedling technology. To do this, high-tech European companies specializing in growing seedlings work with the cells of high-grade plants, stimulating them to grow branches and roots. After this, the young roots are frozen to kill possible diseases.
The defrosted parts of the plants are then planted in small pots with a nutrient substrate. After a month, a full-fledged plant with 3-4 leaves sprouts in them, ready for planting in open ground. The technology is called "frigo".Part of the work is performed by a European manufacturer. The other is individual domestic nurseries that purchase strawberry seedlings for sale to farmers.
Seedlings are planted by hand. For this, recommendations are used from company representatives who focus on the quality of the soil, climate or other growing conditions, as well as the equipment available to the gardener.
Growing strawberries
At the current stage of agribusiness development, there are 3 ways to grow large strawberries.
- Traditional - in open ground, on a field where crop rotation is maintained. Today, such fields, even in Europe, are called plantations.
- Various cultivation of garden strawberries. Offered in conditions of limited land resources. Or in areas with high humidity of the underlying surface.
- Greenhouses are a popular way to obtain berries in harsh or unstable climates.
Cultivating strawberries
The plant cultivation complex is selected depending on the strawberry variety and its growing conditions. If the plant is purchased in a modern nursery, then the number of possible diseases drops to almost zero.
The only natural enemy of the berries in question are birds, which are also not averse to eating bright berries and miniature seeds. Therefore, if the plants are not protected by the walls of the greenhouse, then a polymer film or mesh is stretched over the plantations.
Feeding
The nature of fertilizing is mineral or organic fertilizers, and its amount directly depends on the goals that the gardener sets for himself.
Harvest
In order not to damage the integrity of the plant skin or the density of the pulp, thus reducing the shelf life of the berries, almost all the world's farmers today have opted for manual harvesting of large strawberries.