The seedlings of a strawberry or a seed purchased on the market do not always justify the customer's hopes, since the variety may not correspond to your wishes. Experienced gardeners prefer to grow strawberries on their own, to protect themselves from misunderstandings.
How to grow seedlings of strawberries?
Rarely, what kind of household plot or country plot does without strawberries, most owners use their own planting material for breeding it. Growing seedlings of strawberries can be produced in various ways and each of them has its own supporters. The most common, available and popular with experienced gardeners, are two options for obtaining seedlings of strawberries:
- mustache;
- seeds.
The way of reproduction of strawberries mustache is considered more reliable, because for the rejuvenation or increase of the strawberry plantation, whiskers are selected only in healthy, strong bushes. The advantages of growing seedlings from seeds include their long shelf life, as well as the inability to infect through them with various pathogenic viruses of strawberry bush.
Seedlings of strawberries from seeds
To grow seedlings of strawberries in the home, its sowing is carried out in late January - early February. Seeds should be selected from intact, strong shrubs, giving large quantities of large berries. Take the seeds at the base of the fruit or in its middle part, they have high growth energy, a powerful germ and great fertility. Then we perform the following actions:
- soak the seeds for swelling, then dry it on a napkin, wrap it in polyethylene, leave it in a warm place. For planting we use occluded specimens;
- pour a drainage layer into the landing tank;
- add a fertile soil layer of 12-15 cm;
- slightly compact the soil;
- we make grooves not deeper than 0.5-0.7 cm;
- we moisturize the earth well;
- sow seeds, sprinkled with soil not more than 1-1.5 cm.
When to plant strawberries on seedlings?
The time when it is better to sow strawberries with seeds for seedlings, comes in January, then with the beginning of spring you will grow well-grown and strengthened bushes. More often seeds are sown in these terms to grow seedlings for sale, this requires additional illumination. If the seedlings are needed for planting on their site, you can not rush and sow in late February - early March, when the light day will increase so that seedlings of strawberries receive enough natural light.
Strawberry seedlings with mustaches
Before making seedlings with strawberry mustaches, select young, strong uterine bushes, with well-developed healthy rosettes, not older than the first or second year of growth. On the selected bushes, remove the buds, not allowing flowering, so that all the forces of the plant are used for the appearance of the mustache. When choosing a mustache, pay attention to the following points:
- An antenna must not have signs of rot;
- there must be at least three well-developed leaves on them;
- apical bud is intact;
- root system is not injured, well developed.
After the whiskers are well grown and strengthened, they have roots, make a choice, the following actions:
- bend the mustache to the ground and lightly dig them into the loose soil, then water and take care of them;
- do not break the connection of the mustache with the uterine plant, plant it in a separate container, in which its own root system will develop.
10-14 days before strawberries are planted on a permanent place, cut the mustache, separating the rosette from the mother's bush. Young plants will get used to feeding independently, due to their own root system. This procedure is performed in mid-July, so that at the end of the month or at the beginning of the next planting seedlings in the ground, where it will have time to take root before the first colds.
Planting seedlings of strawberries
In order for seedlings of garden strawberry to grow well, develop and give rich harvests, select for it a sunny, ventilated area and prepare the soil in advance, for this, remove all the weeds and add the fertilizers to the prepared wells or grooves:
- compost ;
- ash.
- overgrown horse manure (can be replaced with compost mixed with biohumus).
Before you drop the seedlings into the prepared pits, cut the roots, leaving them no longer than 10 cm. Gently lower the bush into the ground, before spreading the roots, they should not bend. Do not deepen the plant strongly, the upper kidney should remain above the soil level, but small planting is not permissible, so that the kidney does not wither. After that, pour well the seedlings.
When they plant seedlings of strawberries?
The optimal time when planting a garden strawberry seedlings is called early spring (the period from mid-April to early May) or later summer (from late July to early September), at this time you can get the best mustache, thanks to warm, but not hot weather and moisture. In those areas where severe winter conditions are observed, it is better to choose a spring planting so that the bushes take root and grow stronger during the summer period. In the southern territories, autumn planting of strawberry seedlings is preferable, because the weather is more favorable, there is more planting material, and the horticulturist has free time.