In order for the crops growing in the garden and vegetable garden to be well-fruited, they need to be well looked after and the main thing is to feed them. This especially applies to strawberries - a plant very capricious, but so attractive with its sweet and juicy fruits. It needs fertilizers throughout the period of active growth and fruiting. In order to ensure strawberries "full nutrition", and a good harvest, you should know what and how to properly feed strawberries.
Scheme and timing of fertilizing strawberries
In spring, top dressing should be performed immediately before the growth of young leaves, specifically in April-May. Before applying fertilizers, you should trim the bushes - remove mustaches and old leaves, if necessary - transplant to a new location. Renewed bushes can be fed with a ready-made store mineral mix for strawberries, and you can use diluted chicken droppings and humus. In this case, in no case should not be heavily buried bushes, otherwise it may impede growth, and even completely lead to the death of the crop.
The second feed can be made after the main harvest of berries will be harvested, namely in July. Again, it is necessary to cut off some leaves and not to the extent of overgrown mustaches. After that, it is necessary to treat the strawberries with a solution of Bordeaux liquid so that it is not damaged by parasites.
Well, finally, what to feed the strawberries in the autumn after fruiting? To fertilize strawberries should be in the middle of September, with warm and dry weather. Some truck farmers prefer to do this later - about a month before the expected onset of frost.
What fertilizers to feed strawberries in the fall?
As in previous cases, you can use chicken droppings and mullein. To do this, insist on a ratio of 1 liter per 10 liters of water. You can also add wood ash to the ready-made infusion.
Another option is the use of slurry. For its preparation, 1 liter of manure should be diluted with 8 liters of water and insist. As a result, the fertilizer with the consistency of liquid sour cream should be obtained.
It is also not bad to sprinkle ash between the strawberry rows or directly on the beds at the rate of 150 g per 1 m². Ash does not only replace mineral fertilizers - potassium and phosphate - in some way, but also discourages pests from strawberries.
And if you blanch the aisles with bean siderates or mown grass, then this will become an excellent nutrient medium for worms and after a while you will get ready organic fertilizers without additional efforts.
From mineral fertilizers, potassium salt and superphosphate can be added. You can scatter them among the bushes in dry form, or you can dilute them in water for irrigation. Each variant has its pluses - liquid fertilizers will be assimilated by strawberries much more quickly, but the dry ones will have a longer action. To achieve the optimum effect, the options can be combined.
How to feed strawberries during planting in the fall?
If you planned to plant strawberries in autumn, then the soil must be prepared and fed in advance. For this, the dug in the beds are calculated from the calculation of 1 m²:
- compost or humus - 3-4 kg;
- potassium chloride - 10 g;
- superphosphate - 30-40 g.
After directly planting, mulch the soil with straw or compost . With additional fertilizing with manure, you should be careful and make sure that it does not get on the plants, otherwise burns may occur. After the completion of these procedures, you can be calm until the first harvest - you will not need to make feed before the beginning of the fruiting period, because a good supply of nutrients is already provided.