One of the popular varieties of large-fruited garden strawberries is called victoria. In the summer, it flaunts on the beds of most dachas, as the requirements for its cultivation are not too high, and abundant harvest more than pay off all the expended forces. This berry is planted both in the spring period and in the autumn. Consider in the article, how to properly plant Victoria in the fall, so it is not affected in the winter and pleased with juicy fragrant fruits in the summer.
The choice of a site for planting Victoria
This berry belongs to the repair varieties, which allows you to delay the planting time of the Victoria until late autumn. However, it is better to avoid extremes, after all the plant must be in time to take root, otherwise there is a great risk that in the winter the bushes will die or give an extremely low yield in the first year. Planting of the Victoria is carried out in a well-lit flat area, closed from the winds. If you grow plants in the lowland, they often get sick and give low yields. Also in lowlands often there is a high humidity, which adversely affects the winter hardiness of garden strawberries. The windy area is especially dangerous for the winter period - if the wind blows snow from the site, the plants will die from frost.
The predecessors of Victoria
Victoria - a berry picky in planting in terms of crop rotation. Being a perennial plant, it does not live in the same place for more than 4 years and requires a transplant. The plant will get well, if it was beans, beets, onions, carrots, oats, rye, dill and garlic. Categorically avoid such precursors as cucumbers, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, nightshade and strawberries. The area where strawberries were growing, at least 5 years will not be suitable for planting a victoria.
Soil preparation for autumn planting
Before you plant a Victoria in the fall, you need to take care of the summer soil preparation. Typically, gardeners one month before the proposed planting are introduced into soil humus (about 3 kg per square meter) and dig it, then leveled and trampled down. It is important during the digging to get rid of the roots of other plants and insect larvae. The sandy loam soil is ideal for Victoria, so sand is frequently introduced when digging.
Rules for planting strawberry fruit in Victoria
The landing of Victoria in autumn does not differ from landing in another season. The soil is loosened to a depth of about 8 cm, furrows are made in it and watered abundantly. Proper planting of the Victoria requires the following distances between the bushes - 25 cm between plants in one row and 60 cm between beds. If the roots of the Victoria exceed 7 cm, they should be pruned. It is important to lower the roots in the ground vertically, to ensure rapid growth of the root system, and the apex bud located strictly at ground level. The technology of planting the Victoria suggests further compaction of the soil in the bush, its watering and mulching with sawdust in a layer of 5 cm. If you decide to plant the Victoria on the covering material, fix it on the bed before planting and make holes in the places where the garden bushes grow strawberries.
Care for an autumn planted in Victoria
It can not be said that taking care of Victoria requires some kind of intricate actions. In dry weather, watering is mandatory, it is also necessary to loosen the soil around the bushes and weed it. With regard to care after the autumn planting, it is important to take care of sheltering plants from frost. Do not rush, when the first autumn frosts begin, give Victoria the opportunity to experience them on your own, in some way tempered. When the temperature drops to -6 ° C, you can cover the plants, for example, cover them with autumn leaves with a layer of 15 cm. It is imperative to remove the shelter in the early spring so that the plants do not bury and do not die.