What kind of land does strawberry love: how to prepare the soil and take care of the soil after planting

Strawberries, like any living organism, will grow well and bear fruit in comfortable conditions. If the plant does not need to spend its energy on the struggle for survival, it will delight a good harvest and a healthy look. One of the components of favorable conditions is a suitable and well-prepared soil.

Composition and soil structure requirements for strawberries

Strawberries cannot be called too capricious plants, but when choosing a site for planting, it is necessary to pay attention to the composition of the soil and to prepare it well. The main soil requirements for growing strawberries are as follows:

• fertility;
• ease;
• a suitable level of acidity;
• good moisture permeability;
• the absence of pathogens and pest larvae.

Important! Planting strawberries can be arranged on any type of soil, with the exception of strongly acidified, solonchak and calcareous.

On properly prepared soil, strawberries will fully develop and bear fruit abundantly

Soil optimization for strawberries

The most suitable soil for strawberries is sandy loam or loamy. These types of soils have many positive qualities:

• ease of processing;
• sufficient nutrition;
• good breathability;
• excellent absorbent qualities;
• they warm up quickly and cool slowly.

The structures of sandy loam and loamy soil do not need to be improved. When preparing a site for planting on such soils, it is necessary to replenish the supply of nutrients through the addition of organic matter (half a bucket per square meter) and complex mineral fertilizers.

The most fertile and potentially promising for the cultivation of strawberries is chernozem soil, but, unfortunately, it is quite rare in household plots

The structure of poor sandy, heavy clay soil can be improved, optimized to acceptable requirements. When preparing ridges for planting on clay soils, the following should be added to it:

• peat;
• coarse river sand;
• lime;
• ash.

Peat and sand additives will act as a baking powder, increase the water-absorbing qualities of the soil. The application of lime or ash will neutralize the additional acidity that will bring peat, will increase the breathability of the soil.

Helpful information! For each bucket of peat brought in, add 2 tablespoons of dolomite flour or a glass of ash.

Improve soil friability and the addition of rotted sawdust:

• fresh sawdust is moistened with urea solution (1 tbsp.spoon per 1 liter of water);
• dolomite flour or ash is added to the moistened composition, mixed and left for several days in a waterproof bag in a warm place.

Sawdust prepared in this way is plowed into the soil during the autumn digging of the site. Horse manure is ideal as an organic fertilizer for clay soil.

Horse manure warms up better, quickly gives off heat, differs in fewer seeds of weed plants and is practically not affected by the various pathogenic microflora characteristic of manure

Sandy soils are less fertile, so before organizing strawberry beds peat, compost, humus, clay or drilling flour should be added to them. In order to create a fertile bed on a site with sandy soil, from which you can quickly get a plentiful crop, you can use the following method:

1. To fence a site where the ridge will be located.
2. Lay the bottom of the future beds with a layer of clay.
3. On top of the clay pour 30-40 cm of fertile (sandy, loamy, loamy, chernozem) soil.

The costs of creating an artificial garden will pay off with a high strawberry crop

The measures taken will improve the structure of the soil, increase its nutritional value, and provide sufficient air and moisture permeability.

Soil acidity

Absolutely accurately, the acidity of the soil on the site can be determined using laboratory analysis. At home, you can also set this indicator, and in various ways. Of course, such data will not be absolutely accurate, but will help determine the necessary measures to optimize acidity.

Table vinegar can help determine the acidity of the soil. You need to take a handful of earth and drip on it with acetic acid. If small bubbles appear on the surface of the test soil, then there is a sufficient amount of lime in it that quenches vinegar, that is, the soil has a neutral acidity. In the absence of reaction, we can conclude that the soil in the plot is acidified.

The presence of a vinegar reaction with the soil indicates its neutrality (pictured left), acidic soil does not produce such a reaction (pictured right)

Another way is to monitor acidity indicators, which may include wild-growing plants of the site, which have spread naturally and have large numbers.

Table: soil acidity indicator plants

Soil Acidity Adjustment for Strawberries

Garden strawberries prefer slightly acidic and neutral soils. To make acidic soil useful for planting strawberries, it must be produced. For liming, river tufa, dolomite flour, marl, ground limestone, and fluff are used.

Important! Freshly made soils can inhibit the root system of strawberries, so liming is best done well in advance, under previous crops.

The introduction of lime is carried out in autumn and spring during the digging site

If you are late with the liming procedure, then it is better to postpone it until the strawberries take root and get stronger.

Table: lime dosage for different soil types

Note! Wood ash is an effective way to reduce the acidity of the earth. In addition to the deoxidation effect, ash is a source of calcium, potassium, phosphorus and many trace elements.

Wood ash is used for liming the soil, since it contains in its composition 18-36% calcium carbonate

Soil disinfection

So that the efforts to grow strawberries are not negated by diseases and pests, it is recommended that a soil disinfection procedure be carried out when preparing a site for planting strawberries. It is especially important for closed ridges, greenhouses and greenhouses, where comfortable conditions can be created not only for cultivated plants, but also for pathogens.

There are various ways to disinfect the soil:

• chemical;
• agrotechnical;
• biological.

Important! When planning a soil disinfection procedure, you should pay attention to those problems and diseases that are inherent in your weather conditions, the type of site.

Chemical method

The most cardinal disinfection method is chemical. It reliably and quickly destroys pathogens. The disadvantage of this method is the concomitant destruction of beneficial microorganisms, therefore it should be used once and in the presence of complex problems. The following preparations are most suitable for disinfecting the soil for planting strawberries:

• TMTD fungicide. For processing 1 square. meters use 60 g of powder. The drug reliably destroys pathogens in the soil;
• copper sulfate. For tillage, 50 g of the substance are dissolved in a bucket of water and spilled on the ground. The drug is effective for soil treatment in greenhouses and greenhouses. An overdose of the drug leads to the fact that the soil loses its breathability, and the number of beneficial microorganisms decreases in it. Soil treatment with copper-containing preparations is recommended not more than once every 5 years.

For soil treatment against fungal diseases, mold and some pests, 0.5% - 1% solution of copper sulfate (50-100 g per 10 l of water) is used

Biological method

The use of microbiological preparations gives many positive results:

• the amount of pathogens in the soil is reduced;
• when growing on the site of the same crops, soil fatigue is observed. Biological fungicides are able to neutralize this phenomenon;
• the soil is populated with beneficial microflora.

The most effective biological fungicides for preparing soil for strawberries are:

• Fitosporin;
• Trichodermin;
• Alirin B;
• Baikal EM-1.

Biological fungicides are low toxic and highly effective.

Note! For the disinfection of soil, biological and chemical preparations cannot be used simultaneously. The minimum interval between application should be at least 2 weeks.

Agrotechnical method

Properly organized agro-technical measures help prevent the emergence and spread of diseases and pests, and preserve soil fertility. A well-organized crop rotation can help. The best precursors for strawberries are:

• beet;
• beans;
• garlic;
• peas;
• dill;
• parsley.

Harmful precursors for garden strawberries will be tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, zucchini and cucumbers. This is due to the fact that these cultures have a number of common pests with strawberries, are prone to the same diseases, the causative agents of which infect the soil.

Before planting strawberries on the site, it is recommended to plant siderat plants. They are planted for a short time, give seedlings to grow, and then the green mass is plowed into the soil.

Siderata is a green fertilizer specially grown to restore the soil after the growing season, enrich it with nitrogen and trace elements and inhibit weed growth

For disinfection, it is possible to conduct thermal treatment of the soil by spilling it with boiling water or treating it with steam. This method is very effective, but due to the complexity of execution at home, it can be used to disinfect a small amount of soil (for example, for planting seedlings) or to disinfect a small ridge.

Note! Planting on the ridges adjacent to strawberries plants such as marigolds and marigolds helps to improve the condition of the soil and fight against potogens.

Mulching Strawberry Plantings

Mulching of strawberry plantings not only protects the crop from pests, weeds and diseases, but also improves the structure of the soil and increases its fertility. Various materials can be mulch for culture:

• hay, straw or grass are useful in that after their decay in the soil, hay sticks are actively propagated. This beneficial microorganism prevents the spread of fungal infections;
• black spanbond provides quick heating of the soil, prevents drying out and leaching, protects it from weeds. In order to prevent the soil from overheating in hot summer days, it is recommended to spread grass or straw over agrofibre;
• needles, cones, coniferous branches during rotting nourish the soil, make it more loose, do not allow the spread of a disease such as gray rot. It should be borne in mind that this mulch acidifies the soil, therefore it should be used with caution on soils prone to acidity;
• sawdust and shavings retain moisture well, inhibit the development of weeds. But when decomposed, these materials acidify the soil and take nitrogen out of it. Therefore, ridges with such a mulching coating need additional fertilizing with nitrogen-containing fertilizers, as well as regular application of ash or dolomite flour against acidification of the soil;
• mulch from humus and compost prevents overheating, hypothermia, drying out, weathering and depletion of the soil. But the layer of mulch from these materials requires constant updating, as it is quickly processed by soil microorganisms.

Photo Gallery: Strawberry Mulching

Video: preparing soil for planting strawberries

In addition to the above procedures, we must not forget about the destruction of last year's plant residues, which can be dangerous pathogens, about deep autumn digging of the soil with harvesting of weed roots and discovered larvae, about recommendations for replacing the top soil layer in greenhouses and greenhouses, because harmful substances are concentrated in it pathogens and organisms that can cause infectious diseases. You can not spare time for high-quality soil preparation for planting strawberries. Grown quality harvest will be a real reward for all the efforts and efforts spent on creating favorable conditions for strawberries.