Content
Why strawberries become smaller: reasons and secrets of their elimination
24.06.2023 01:20
Over time, garden strawberries stop growing tasty and aromatic, become smaller, dry out at the growth stage, and taste sour.
In this case, it is necessary to find out the reasons for such changes and, having taken appropriate measures, restore the berry bushes.
Berry variety
Before planting strawberries, be sure to study the growing features of a particular variety. It will be a plus if you can taste the berry. It happens that large-looking strawberries are disappointing in taste.
Important! In different climate conditions, the berry will develop and bear fruit differently. For example, heat-loving plants will lag in their development in a cold climate.
Old berry bushes
Often, strawberries have given a good harvest for several years and large berries hung on the bushes, but now the strawberry plantation has small, uneven berries that taste sour.
Most likely, the berry bushes need to be renewed. The maximum period of good fruiting for strawberries is three years, for some varieties - four.
After 4-5 years, the roots of overgrown bushes protrude from the ground, and diseases and pests accumulate in the soil.
No tricks will help to return the berries to their former appearance. The best solution is to plant strawberries in another place:
• for planting, use rosettes with rooted tendrils;
• plant strawberries in the fall - the next season you will be able to enjoy the aromatic fruits;
• if you didn’t have time in the fall, plant in the spring;
• there is no possibility of planting in another place, then partially renew the bushes.
Watering and fertilizing
Any plant needs watering, and strawberries especially. It is best to water daily after harvesting.
The exception is a rainy summer. With excess moisture, the berries begin to rot and you can immediately forget about the harvest.
If the summer is dry, then you need to water the strawberries throughout the growing season. Otherwise, the berries will stop filling out, start drying out and shrinking, and the bushes will dry out after them.
Mulching or drip irrigation will help maintain moisture in strawberry beds.
In addition to drinking, berries are in great need of nutrients. In spring, organic or nitrogen fertilizers are added to the soil, first after the snow melts and then during the formation of the first leaves. Large sweet berries grow only on massive bushes with well-developed peduncles and large leaves.
In the fall, after harvesting, strawberries are fed with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.
Weeding and pruning
When strawberries become too dense, the berries become smaller and the bushes stretch unevenly, obscuring their rivals. Such competition for a place in the sun greatly reduces the yield and quality of the products.
The reason for this phenomenon may be dense planting of plants, which as a result of the growth of roots and tendrils leads to overgrowing of the area. When planting, observe the required distance between rows and strawberry bushes.
Strawberries spend a lot of energy on rooting runners. Instead of filling out berries, the mother bush has to form a new plant. Trimming runners serves as a preventive measure against thickening of beds and smaller berries.
Weeds also do not improve the yield, so weed the strawberries as they grow. This will preserve the nutrition of the berries, and there will be fewer garden pests.
Pests
Plantings affected by pests and diseases lose their harvest, and the berries become smaller. Spider mites, nematodes, aphids and other insect pests affect the fruits and the bushes themselves. Fungal and bacterial diseases also prevent strawberries from developing.
To avoid losing crop yields, chemical and biological protective agents are used against diseases and pests.
By following simple rules for growing strawberries, it is entirely possible to get a good harvest of this fragrant and aromatic berry.
Nature also makes its own adjustments: heat accelerates the ripening of berries, rain interferes with pollination, frost damages the color.
Strawberries are very capricious berries, so during the season you will have to monitor their growth and, if necessary, adjust them by applying. But the result will please you with tasty and large fruits.
