The basis of strawberry plantation care is proper watering. Watering is especially important during the ripening period of berries.
If the leaves of the rosettes begin to droop during the day, it means that the plants are experiencing a moisture deficit. Insufficient watering will cause a poor harvest, small and sour berries.
But excess moisture is also harmful for this crop. If you flood the beds too much, the berries will start to rot and the plants will get sick. That is why it is so important to properly water the strawberries.
Watering strawberries
It is enough to water strawberries well four times during the entire season. The beds are watered abundantly during flowering, then during the fruiting period. The next abundant watering is carried out after the berries are picked, and already at the end of summer. The rest of the time, the strawberries are watered moderately, as the soil dries out.
But it is during the fruiting period that watering is most important. The beds are watered between picking berries early in the morning or at sunset. The water temperature should be above +15 degrees.
Strawberries do not tolerate watering with very cold water. It is advisable to place the container in the sun in the morning and water the rosettes with warm water in the evening.
How to water correctly?
It is necessary to moisten the soil to a depth of about 25 cm. This is the depth at which the main roots of the rosettes are located. Watering should be abundant - at least three buckets of water should be used per square of the bed.
You can't water strawberries every day with a small amount of water. Such watering only leads to moistening of the upper soil layer, and the lower roots of the plants will not receive moisture. Such watering will also cause the development of fungal diseases.
Additional irrigation of the plantation
Often in extreme heat, the leaves begin to wilt and the berries dry out. In extreme heat, additional watering of strawberries is necessary. But in this case, the water consumption should be less - about a bucket per square of the bed.
Proper watering of strawberries is the key to a good harvest and healthy plants.
