When, where and how to plant strawberries: advice from an agronomist to get a gorgeous harvest of berries

This fruit is loved by everyone, both children and adults. And the fruits themselves are delicious to taste.

But this plant is quite capricious and requires care. But it is not too complicated, so do not be afraid.

Anastasia Kovrizhnykh , an expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", an agronomist and landscape designer, told how to plant strawberry seedlings.

You just need to stick to the basics of planting and care. You can grow strawberries using seeds or seedlings.

But growing from seeds is quite a labor-intensive process, so it is better for beginning gardeners to use seedlings.

When to plant it

Despite the fact that this plant is quite capricious, it is also a fairly flexible crop. Therefore, its planting can be done all season long, but especially hot weather should be avoided.

The best time for this is August - early September. Planting berries during this period will allow you to get results next year. But you can also plant it in the spring.

To do this, the berries are planted in a greenhouse in early spring, and in May they can already be placed in open soil, only after the night frosts have ended.

It is best to plant in cloudy, damp weather, and it is also advisable to do this in the evening.

And all because in the sun's rays young seedlings will feel uncomfortable and may not even take root.

Choosing a landing site

Since its root system is located quite close to the soil surface, it should not be allowed to become too wet or, conversely, dry out.

So you should choose a site where water will not stagnate all year round.

You should also avoid planting berry seedlings under trees, as the plant does not like dark places. In addition, the place where the strawberries will be planted should be illuminated all day long.

You cannot plant the plant where cucumbers or potatoes used to grow, because these crops are often infected with late blight, which can harm the berries and lead to their death.

Among other things, you should also avoid places where perennial weeds such as couch grass and sow thistle grow. Strawberries will not tolerate such a neighborhood and will be oppressed by weeds.

Planting berries

First, the seedlings are prepared, their roots should be cut by 7 cm. Also, all the leaves should be removed, except for the 2 smallest ones, and the base of the apical bud should be left.

Afterwards, the roots are treated to protect them from parasite attacks and diseases. To do this, you need to make a solution where you need to add 3 tablespoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of copper sulfate to 10 liters of water. Afterwards, the seedlings need to be placed in the solution for 15 minutes. Then they are taken out and rinsed with running water.

Then, on the selected area, you need to make a hole about 20 cm deep with a bayonet shovel. Then they are watered generously.

Then place the seedling there, and the apical bud should be at the same level with the ground, otherwise the young leaves will have nowhere to grow and the seedling will die. Then sprinkle it with earth, compacting the soil, and water it from a watering can.

In dry weather, plants need to be watered every other day for a week until the seedlings take root.

After the water has been absorbed into the soil, it is necessary to mulch it with peat and humus. This is done to avoid the formation of a crust on the soil and for good plant growth.

Earlier we told you how to feed tomato seedlings so that they grow strong .