You are unlikely to get the berry harvest you dreamed of if you place strawberry seedlings in an inappropriate place.
An expert of the online publication BelNovosti, agronomist, landscape designer Anastasia Kovrizhnykh told how to choose the right site for planting strawberries.
First of all, future strawberry beds should be well lit – look for a place that is always exposed to sunlight.
As for the soil, your task here is to provide the strawberries with loam or sandy loam, the acidity of which is in the range from 5 to 6.5.
Strawberries will definitely show excellent results in the form of a large number of sweet berries if they grow on soil that previously fed lupine, mustard, peas, beans, radishes, beets or onions.
But in places where raspberries, cucumbers or nightshades previously grew, it is not worth planting strawberry bushes.
If you plan to plant strawberries in an area where eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes or peppers were previously grown, you should first treat the soil with a biofungicide to destroy fungi and bacteria.
A month before the expected planting, the area should be dug to a depth of approximately 30 centimeters. During this process, nitrophoska should be added at a rate of two tablespoons per square meter.
Then you will need to loosen the soil and form beds that are 20 to 25 centimeters high – this recommendation is especially important for areas with high humidity.
The depth of the planting holes should be 25 centimeters (its exact dimensions depend on the size of the root system). It is important to ensure that the roots of the plants will be free and will not be deformed during planting.
Expert: Anastasia Kovrizhnykh
