How to feed Victoria and how to do it?
Victoria (aka strawberry) is a berry loved by many, with a rich and sweet taste. It contains many useful components, such as vitamin C or folic acid. If you want a fragrant and healthy berry to grow on your site, then you will need to provide it with appropriate care. Today we will talk about how and by what means Victoria is fed.
Terms of application
Before moving on to feeding Victoria, you should qualitatively prepare the plant for future procedures. The soil and bushes around the plantings must be processed immediately after the snow has melted and the soil has completely dried. At the same time, mustache trimming is required, as well as cleaning of all yellowed leaves. The latter should be done manually - it is better to refuse to use a rake. If there are damaged parts on the bush, then they will need to be removed. Only after that you can take a rake and clear the necessary place with them.
When all the bushes are cleaned in the spring season, they are treated for various diseases to which the culture is susceptible. Usually, iodine, potassium permanganate and boric acid diluted in water are used for this. And now let's take a closer look at what seasons Victoria is usually fed.
spring
With the onset of spring, the first top dressing is carried out until the formation of buds.To begin with, standard care is required - you need to clean the foliage, as well as remove the already dried shoots. For the first time, strawberries are recommended to be fertilized with a fairly saturated mullein (manure), harvested from fresh raw materials. This fertilizer is prepared in this way:
- it is required to collect 1 liter of water in a bucket, and then dilute the fermented mullein in it;
- if you do not turn to the mullein, then it is permissible to carry out the first dressing with urea - for this purpose, 2 tablespoons of this mineral remedy are diluted in a bucket of water, and then all the bushes are watered with 0.5 liters each;
- Victoria fertilizer should be carried out after rain, when the ground is still wet (under such conditions, the mullein will be absorbed much faster, and it usually just spreads on dry ground).
Of course, there are many different types of fertilizers, however, mullein is the most popular. Many summer residents turn to this natural remedy. Manure contains a large percentage of phosphorus and nitrogen. The last component has a positive effect on the growth and development of the planting, and phosphorus allows the ovaries to actively form. There are several basic rules for caring for Victoria in the spring.
- Primary top dressing is very often carried out at the very beginning of spring using a special preparation called "Horus" (at the rate of 12 g per bucket of water). After half a month, another treatment is required for characteristic diseases.
- In order to prevent Victoria's diseases, as well as to avoid the appearance of spots on them, they often turn to the Topaz tool - 6 ml of the product will be needed per bucket of water.
- You can use foliar feeding, which is called "Plantafol" at the rate of 20 g per 10 l. water. A similar effect is possessed by such means as Brexil Mix or Megafol.
- In order for the ovaries to form more actively, it is permissible to use the Boroplus agent and add it in 10-15 ml increments.
For spring top dressing, such effective means are also used:
- iodine;
- boric acid;
- yeast;
- ash.
Some summer residents prefer to turn to affordable products that can be found in any pharmacy. These options include ammonia, which not only has a positive effect on the development of the plant, but also repels various parasites from it due to its characteristic smell.
Summer
Phosphorus and potassium are exactly those components that are especially needed for Victoria in the summer, during the period of its active fruiting. To do this, it is permissible to use various solutions, for example, ash, which is highly efficient. If you laid the ashes in the spring, and you almost ran out of it, then you should turn to mineral types of fertilizers. Experts and experienced gardeners are advised to turn to specialized mixtures that are designed specifically for berries.
Simple universal fertilizers for vegetables and flowers are not suitable, because they contain an insufficient amount of trace elements. It is better to turn to a more effective potassium nitrate. To do this, you will need to take 1 teaspoon of granules and dilute them in 10 liters of water. In summer, it is also permissible to use boric acid, thanks to which the plant will give even more inflorescences - here you need to take 1 teaspoon per bucket of water.
If rainy weather persists for a long time in summer, and the sun is rarely shown, then plantings may be affected by a fungus. To avoid such troubles, you should mulch the ground in the areas between the rows, as well as under the berry bushes themselves.For this reason, the fruits may be slightly dry, but they will not be afraid of the fungus from the soil.
It is important not to forget that during the fruiting period, it is impossible to use various chemical pesticides in any case. It is permissible to spray plants only in advance for preventive purposes.
We must not forget that in the summer of Victoria, sufficient watering is simply necessary, since during this period the berries gain their weight. Nutrients must dissolve in water and go directly to the fruit.
If there is not enough water, then top dressing will not be assimilated as it should. As a result, the berries will not be very tasty, and their sweetness will be replaced by acid. If the weather is clear in the summer without rain, then the strawberries should be watered about 3-4 times a week. This is necessary so that the soil is moistened to a depth of 10-12 cm.
autumn
Many summer residents are wondering how best to feed Victoria so that she gives a rich harvest next year. Before moving on to the autumn planting care procedures, you need to think about how long the berry grows in one place. If for 3 years, then it is better to transplant it. Otherwise, the fruits will grow small, and the yield will gradually decrease.
In the autumn period, phosphorus fertilizers are most often added. The element is bound by the earth so that it remains in it until the next spring. A good solution in this case would be such an addition as superphosphate. It can be added to the soil in a dry state, preparing furrows around the bush, or diluted with water and poured over the recesses, and then covered with earth.The process of dissolving superphosphate occurs within a day, therefore, this agent is pre-soaked and stirred from time to time, after which they proceed to watering.
Potassium will be needed so that the bush comfortably survives the winter without negative consequences. Potassium fertilizing for strawberries can be added in September. If for this purpose we turn to natural wood ash, then at the same time it will be possible to achieve both loose soil and a decrease in its acidity level.
But you can not make nitrogen closer to winter, because it activates the growth of green mass. For this reason, the plant may simply die in the cold. For the winter, Victoria bushes should be mulched and wrapped with plastic wrap.
What fertilizers are required for strawberries?
For feeding Victoria use various means. Let's take a closer look at the most popular of them.
- Urea. This is a top dressing in which there is a large percentage of nitrogen. In addition, it contains components such as hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. Urea must be applied directly to the ground or used as a mixture, because upon contact with air it simply dissolves, turning into ammonia.
- Ammonium nitrate. This is a salt of nitric acid, in which 35% nitrogen is present. Ammonium nitrate makes the soil more "acidic", so it must be combined with special dolomite flour.
- Nitroammophoska. Complex fertilizer in which there are potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. You can turn to this tool in the spring only if potassium salt or superphosphate was added to the soil in the fall.
- Mullein. Some properties of mullein (dung) were mentioned above. It is a highly effective nitrogen supplement.
- Bird droppings. This is an effective organic fertilizer, in which there is a very high content of useful trace elements. The litter contains phosphorus, nitrogen, potassium and other necessary components.
- Humus. This fertilizer is a former waste of various origins. Simple manure, which has lain down for about 1-2 years, can also be called humus.
- Wood ash. This popular fertilizer is pointless to add in the spring without the use of nitrogen top dressing. Wood ash contains all the elements required by Victoria, only nitrogen is missing. If you add both ash and nitrogen-containing agents at the same time, this can lead to undesirable reactions, because ash is an alkali, and nitrogen in combination with it turns into rapidly evaporating ammonia.
- Yeast. Some summer residents use proven products and feed Victoria with yeast, which is involved in the rapid decomposition of organic matter in the ground. It is worth adding such components only to warm soil, since the optimum temperature for their decomposition is +20 degrees. In the process of yeast fermentation, the soil loses a lot of potassium and calcium, so immediately after treatment with such means, ash fertilizer should be used.
- Nettle. A good top dressing for Victoria is nettle tincture. Thanks to such a tool, the yield of Victoria is significantly increased, and the berries grow larger.
- Ammonium chloride. This tool can be found in any pharmacy. Ammonia is a very effective substance, because it contains a nitrogen compound - ammonia.
- Iodine. Many summer residents feed Victoria with iodine. You can use an alcohol-containing composition, which not only prevents many plant diseases, but also acts as a nitrogen catalyst.
How to feed?
Plants planted last year may not be fertilized after winter if they were planted with a sufficient amount of top dressing. If, however, during the implementation of such procedures there are doubts, then it is worth referring to the appropriate means. For example, it is possible to add chicken manure or sodium sulfate. Fertilizers are placed directly on the soil, cleared of debris. If Victoria is "adult", then she will need regular feeding, because over the years the earth does not get richer. Of course, you can not do this, but then you should not expect that there will be more juicy and fragrant berries. Otherwise, you will need to do the following:
- 1 top dressing - during the period when the first 2-3 leaves break through;
- 2 top dressing - in the course of fruit set.
Usually fertilizers are added according to the following scheme:
- in early spring, garbage and leaves are removed from the garden, and then all plantings are watered with liquid fertilizer;
- during the budding period, the planting is fertilized 2 times with a weekly pause;
- from July to August, after harvesting, it will be necessary to remove the old leaves and fertilize the plantings again;
- in September, top dressing will be needed in order to prepare for winter.
During flowering, the plant will need a good top dressing. At this time, the berries are especially lacking in potassium. During the fruiting period, it is permissible to feed Victoria with universal means, for example, manure. At the end of the harvest, you need to loosen the ground, water and fertilize the planted bushes.
Tips
Use the advice of experienced gardeners to get a rich strawberry harvest.
- Victoria always needs to be treated from various pests. It is allowed to do this only after picking berries and before the start of the next flowering.
- Tidy up the soil before using organic fertilizers.In this case, you can turn to active microorganisms.
- Do not plant strawberry seedlings with foliage - it will dry out the planting. Leave only the 2 earliest leaves.
If you turn only to organic matter for a long time, then it is better not to resort to chemical agents anymore.
For information on how to feed strawberries so that the berry is large until the end of the season, see the next video.