Organic and mineral fertilizers for strawberries

If you do not fertilize strawberries in a timely manner, you can not only be left without delicious berries, but also lose the plants themselves. To obtain the maximum result in different climatic zones, you need to find out which nutrients the culture needs in the fall, and which ones - in the spring. All experienced gardeners know how to fertilize strawberries:

1. Manure - A very popular folk remedy, consisting of waste and bedding of cattle. It is used only in a rotted form, since fresh will enhance the growth of weeds.
2. Humus is decomposed manure, transformed into a homogeneous mass. Provides the required concentration of nutrients, is easily absorbed by the soil.
3. Chicken droppings - a real storehouse of nitrogen. It is applied between plants at a concentration of 1:20.
4. Fermented milk products are a folk method. The application is due to the fact that strawberries prefer acidic soil. They also contain minerals and many essential amino acids. Most often used in a mixture with ash and humus. Spraying the leaves with milk will help get rid of harmful insects - mites, aphids.
5. Infusion of nettle. The container is filled with chopped grass, filled with water (preferably rain or spring water), oppression is placed on top. Insist for several days, stirring occasionally. For feeding, the infusion is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20 (half a liter per bucket of water).
6. Mineral fertilizers for strawberries: nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium. This combination prevents many cultural diseases.

Complex feeding mixtures can be purchased at any specialized store. And how to fertilize strawberries depends on the composition of the soil and the season.

When to fertilize

Strawberries are such a unique culture that they are grown even in winter indoors, on insulated balconies, verandas, and loggias. It is very important to choose the right type of feeding, since a mistake will not bring any benefit, and, on the contrary, will inhibit the development of the plant. In total, strawberries are fertilized three times per season:

• In early spring apply nitroammophos or chicken droppings (mullein can be used).
• A lot of calcium is required before flowering, so potassium nitrate or chicken droppings would be a good solution.
• How to fertilize strawberries to increase the harvest of the next season? Of course, organic or ureaintroduced in the fall.

Substances required for the full development of strawberries:

1. Nitrogen improves palatability, helps to increase fruit. It contains saltpeter, urea, chicken droppings - these are fertilizers for strawberries in the spring, applied immediately after removing dry leaves and excess shoots. The excess will affect the taste - the berry will become less sweet.
2. Potassium increases the keeping quality of fruits, increases the capacity of sugar, making strawberries tastier. The lack of this element in the soil will be indicated by the color of the leaves - their tips become brown. Potassium nitrate or wood ash is added for replenishment.

Tip: During flowering and fruiting, the berries are not fertilized with anything, so as not to harm the health of those who will use them.

How to fertilize correctly

For beginners, the question often arises: when to feed newly planted strawberries in spring or autumn? This factor does not play a special role. The crop beds are dug up before winter along with the selected fertilizer. Then feeding is carried out after harvest, in the fall - around mid-September. Experienced gardeners often use manure or poultry manure.When transplanting to a new place, you need to add a large amount of organic substances, supplemented with minerals. An indispensable condition for a good harvest is the exact observance of proportions, the correct choice of means and the timing of its introduction.

Tip: In order for the berry harvest to always please with its abundance, strawberries need to be transplanted to a new site every 3-4 years.

After the end of the fruiting period, the plant requires increased nutrition, because at this time new and buds are formed. In the fall, strawberries make a certain supply of nutrients for successful wintering - this is the time to add humus, compost, chicken droppings. Phosphorus and potassium are what you can use to fertilize your strawberries at the start of the season, while distributing the elements evenly throughout the garden.

How to get a good harvest

New plantings of strawberries are best done in early autumn, so that young sprouts have time to take root sufficiently by the first cold weather. Chicken droppings are introduced into the soil, superphosphate, potassium salt. When replanting a crop, it should be borne in mind that the ideal predecessors are legumes, grains, herbs, onions. On the contrary, nightshades, cabbage, cucumbers are a bad decision. Regular removal of weeds, loosening of the soil, the introduction of necessary nutrients in spring and autumn, mulching with humus, peat, and foliage will help to develop strawberries correctly. Snow retention contributes to a successful wintering.

After harvesting, the ground part of the plants is mowed, leaving stems about five centimeters, fed (chicken droppings), watered abundantly, loosened the soil. Thus, the culture is rejuvenated, its yield increases. In addition to traditional preparations, peat talker or herbal fertilizer is used for feeding. Fertilizing with liquid, and coarse residues are sent to mulching the soil.

Dissolve the humate fertilizer in water, then spread it on the hay between the bushes. A quality superphosphate substitute - wood ash applied dry or as a solution. Today, even bird droppings can be purchased at a retail outlet in the form of a concentrate, which must be diluted with water and infused for two days, and then carefully poured into the grooves between the roots.

Any soil is suitable for growing strawberries, most of all - the southwestern slopes, where the earliest ripening occurs. Before planting, it is advisable to conduct a laboratory analysis of the soil for the presence of the necessary batteries. Depending on the results, make adjustments. It should always be remembered that the culture absorbs the most useful substances during the period of flowering and fruiting.

Strawberry is a berry common in all European countries, with rare exceptions. When grown on an industrial scale, chemical fertilizers are used for strawberries, for example, Florovit is especially recommended for crops cultivated on soils with a low humus content. Water-soluble drugs Novalon and Foliar have proven themselves well.