Technology and step-by-step instructions for growing strawberries in bags
Strawberries are popular all year round. But on the way to strawberry paradise, there are obstacles: the seasonality of the berries, the lack of space in the summer cottage. The new way to grow bagged strawberries saves space, increases the number of crops and also opens up the possibility of additional income. There will always be buyers for fresh, environmentally friendly goods. You just need to familiarize yourself with the landing technique and care rules.
Features of the method
The original garden requires a separate room, a soil substrate and a strawberry variety that is suitable for growing all year round.
What the gardener gets as a result:
- fresh strawberries at any time of the year;
- compact vegetable garden without weeds and pests;
- additional income.
Growing Difficulties:
- limited selection of varieties;
- material costs;
- laborious care.
Growing strawberries for sale requires a large room and equipment to maintain a favorable microclimate.
Selection of varieties
Planting material is ordered in nurseries and propagated in a vegetative way. But the usual variety that grows in the country in the ground is also suitable. You need to choose a strong first mustache of the mother bush with developed roots.
For commercial cultivation, varieties with the following qualities should be chosen:
- unpretentious care;
- long fruiting;
- high productivity.
The following varieties meet the selection criteria:
- Marshal - produces sweet berries, drought tolerant, grows quickly.
- Albion, Honey - are cold-resistant, highly resistant to disease.
- Geneva is a prolific variety, one bush yields up to 3 kilograms of berries.
- Gigantella is a large-fruited species that bears fruit well with abundant watering.
For planting in a confined space, small bushes are suitable that will not shade each other. Varieties with different ripening periods will ensure continuous strawberry production.
To harvest in winter and summer, you need to plant self-pollinating varieties. Otherwise, you will have to pollinate the flowers by hand.
Preparatory work
First you need to decide on the purpose of growing. If strawberries go for personal needs, 2-4 bags are enough, which will fit in an apartment.
Places for a strawberry plantation:
- greenhouse;
- garden;
- attic.
In the greenhouse, compact beds are arranged and suspended on hooks and trellises. You need to maintain a distance between them so that the light falls evenly.For bags on the ground, you need shelter.
Non-residential premises are suitable for growing strawberries: a garage, a barn. The main requirements for the site are air circulation, correct temperature and lighting. A large room should be equipped with a heating system, ventilation. On the street, bags are laid out in sunny areas. For the winter, they need to be removed to the cellar.
Bag selection
The material should be dense. Reinforced or greenhouse film will do. The bags are easy to sew by yourself:
- cut two pieces of 200x30 centimeters;
- solder or sew on the edges.
Seams and material should not let the soil pass through. For planting strawberries, ready-made bags of flour, compound feed are suitable.
Preparation of soil and planting material
Slightly acidic or neutral soil is preferred for strawberries. The substrate is prepared from peat and perlite, which are mixed in equal proportions. The second version of the soil mixture consists of turf, sand, sawdust and humus. Self-collected soil must be calcined. The heat will kill the insects.
Buying ready-made soil will save effort and preparation time. Choose a soil that retains moisture and air well.
Before filling the soil substrate, the bottom of the bag must be laid with drainage from gravel, crushed bricks, pebbles.
Placement methods
Place the strawberry bags vertically or horizontally. The choice depends on the area of the room.
Vertical fit
Convenience of vertical placement - in saving space. The beds can be placed on the floor, hung in a checkerboard pattern. One bag fits 7-8 bushes. If they are small, more will fit. There will be enough room for the roots.
Horizontal landing
The bags are laid out on the floor or racks are mounted under them in several levels. The strawberry grows as it does in normal soil. The advantage of the horizontal cultivation method is that the soil does not need to be mulched. The role of the coating is played by polyethylene, and the fruits do not get dirty.
The process of planting strawberries in bags: step by step
The technology for growing strawberries in bags is similar to conventional gardening.
Planting instructions:
- Soak bushes with an open root system in water an hour before planting so that the roots do not dry out.
- Pour soil into the bag.
- Tie with twine.
- Place vertically or horizontally.
- Cut openings in the walls of the bags crosswise or 9 centimeters long, 25 centimeters apart between them.
- Make holes in the ground through the slots to the size of the roots.
- Put the socket in the hole, straighten the roots, cover with soil.
- Tamp the earth.
- Water the seedlings.
A vertical bag installed on the floor can not be tied, but put on top a couple of more sockets.
When planting strawberry bushes outdoors, the growing point should be at ground level. This rule also applies when landing in a bag. Otherwise, the roots on the surface will dry out, and a too deep bush will rot.
To grow large fruits, you need to place the bags at a distance from each other. Vertical beds are placed every 25 centimeters in a row. 80 centimeters recede between the rows. In a greenhouse, 3 bags of seedlings are placed per 1 square meter.
Recommendations for the care of bagged strawberries
Watering, feeding and breeding are carried out as usual. For year-round indoor growing, constant temperature and humidity must be maintained. Outdoor mobile beds need to be moved for the winter to shelter or wrapped.
Humidity and temperature
The optimum temperature for flowering and fruiting strawberries is 20-22 degrees. If the thermometer in the room drops below, it is necessary to install heaters. At higher temperatures, the roots of the plants are attacked.
The air should be 90% humid. Airing will prevent the growth of fungus. Large greenhouses should be equipped with automatic microclimate control systems, steam generators, hoods.
Lighting
Strawberries need 8-14 hours of sunlight a day. If the room has several windows or a panoramic roof is arranged in the attic, daylight is sufficient. But since there are few clear days in winter, additional lighting with fluorescent lamps or ultraviolet lamps is needed. The vertical bags need to be rotated so that the light falls evenly.
Watering and feeding
The ground should not be dry. Roots rot from excess moisture. To distribute moisture evenly, drip irrigation should be installed when placing the bags vertically.
Above the bag, hang plastic bottles with the neck down. Tubes of different lengths are attached to them, which are lowered into bags. Moisture conductive channels are placed every 50 centimeters deep. A 30 liter bag consumes 2 liters of water per day.
The horizontal beds are watered as usual. If the seedlings are lying outdoors, watering occurs naturally when it rains. But in a heavy downpour, the bags should be covered with polyethylene or put under a canopy. Excess moisture threatens plants with rot.
Fertilizer is used in two types:
- liquid potash top dressing;
- chicken manure solution.
Nutrients are applied once a week after the fruit is ripe. The solutions are added to the water and the fertilizer is evenly distributed between the plants when watering.
Pruning
After harvesting the fruits, dry leaves must be removed. The bush is pruned, leaving 10 centimeters from the ground. After pruning, the plant will sprout more new shoots and get enough light.
The mustache appears after flowering. Their active growth begins after the appearance of fruits. The stolon shoots should be trimmed with scissors so as not to damage the bush. Old bushes are removed after 2 seasons of fruiting, and young rosettes are planted in fresh soil. The used soil is poured into the garden.
Protection against diseases and pests
Indoor strawberries are rarely attacked by parasites. Insects can appear from garden soil if it is insufficiently heat treated. If the bags are outside, slugs and snails can crawl onto the strawberries.
To prevent the appearance of a strawberry mite, the seedlings are warmed up before planting in hot water at a temperature of 48 degrees for 15 minutes. You can get rid of pests with a 1% solution of colloidal sulfur and Bordeaux liquid, which are mixed in equal proportions.
Growing strawberries in bags allows you to harvest large crops from a small area. Under favorable conditions for growth, fragrant berries will decorate the table all year round.
