Description of the variety
The bush is neat, low, up to 20 cm, erect, has many leaves. They are light green in color, clean, and medium in size. The leaf petiole is bare.
Peduncles are located below the bush. There are a lot of them. Therefore, the Mara de Bois strawberry has an above-average yield. The weight of one berry is average, from 18 to 26 g. Now varieties with larger berries have been created. This strawberry (Mara de Bois variety) was also used for their selection. The description of the berries says that they are conical in shape. The color is light red, typical of strawberries. The berries are shiny. How does Mara de Bois strawberry differ from other varieties? Reviews from gardeners say that it is extremely tasty and aromatic. These qualities do not deteriorate even as a result of heavy rains. And in sunny weather it is even more fragrant. It tastes sweet and sour. The size of the variety resembles strawberries, and the taste and aroma of strawberries.
Strawberries Mara de Bois (photos presented in the article) begin to ripen at the end of May or early summer (depending on the region). Flowering and ripening of berries continue until the onset of frost. And in closed ground, Mara de Bois strawberries can grow and bear fruit even in winter. Description of the variety, reviews say that in spring and autumn the berries are larger, and in mid-summer they are smaller. This is usually a period of extreme heat.
Strawberry planting technology
Strawberries, by definition, are a demanding plant that needs not only comfortable climatic conditions, but also proper care throughout the entire life cycle of the bush.
It is not surprising that to successfully grow strawberries you need to control the planting conditions. To grow this wild strawberry/garden strawberry hybrid, follow these instructions.
Tips for choosing seedlings
- The presence of bent leaves with a yellowish or distorted structure indicates that the plant is sick. It was probably attacked by a strawberry mite. Dots on the surface indicate the presence of a fungal disease that cannot be treated on young plants. In general, try to avoid purchasing limp shoots.
- Seedlings that are fertile in the future must have at least three developed green leaves. This rule also applies to other varieties of strawberries.
- Strawberry roots should be 7 centimeters long and have a dense, branched structure. In this case, the plant will be able to successfully absorb minerals and a sufficient amount of water. The horn also plays a certain role. In good seedlings it grows up to 7 millimeters.
When and where to plant?
Planting strawberries in open ground is organized from mid-April to the end of May. In the northern parts of the country, it is better to plant in mid-June, when the soil has reached a temperature suitable for the successful growth of strawberries.
It is important that the place receives enough sunlight or is illuminated by a reliable artificial system (but given that it is better to grow the berry not on an industrial scale, you should not spend money on equipment). The Mara de Bois variety responds positively to acidified soil
Therefore, fertilizer from compost, as well as purchased inorganic fertilizer, is regularly applied to a depth of 30 centimeters (1 square meter should contain 1 bucket of compost and 40 grams of fertilizing)
The Mara de Bois variety responds positively to acidified soil. Therefore, fertilizer from compost and also purchased inorganic fertilizer are regularly applied to a depth of 30 centimeters (1 bucket of compost and 40 grams of fertilizer per 1 square meter).
For the first time, you need to dig up the area and thoroughly compact the soil, disinfecting it. This will allow you to destroy potential pests at the larval stage.
After about a month, when the soil in the strawberry bed has finally settled, you can start planting your seedlings.
The distance between all plants should exceed 35 centimeters. This will allow the already weakened and few antennae of the Mara de Bois to develop and stretch in different directions.
Accordingly, you will be able to get new bushes for growing both this season and next. After planting the plant, water it, mulch the ground, or better yet, cover everything with a thin film. Remember that strawberries cannot be grown in one bed for more than 4 years.
Creation of a variety
The creation of the Mara de Bois variety is the result of long and painstaking work by French breeders. It smells like strawberries because wild berry varieties were used to create it. And she got her size and density from strawberries.
Mara de Bois in France is considered one of the best and is a standard quality strawberry variety. The berries are consumed fresh.
Can be grown in a greenhouse or greenhouse. The bush is very beautiful, so it is used to decorate the yard and garden.
The Mara de Bois variety is not new. On its basis, scientists have already managed to create many subsidiaries. For example, the Manila variety is based on the Mara de Bois variety. It retains the aroma of its ancestor, but has larger berries.
Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages of the variety:
- Long and uniform fruiting.
- Good taste.
- Compactness of bushes.
- Rich strawberry aroma.
- Self-pollinating.
- It takes root both in open ground and in greenhouse conditions.
- Resistance to powdery mildew.
Flaws:
- Tolerant to drought and temperatures above +30 C and below -5 C.
- A small number of mustaches.
- Heterogeneity of berries in size.
- Average transportability.
Reproduction
Typically, remontant strawberry varieties produce few rosettes for propagation. On the one hand, this is good because they do not need to be deleted. But this is bad for reproduction. After all, getting new bushes will be more difficult.
But the Mara de Bois variety does not suffer from a lack of tendrils for propagation. In order to have more new rosettes, some flower stalks are pinched. This will reduce the berry yield, but will increase the amount of planting material. But why will it decrease? After all, strawberry rosettes bear fruit from the first year of life!
Day neutral strawberries
Remontant strawberry, or day-neutral strawberry, received this name due to the fact that its flower buds form at any length of daylight. Unlike ordinary varieties, in which this occurs only within a certain range.
Remontant strawberries bloom later than early varieties, so they are not so afraid of spring return frosts.
Remontant strawberries and wild strawberries are very demanding on growing conditions. After all, they bear fruit all season, devoting all their energy to the formation and ripening of berries. Therefore, the bushes need to be constantly fed with potassium and nitrogen fertilizers.
Despite these growing problems, remontant varieties are becoming increasingly popular. After all, by the end of the spring season, strawberries get a little boring, and you want to try something new as soon as possible. But closer to autumn, everyone will happily eat its sweet, aromatic fruits.
The berries of modern varieties of remontant strawberries grow up to 50 g or more. But the Mara de Bois strawberries are less productive.
Strawberry variety Mara de bois: when you want to go to the forest for berries
At the end of the 80s, French breeders developed a strawberry variety that was close in taste and aroma to its forest relative. They called it Mara de bois, which means “wild berry.” For several decades now, this strawberry in Europe and the USA has been among the top hits of the most delicious remontant varieties. The French beauty Mara de bois was also highly appreciated by Russian gardeners.
Bushes
The plant is low - up to 20 cm, densely leafy. The light green leaves are medium vesicular, with serrated edges. The multi-primed peduncles are low, thin, and lie on the ground due to the weight of numerous ripe berries.
The flowers do not need additional pollinators, but the presence of other varieties can increase the yield. Unlike many other remontant varieties, Mara de bois produces enough runners for reproduction.
Young rosettes of Mara de bois develop quickly and begin to actively bear fruit. A bush planted in a flowerpot with hanging flowering horns looks beautiful
Berries
The bright red shiny berries have an average weight of 20 g. They do not differ in one-dimensionality; there are 15 g and 25 g. The shape is regular, conical. The yellow achenes are slightly pressed into the skin. The pulp is orange, medium density. The consistency is juicy, pleasant, the taste and aroma are distinctly strawberry.
Mara de bois “gourmet strawberry”, in which sweetness and sourness are in the perfect combination. It is consumed fresh and processed. Mara de bois can enhance the taste of any summer dessert.
Productivity
Continuous, stable fruiting begins in early or mid-June and ends in the fall when frost approaches. The variety's yield of about 800 g per bush is achieved not due to the size of the berries, but due to their large quantity. Moreover, this result is easily obtained with moderate agricultural technology.
a brief description of
Among day neutral varieties (NDD), gardeners choose Mara de bois not for yield, but for high taste characteristics. French strawberries, bred in the last century, have many other positive qualities.
Advantages of the variety
- long-term uniform fruiting;
- produces a harvest on rosettes of the current year;
- excellent balanced taste;
- bright strawberry-fruity aroma;
- Possibility of use for overhead structures;
- compactness of plants;
- self-pollinating;
- high immunity to powdery mildew.
Disadvantages of the variety
- fruits are uneven in size;
- does not tolerate heat and drought well, so growing in the southern regions is undesirable;
- gives a good harvest for the second season, then it is advisable to renew the plantings;
- does not tolerate low temperatures, requires careful shelter;
- needs regular feeding;
- the plant is prone to spotting and non-infectious chlorosis.
Gardeners forgive the presented list of shortcomings for the Mara de bois for its amazing taste.
Growing and care
In agricultural technology, Mara de bois is standard. Intensive care will respond with increased harvest.
Loosening, weed control
The problem of tedious loosening and weeding is solved by planting the Mara de bois variety on black agrofibre. This will save the harvest, since the berries will not rot on damp soil. Instead of non-woven material, you can use organic mulch: straw, sawdust, grass fertilizer residues.
Removing a mustache
This ampelous remontant variety produces mustache in small quantities. Young rooted, actively fruiting plants do not reduce the potential of the mother bush. This moment can be used to update the plantings. Therefore, if the area allows, there is no need to trim the mustache.
Preparing for winter
In the central zone of Russia, strawberries are covered for the winter with agrofibre, spruce branches, and straw. In the Northern regions, growing Mara de bois is possible only in greenhouses and winter gardens as an hanging crop.
In preparation for wintering, dry and damaged leaves are cut off from the plant, as well as tendrils with rosettes that are not left for reproduction.
Fruiting
Remontant varieties are very productive. They bloom and bear fruit in waves, of which strawberries may not even have two, but three or four.
Even during the first spring fruiting, the yield of berries is the same as that of non-remontant varieties, about half a kilogram. The same goes for the Mara de Bois strawberry. The description of the variety indicates that the berries are arranged in a circle in several layers, like a fountain.
Preparing the site
Strawberries should not be grown in one place for more than 4 years. Afterwards the area needs a change of culture. This will make it possible to get rid of pests and diseases that accumulate in the soil during the growth of strawberries.
In order not to be left completely without berries in four years, you need to constantly change the crop on a quarter of the plot. There are various growing technologies. For example, sockets are transferred to the aisle between the rows. But still, strawberries will not grow in one area for a long time.
Soil preparation
Fertilizers are added to the soil approximately three weeks in advance. Usually this is humus or compost at the rate of 1 bucket per square meter and 50 g of complex mineral fertilizers.
On sandy soils, it is necessary to spray once a year with boric acid (a weak aqueous solution), and on calcareous soils - with the same solution of manganese and Cytovit (containing zinc). Then the plants will be able to receive the entire complex of useful substances.
Fertilizers are embedded in the soil to a depth of 25 cm. Before planting seedlings, the rows are dug up using a bayonet.
Landing
Young plants are planted in the spring, in April-May, depending on the climate zone. In more northern areas, planting can be done in early June. You need to focus on the temperature at this time and the possibility of watering. Indeed, often young bushes planted late disappear from lack of moisture before they have time to take root.
Mara de Bois loves sunny places. It is there that it can receive enough heat and light so that its fruits acquire the characteristic taste and aroma of wild berries.
The distance between bushes in a row is 30 cm, and between rows - at least 40 cm. Before planting, you need to take a good look at the plants and remove broken and damaged roots. Then the cut site is treated with ash.
Planted so that the growing point does not fall underground.
Planted plants are watered and covered with a thick layer of mulch. This can be straw, mown grass, sawdust in a layer of at least 7 cm. Black film is often used. But on clay soils, its use can lead to severe compaction of the soil.
Mulch will protect plants from the scorching rays of the sun and retain moisture in the soil. In such conditions, it is easier for young rosettes to take root. And weeds break through the mulch much less often.
Strawberry variety Mara de Bois: features, planting, care
Strawberries are the most popular berry in Russia; they are loved by gardeners, entrepreneurs and simply consumers.
The fruits of the plant have a unique aroma and taste, and the variety of varieties allows it to be grown in many climatic zones.
Strawberries Mara De Bois have good reviews from gardeners and hobbyists and require special attention and care. Russian climate changes are not an obstacle to the growth of this species.
Description
For the first time, this large-fruited species was obtained as a result of crossing several varieties, in 1991, by French breeders. This technique allows you to get not only a tasty and fleshy berry, but also a new, unique type of crop. Strawberry Mara De Bois is popular and respected by gardeners in Europe and the USA.
The strawberry variety Mara De Bois is characterized by high yield in the first three seasons: from a bush you can harvest from 500 grams of fruit. Berries appear on rosettes of the first and second order. The fruits are large, shiny and smooth, and have a strong forest aroma.
The bushes, characterized by dense greenery with neat leaves, grow up to 25 cm in height. The main difference between the Maria De Bois strawberry variety and other plants is its strong individual aroma.
The plant is resilient, tolerates periods of heavy rain well, and produces sweet berries with a dense consistency. In terms of taste, the fruits are more similar to strawberries with their characteristic sourness.
The plants are small in diameter, look neat, have few rosettes and short tendrils. After ripening, the berries lie on the ground, so it is important to pick them on time.
Mara De Bois can be grown on a balcony, loggia or on the street side of a window sill; its neat bushes look very beautiful in pots and decorate the appearance of the building. This technique will be useful for residents of the northern regions, since the soil warms up better in hanging beds.
Characteristic
Mara De Bois bushes produce many flower stalks below the foliage. The plant has high productivity. Strawberries of this variety have good reviews from gardeners, primarily for the size of the berries and their weight - from 17 to 25 grams.
The strawberry variety Mara De Bois is used for selective work on other large-fruited crop types.
Description of the variety:
- the berry is large with a dense consistency;
- the fruit has a cone shape;
- color bright red, light shade;
- the surface is glossy, smooth;
- the fruits are very fragrant.
The Mara De Bois strawberry is resistant to weather changes and bears fruit in both the rain and the scorching sun. You can see the smooth and beautiful shapes of the berries in the photo on the Internet. The fruits of Mara de Bois grow until the onset of cold nights, and the plant begins to bear fruit at the end of May.
Peculiarities
Strawberry Mara De Bois belongs to remontant varieties, which are characterized by the growth of flower buds only during daylight hours.
You can propagate bushes by transplanting tendrils, which this variety produces a lot. For gardeners involved in growing crops, it is recommended to reduce the percentage of fruits by pinching off the stalks.
This technique helps to obtain even more mustaches for transplantation.
These varieties bloom a little later than others. This type of plant is very demanding in care and growth conditions; it requires constant feeding with nitrogen and potassium. In order for the bush to bear fruit throughout the season, a lot of effort is required.
This type of strawberry can bear fruit several times per season. Gardeners respect this variety because the berries can be sold in spring, summer and autumn. The changeable Russian weather does not interfere with the cultivation of the Mara De Bois variety, and its berries do not lose their taste and aroma in such conditions.
The main useful feature of this variety of berries is its resistance to many fungal infections, which greatly facilitates plant care. Mara De Bois strawberries avoid powdery mildew disease.
Features of care
The main points of constant care for the Mara De Bois variety:
- frequent weeding (the soil should not be neglected), you can mulch the soil;
- removal of pests by hand picking and spraying;
- timely watering;
- soil fertilization.
It is not recommended to treat weed beds with herbicides after planting strawberries; this must be done no earlier than a year before planting, otherwise the berries will absorb all the chemicals. It is important to monitor the condition of the plant and notice the onset of any disease in time.
It is recommended to fertilize the bushes after they have taken root in the new soil; new fresh leaves will indicate this. Strawberries Mara De Bois, which grow on the site for several seasons, are recommended to be fertilized with a whole complex of fertilizers with a high nitrogen content.
The Mara De Bois variety must be watered carefully, as water that gets inside the rosettes and on the set fruits harms the plant. It is recommended to use watering around the perimeter of the bush or the drip method.
The strawberry variety Mara De Bois compares favorably with many other types of this crop. First of all, it is good because it bears fruit several times a season.
The berries have a forest strawberry aroma and a pleasant consistency of dense strawberries, and do not lose their beneficial properties even in heavy rain.
To successfully breed this crop, it is important to think through everything several steps ahead; you need to carefully study the technologies of watering, planting and care. With good care and maximum output, you can get a lot of seedlings and fragrant berries at the same time.
Growing
The Mara de Bois strawberry is not easy to grow. Reviews from many gardeners indicate that they cannot get good results.
To grow successfully, strawberries need warmth, sun (rain won't hurt) and constant fertilization. If you do not have the opportunity to provide regular feeding, it is better not to plant such varieties, but to grow early, middle and late ones.
In the Non-Black Earth region and to the north, Mara de Bois strawberries are grown under film, otherwise the berries will not have time to ripen and the harvest will be minimal.
In a greenhouse or in warm regions, Mara de Bois strawberries can be grown on a trellis. After all, the rosettes formed this year bear fruit with good care.
Care
It consists of weeding, watering, feeding plants and spraying against pests and diseases.
Mulch will help control weeds by preventing annual plants from getting out. And it is not afraid of perennial weeds. Therefore, it is better to periodically cut weeds such as thistle with a Fokin flat cutter. Don't be afraid that they will start to branch. If you do this deep enough and often enough, they disappear.
You can use selective herbicides, but in this case all the chemicals will be on your table. Therefore, if there is severe weeding, it is better to treat the area at least a year before planting strawberries.
Collection and storage of berries
The berries are collected throughout the fruiting season. They need to be removed as they turn red - if they are not collected in time, they will begin to mold. Harvesting is carried out early in the morning or in the evening.
The berries must be stored in the refrigerator at an optimal temperature of +4 C to +6 C. It is best if the strawberries are stored in one layer. It can also be frozen or ground with sugar to increase shelf life.
Top dressing
They begin to feed the plants after they have grown and begun to produce new leaves. Bushes that have been growing on the site for several years are watered with complex fertilizer, dissolving it in water. During this period, he needs more nitrogen.
The Mara de Bois strawberry is very demanding on fertilizers. Reviews from gardeners and gardeners say that they water the plants twice a month with a solution of infused mullein (1 liter of solution per bucket of water).
You can buy ready-made, long-acting fertilizer (for example, Osmokot). 8-9 granules are buried in a circle at a distance of 8-10 cm from the center of the plant.
During the formation of buds, spray with fertilizer with equal amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Potassium fertilizer affects the quantity and quality of flower stalks.
Day neutral plants are quite disease resistant. The same variety of strawberries is Mara de Bois. Reviews from gardeners indicate that they cultivate the beds only twice a year, before and after flowering. For spraying, use a mixture of insecticides and fungicides.
What soil does strawberry like?
An important question: choosing the right soil in which the queen of berries will grow. Strawberries love black soil, loam and sandy loam soil; they contain a lot of humus and nutrients, and have a fairly high level of Ph = 5-6.
It is better to plant it on a small hillock or even a slope facing southwest. This is explained by the fact that the berry needs a lot of sun to ripen.
It has long been noticed that if you plant a strawberry bush in an area with acidic, limestone soil or on saline, clay and sandy soil, and even in a lowland, then you may not expect a harvest at all.
Choosing the right site is only half the battle. It is necessary to fertilize the soil with soil substrate. The best option consists of a mixture of turf, peat, humus, sawdust and sand. It is better to prepare the substrate in parts, and only over time, when the gardener has good experience in growing strawberries, will it be possible to mix the soil ingredients.
Turf contains a lot of organic matter, and therefore it must be diluted with sawdust in a ratio of 7:2. Wood ash is added to the peat - you only need a glass of ash per bucket. This mixture must be mixed and soaked in a solution from a glass of mullein with the addition of a very small amount (half a teaspoon) of copper sulfate.
Sawdust is usually very dry and is best moistened with a small amount of urea before use.
It is better to put all components - turf, peat, humus, sawdust - in equal parts. But you need very little sand, about 1:10 of the total volume. But it’s worth looking for very coarse sand to allow air and moisture to pass through.
Experienced gardeners never use land where strawberries, raspberries, potatoes or tomatoes previously grew. In any case, a three-year period should be maintained until the black soil or loam regains its nutritional properties.
Pest and disease control
The Mara de Bois strawberry is quite resistant to them. Descriptions and reviews indicate that it is practically not affected by powdery mildew. But brown spot can significantly reduce the yield. Therefore, when processing strawberries of other varieties, it is a good idea to also capture the Mara de Bois variety.
In the spring, after clearing the area of old leaves, the plants are treated against brown spot (“Kurzat”). Then the use of Bordeaux mixture is useful. You just need to do it until the plants begin to develop. Drops on young leaves can cause burns.
If it rains often in the spring, the risk of berries becoming infected with gray rot increases. The strawberry variety Mara de Bois also suffers from it. Reviews from gardeners suggest that to prevent this, plants can be treated with Roval during the flowering period.
In old areas, spraying is carried out in three stages. The first is when flowering is just beginning, and the last is when up to 80% of all buds have bloomed. This substance is low-toxic and is quickly eliminated from all parts of the plant.
In summer it is better to use biological products such as Trichodermin and Fitoverm. If you have introduced Trichogramma into your territory, you cannot spray it with chemicals until the end of the season.
Growing and caring for remontant strawberries in open ground
Planting is only the first stage. To grow remontant strawberry bushes, you need to systematically care for them: water, loosen and fertilize, and, if necessary, treat them with drugs against diseases and pests.
Watering and fertilizing
A sufficient amount of moisture is the key to normal growth of bushes and abundant fruiting. Therefore, the plants must be watered constantly; the soil must be moist, but not dry or wet. For convenience and to reduce labor costs, you can cover the ground with mulch of hay, straw, sawdust, etc., or use agrofibre.
Varieties of remontant strawberries have a large number of vegetative and generative organs, and therefore place increased demands on soil fertility. Fertilizing of remontant strawberries is carried out in early spring - saltpeter and potassium sulfate, 15 g per 1 sq. m. After the formation of flowers has begun, fertilizing should be carried out three times a month until October. To do this, I use complex fertilizers and ash or mullein solution. It is imperative to water and fertilize, otherwise there will be no harvest in the desired volume.
Trimming
Trimming is the removal of growing whiskers if they are not intended to be used for reproduction. Such care should be carried out for remontant strawberries in the spring and throughout the summer. For remontant varieties, complete pruning of foliage is not practiced; after the first wave of fruiting, unsightly, dry leaves affected by pests and diseases are removed, as well as old flower stalks on which there were berries.
Preparing for winter
Before the onset of cold weather, all peduncles with flowers and berries are removed from strawberries, the tendrils are trimmed, old diseased leaves are removed, and the soil around the bush is loosened. Then the plants are fed with complex fertilizers, sprinkled with ash around the bush and covered with new mulching material around the bush (the heart cannot be covered). It is better to use plant materials, that is, hay, straw, sawdust.
Diseases and pests
The agricultural technology of this group of varieties involves treatment against pests and diseases, both preventive and therapeutic. The crop can be affected by nematodes, mites, strawberry and spider mites, aphids, and the berries can be spoiled by birds and wasps. Diseases: wilt, fusarium and late blight, gray rot, powdery mildew, leaf spot, brown and white. They need to be combated by spraying with chemicals, folk remedies or biological products at the first signs of the appearance of disease or insect activity. The result of such care for remontant strawberries will be healthy plants and many large and clean berries.
Reviews
Not everyone's Mara de Bois strawberries grow and bear fruit well. Reviews say that it does not give normal results in those central regions where other varieties perform well, for example, in the Orenburg region. This is due to the fact that frosts occur there early. And at this time the bush is covered with berries. Therefore, the bed needs to be covered. Otherwise, the berries will disappear due to frost.
Many of the gardeners who know the taste of Mara de Bois strawberries, but have not yet planted them, plan to eventually start growing these aromatic berries.
