Strawberries without strawberries - what are they good for? Conditions and care, propagation, varieties. Photo

If you don’t yet have wild strawberries in your garden, perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at them and plant at least a couple of bushes. Why? Because it blooms all summer and stands dressed like a bride all season long. Due to its high decorative value, it is often used in garden design. In addition, the fruits of beardless strawberries are very sweet and aromatic, and the harvest does not dry out until frost. And also, it reproduces easily and is not at all affected by diseases... However, the arborescent varieties of strawberries also have their own secrets, which you need to know in order to reap a high harvest and not spend a lot of time on care.

Strawberries without strawberries - what are they good for? © Farmer

Features of wild strawberries

Beardless strawberries are called that because they do not produce whiskers. Usually it is a rather large, spreading bush, about 30–35 cm in diameter, quickly filling the distance around its axis with light green foliage. It begins to bloom as soon as the snow melts. It has many flower stalks and bears fruit without interruption until the first frost.

The berries of these strawberries are medium-sized, elongated, aromatic and in most cases very sweet. Thanks to its small size, it pours and ripens quickly, which allows you to collect it, if not every day, then every other day or two, for sure. May be red, yellow or white. It is not prone to shedding, and if it is not collected, it dries out on the bush. With good care, you can collect up to 1000 berries from one plant in one season!

Such strawberries were bred on the basis of alpine strawberries (growing in the Alps). And in Italy it is even grown as an industrial crop. In our country it is still quite rare. Firstly, due to low fame. Secondly, because of the numerous, but still small berries. However, those who love strawberries as such definitely have at least one variety of wild strawberries in their collection.

Overview of varieties for different regions

When choosing a strawberry variety for planting in a particular region, be sure to take into account its ability to fully grow and bear fruit in specific climatic conditions. Breeders have developed special varieties intended for cultivation in areas with their own climate characteristics.

For the Moscow region and Leningrad region

The TOP 3 varieties adapted for this area include:

Snow White strawberries - early ripeness, fruiting period from mid-June until the first frost, high content of vitamins and nutrients, weight 6 g, productivity 2 kg/m2, resistance to low temperatures, suitable for canning, white pulp, excellent taste with a sweet-sour note .
Alexandrina - medium-late ripening, yield up to 1.5 kg/m2, weight 5-7 g, resistance to temperature changes, winter hardiness . Good immunity to pests and common diseases, sweet and sour taste with a pronounced strawberry note.
Zolotinka - early ripening, fruiting from early June to September, yield from 1 bush to 2 kg, weight 12 g, yellow fruit color, white pulp, high taste, pleasant aroma . Resistance to pests and major diseases of berry crops.

For the Volga region and the middle zone

TOP 3 best varieties optimal for growing strawberries in these areas:

Garden strawberry Yoshkarolinka - early ripening, yield up to 200 c/ha , weight 8 g, conical fruit shape, red color, universal purpose.
Lyubava - early and rapid ripening, yield up to 1.5 kg per bush, weight 25 g, sweet and sour taste, ability for long-term storage without refrigeration, suitability for processing and deep freezing. Resistance to low temperatures, as well as to many diseases: powdery mildew, strawberry mite, gray rot and brown spot.
Queen Elizabeth - early ripening, fruiting period from June to October, productivity 35 t/ha, high taste and commercial qualities, ability to transport, winter hardiness, weight 70 g.

For Siberia and the Urals

TOP 3 varieties of beardless remontant garden strawberries, popular among gardeners in the northern territories:

Tanyusha - medium ripening, yield 4.9 t/ha, weight 19 g, resistance to drought and frost, excellent sweet and sour taste, red flesh, good immunity to diseases and pests.
Geneva - early ripening, productivity 150-200 g per bush, weight 30 g, sweet taste, rich aroma, juicy, dense red flesh, high resistance to powdery mildew, gray rot, white and brown spot.
Brighton - medium ripening, yield 2 kg/m2, weight 70 g, excellent taste, presence of pineapple notes , high winter hardiness, resistance to gray rot, universal use .

Where to plant strawberries?

Like any strawberry, beardless strawberry loves well-aired and water-permeable soils, regular watering and high air humidity. However, even with occasional watering, it develops well and blooms constantly. But in such conditions the bush does not reveal its potential, and the berry turns out to be dry and not sweet.

Loves open sunny areas, but can tolerate light partial shade. Shows high winter hardiness. Does not get wet during winter thaws. Not sick. Not affected by mites and nematodes. Reacts well to soil mulching, weed removal and fertilizing.

Due to its unpretentiousness and high decorative value, strawberries are often used not only in individual plantings, but also as a garden decoration. It looks great in carpet planting in small areas, as a border plant, as individual bushes in flower beds, in the transitions between the lawn and the area of ornamental shrubs. At the same time, a well-leafed green bush, an abundance of flowers, and the lights of red berries are decorative.

Beardless strawberries love open sunny areas, but can also tolerate light partial shade.

Growing and care

A few basic rules for growing hornless strawberries:

the presence of open ground or a ventilated greenhouse;
Before planting, the soil must be prepared: cleared of weeds, loosened and only then placed in it seedlings grown from seeds;
after planting, garden strawberries need to be watered well, and then add mulch (a mixture of pine needles, sawdust and sand, dried leaves, dry grass);
Watering should be regular; the berries should not be allowed to suffer from drought.

Caring for already strong bushes is quite simple:

While the crop is ripening, the beds should be weeded (usually boards are placed between the rows and people walk only on them to ensure the safety of the bushes);
It is better to fertilize the bushes at the beginning of planting, and not when the berries have already formed;
The best helpers for active growth and fruiting are watering and sunlight.

Reproduction

Arborless strawberries, or as they are also called, small-fruited strawberries, become smaller over the years and lose their productivity potential. For this reason, its plantings are renewed every 2-3, maximum 4 years, by planting a new plantation in a new place.

These strawberries can be propagated in only two ways. The first and simplest is dividing the bush. It is carried out on plants older than two years, in which many horns grow during this period. The bush is dug up, carefully divided into individual plants and the seedlings are planted in a new place.

But such divisions degenerate quite quickly, so propagation through seeds is considered more successful in this case, although more labor-intensive. In this version, the potential of the variety is fully revealed. In this case, you can take seeds either purchased or from your own plants, choosing the most beautiful, large berries.

Sowing strawberry seeds

In order to propagate the required variety with seeds, you need to prepare in advance low bowls, peat or coconut tablets, or small cups and light, fertile soil. Sowing seeds will have to be done early (late February-early March), so that by the time they are planted in a permanent place, young plants will have time to grow and produce a harvest in the first year of planting.

Some gardeners recommend stratifying the seeds before sowing by placing them in the refrigerator for several weeks, or in the snow. Others advise sowing in bowls dusted with snow and leaving them outside. However, in fact, these manipulations do not affect germination, but only one rule works: fresh seeds collected last year germinate faster and more uniformly, old ones - more slowly and less evenly.

But when sowing seeds in bowls, snow laid and compacted on top of the ground becomes a good helper. Each seed is clearly visible on it, which means that tiny seeds can be easily distributed over the surface at the same distance - 2 cm from each other.

If you sow strawberries in tablets or individual cups, this has its own advantage - you don’t have to pick, which speeds up the process of plant development. Therefore, here everyone chooses the most convenient option for themselves.

Regardless of what containers you sow the seeds in, for better germination they must be placed in a greenhouse. It is important to ventilate it regularly to prevent mold from forming there. Watering must be done very carefully, preferably using a spray bottle.

The easiest way to propagate hornless strawberries is by dividing the bush. © Diz-Cafe

Seedling care

Strawberry seedlings can appear in just five days, or even within a month, so it’s better not to expect quick results right away. When the plants grow and they have 2-3 true leaves, if they are sown in one container, they must either be thinned out, leaving 2-4 cm between the bushes, or planted in different pots. This must be done very carefully, since the tiny shoots are quite delicate.

After transplanting and first watering, be sure to pay attention to the planting height. If the base of the bush is exposed, add more soil; if the heart is covered with substrate, remove the excess. Otherwise, the plants will be depressed, develop poorly and may die.

Seedlings are planted in open ground as soon as the soil warms up. The distance between the bushes is left at least 30 cm, as they quickly increase the vegetative mass. At first, you need to be especially careful to ensure that the plantings do not choke out the weeds.

Frequently, strawberries scatter throughout the garden bed on their own. Therefore, if it is already growing on the site, it is easy to renew the plantings through self-seeding.

Characteristics

Varieties of remontant strawberries with large berries belong to the type Pineapple Strawberry, and those with small ones - Wild Strawberry. What do remontant strawberry varieties have in common? Photos of the best beardless varieties speak of their extreme beauty and productivity.

The advantage of remontant strawberries is the absence of mustaches, which simplifies the care of the garden bed. The rosettes do not turn the area into a continuous carpet, and the whiskers do not need to be broken off. You can easily weed the area at any time, freeing it from weeds.
Strawberryless strawberries devote all their energy not to the creation and growth of mustaches and rosettes, but to the formation of horns with a huge number of inflorescences. There are many times more of them than in ordinary varieties. If any of them is damaged, new ones will grow in its place the same year.
Weakly damaged by diseases.
Gives harvest before frost.
The fruits are fragrant.
Durable, so they are easy to transport.
They make delicious jam and compotes.
The bushes tolerate frost well.
In terms of productivity per season, it is not inferior to large-fruited ones.

The most common varieties

Today there are quite a lot of varieties of wild strawberries. And if it is almost impossible to purchase seedlings, then the seeds are sold at any garden center. You can choose the appropriate variety based on the description on the bag or the color of the fruit.

The most common red-fruited varieties are: “Alexandria”, “Baron Solemacher”, “Gross Fraser”, “Ruyana”, “Regina”, “Rügen”, “Rote Solemacher”. Yellow-fruited - “Holiday”, “Zolotinka”, “Yellow Miracle”. Of the white ones, the most popular are “Snow White” and “Weiss Solemacher”.

Dear readers! Strawberries are a completely simple plant to care for, and therefore are suitable not only for experienced gardeners, but also for beginners. At the same time, to get acquainted, you can plant just a few bushes of this amazing plant. And only then, if he likes it, allocate a larger territory to him. But even if you don’t have room for these unusual strawberries, these first 3-5 bushes are enough to enjoy the aromatic berries throughout the summer season.

Diseases and pests

Modern strawberry varieties are quite resistant to most pests and diseases, but require some care. The most common plant diseases:

black and gray rot, which affects berries, leaves, flowers, peduncles and most often appears in rainy weather. Visually, rot looks like a gray or black coating. The main control measure is correct agricultural technology, do not thicken the plantings;

Gray rot

white and brown spotting - affects all plant organs. At first the spots are red-brown, then they begin to darken. Affected organs may die. The main control measure is treatment with fungicides;
Strawberry mite - common, carried by the wind. Damaged leaves wrinkle, become oily yellow and die, and the bushes become smaller (decreased in size). To destroy the mite, they are treated with colloidal sulfur, Actofit and Actellik preparations.

Other types of diseases (Verticillium wilt, powdery mildew, late blight, etc.) are less common. Control measures are the same as for the diseases described above.

Growing strawberries in Siberia

In Siberia, strawberries ripen immediately after honeysuckle. From one hundred square meters they get up to 150 kg of berries. Some gardeners manage to grow 400 kg.

For successful cultivation, you need to cover the area with snow in the fall, and in the spring, keep it on the beds for as long as possible, until April, so that the roots of the plants do not freeze. It is better to plant strawberries in Siberia in the spring, before May 20. The harvest will be 60% more. Covered with spunbond, perforated film, remontant strawberries without arborettes increase the yield by up to 70%.

The best varieties for Siberia:

Alexandrina blooms and bears fruit at the same time. Quite large berries. During the season you can get up to 300 g of berries from a bush.
Forest fairy tale - dark red berries weighing up to 6 g. The composition is similar to wild strawberries.

Rügen produces up to 100 fruits per bush. Very tasty. Length - up to 3 cm, width 2 cm. Grows in any climate zone, bears fruit down to -5 degrees. Retains maternal characteristics for a long time. This remontant strawberry is not affected by diseases.