One of the first berries that helps relieve spring vitamin deficiency is wild strawberries. It is readily planted in summer cottages and garden plots; the main thing is to choose the right variety for the soil and climatic conditions of a particular area and provide proper care.
The description of the Clery strawberry variety, photos and reviews from gardeners indicate that the Italian selection is very sweet, juicy, and ripens several times a season. The peculiarity of the variety is that for the winter the bushes can be replanted in pots and grown on a windowsill. Clery produces a large, abundant harvest if proper care is followed.
Description of the variety
Strawberry Clery is a strong, powerful, medium-leafed bush. Everything about it is beautiful: huge shiny leaves of rich green color, snow-white flowers and large rounded-elongated berries with a blunt tip. The inflorescences are located at the level of the leaves. The educational ability is high. The fruits are even, medium in size, although the first berries are large: 40-50 g. Throughout the entire fruiting period, the berries remain of the optimal size and shape for sale. The yield of the variety is average: 20 tons per 1 hectare in open ground and 70 tons per 1 hectare when grown in greenhouses.
The Clery variety has no problems with setting berries; for this parameter it is one of the favorites. There are reviews about the successful winter cultivation of the variety in flower pots placed in the apartment.
Clery begins to bloom in early May. In just a month you can enjoy delicious berries. The fruits are dense, juicy, and do not form voids in the middle.
Strawberry pruning
The Clery variety of strawberries requires regular pruning of old, dried out and diseased shoots, otherwise the entire bed will be covered with rooted rosettes. Infrequent pruning impairs plant growth and reduces yield.
The procedure for pruning strawberries is best done in August, before young leaves begin to form.
Not only old shoots are trimmed, but also large leaves - but they should be removed only after they are completely dry. Strawberry tendrils are shortened during the period of active flowering or directly during harvesting. Carefully cut off the petioles, being careful not to touch future flower stalks.
Clery is an early-ripening strawberry variety with large, sweet berries. Ease of cultivation, low maintenance, high resistance to diseases and pests have ensured it wide popularity among many gardeners and summer residents.
a brief description of
Advantages of the variety
Clery strawberries can be eaten fresh, canned, frozen, and are also distinguished by:
- excellent transportability, allowing the variety to be grown on large farm plantations;
- does not fall apart during heat treatment;
- pleasant sweet and sour taste;
- tolerates short-term drought without consequences;
- high frost resistance, can be grown in the middle zone, the Urals and Siberia, for example, there are many admirers of the variety in Novosibirsk;
- there are no special requirements for soil composition;
- high immunity to most diseases of berry crops, including root rot;
- easy to propagate, high generative ability;
- a large percentage of marketable berries;
- good yield of berries (minimum fees).
Disadvantages of the variety
There are no ideal varieties. Clery strawberries also have disadvantages:
- faint aroma
- peak yield occurs in three-year-old bushes;
- average yield;
- planting material is expensive.
The last point is not so significant, since Clery is easy to propagate with a mustache from several seedlings.
Clery is capable of bearing fruit all year round. In large pots she can delight you with delicious berries even in an apartment
Productivity and frost resistance
The Clery strawberry variety is intended for cultivation in the southern regions with a warm climate; in the northern regions, the plant is planted in a greenhouse or greenhouse. It tolerates planting well in humid areas, retains a pleasant, sweet taste and does not become watery.
The maximum yield of the variety is observed in the first 3-4 years after planting, after which fruiting decreases. Clery is an early-ripening variety; the first ripe fruits can be harvested in mid- or late May. Productivity – up to 700-800 g per bush.
Landing
There are two permissible planting dates for Clery strawberries:
- at the end of July or beginning of August, so that the seedlings take root well and develop before frost;
- in the spring, immediately after the snow melts, so that the plants can take root and gain strength before flowering.
When planting a plantation, the soil should be prepared in advance. Dig up the area and remove the weeds. The soil should be airy, with a neutral acidity level, optimally 5.2-5.5 pH. How well the seedlings take root depends on the planting material. The roots must be lively and elastic.
Clery forms powerful bushes, so the distance between them is left at least 40 cm, between the rows 50-60 cm. The soil is enriched with rotted manure (a bucket per m2) and ash (a glass per m2). If there is no ash, you can add superphosphate 100 g per m2 and potassium sulfate 120 g per m2.
The heart should remain above the surface of the earth. After planting, the bushes are watered daily for 7-10 days.
If the plantation is started in early spring, the beds need to be covered with polyethylene or agrospan, since frosts can destroy fragile plants
How to prepare seedlings
If the seedlings are obtained on their own, then they do not require additional processing. After being removed from the ground, young plants are immediately transplanted into a prepared place. Seedlings purchased in separate cups or cassettes do not require special preparation. Water them well enough to make removing them from the container easier. The root system of such seedlings remains intact; they do not need time to regenerate it. They take root twice as fast as bare-rooted seedlings. Such seedlings have a drawback - it is a high cost per unit.
From a financial point of view, if you do not have your own mother bushes, it is most profitable to buy seedlings with bare roots. Many specialized farms offer so-called “Frigo” seedlings. It is harvested in the fall and stored at low temperatures until spring. Seedlings of this type, like any other purchased with bare roots, require preparation.
Before planting, the seedlings are first placed in water for 4 hours. The water temperature should not be higher than +18-20 degrees. After this, the roots can be soaked in any root formation stimulator. In addition to the well-known drug "Kornevin", which is diluted in a proportion of 1 g per 1 liter and the seedlings are soaked for 10-12 hours, other means are also used.
To soak Clery strawberry seedlings, you can use the Ribav Extra stimulator. For 1 liter of water, it is enough to add only 2-3 drops of the product. Soaking period is from 12 to 24 hours. Prepared seedlings are immediately planted in the ground. This product increases the survival rate of seedlings up to 98%.
Growing and care
Caring for the Clery variety cannot be called difficult. It is necessary to loosen the soil in a timely manner, water it in a timely manner, and remove weeds and tendrils.
Watering
The best way to water beds with Clery strawberries is drip irrigation. This way you can be sure that each bush will receive as much moisture as it needs for growth and development. If dry, hot weather sets in, watering is done every 3-4 days.
During the harvest period, watering is stopped so that the berries can gain sugar content and remain dense but juicy.
Loosening, weed control
Loosening row spacing should be done regularly. If the soil has good air permeability, the roots will not rot. When loosening, weeds are also destroyed, which can quickly and easily “clog” strawberry plantations. Loosening significantly affects the yield and quality of fruits.
Mulching the soil will help reduce the amount of watering and loosening. Leaf litter, straw, sawdust, and special black non-woven material can be used as mulch. If we talk about organic mulch, it is worth noting that during its decomposition it binds nitrogen from the soil, so it is advisable to water the mulch with any fertilizer with a high nitrogen content, for example, an herbal infusion.
Removing a mustache
Strawberries of the Clery variety have a lot of whiskers. If they are not removed in a timely manner, the bed will soon consist of only rooted rosettes. Productivity will decrease significantly. The plant will direct its forces not to the process of fruiting, but to the development of daughter seedlings.
Along with the mustache, old dried foliage is cut off. Removal of dried leaves is carried out immediately after harvesting the fruits. New leaves should have time to grow before winter. It is better not to completely mow the foliage of strawberries; the plant will need a lot of effort to restore the green mass and less flower buds, which determine the yield of the next season, will be laid.
When old strawberry leaves are cut off, it is important not to injure future peduncles.
Top dressing
Immediately after removing the cover from Clery, it must be fed with nitrogen fertilizers for the growth of green mass. Rotted manure (a bucket per m2), a solution of mullein (1:10) or chicken droppings (1:20) will do. When budding, under each bush it is necessary to add 40 grams dissolved in 0.5 liters of water. nitrophoska and 5 gr. potassium sulfate.
During mass flowering, an herbal infusion diluted in a ratio of 1:3 will be an excellent support for the plant.
The last feeding is done at the end of August. Apply 40-50 g of complex fertilizers diluted in a liter of water and a glass of ash for each plant.
Foliar feeding with Vuksal will give good results.
Pest and disease control
To protect Clery strawberries from anthracnose, before flowering the bushes are treated two or three times with 1-2% Bordeaux mixture. If the disease has already manifested itself, the fungicides Antrakol or Ridomil will help.
You can get rid of aphids using garlic infusion: 200 gr. garlic per 10 l. water.
To avoid weevil infection, strawberry plantings are placed away from raspberries.
Preparing for winter
Clery strawberries in the southern regions do not need to be covered. In other regions of Russia, this variety needs shelter.
Leaves and tendrils need to be trimmed. Loosen the soil and mulch. Pine needles, straw or hay are suitable as shelter. If winters are expected to be harsh, then this must be done especially carefully.
In the spring, after the snow has melted, the cover must be removed immediately so that the bushes do not dry out.
Diseases and pests
The variety is rarely infected with fungal diseases, but if this happens, the disease spreads to other bushes very quickly. Anthracnose most often affects the crop. The insidiousness of this fungal disease is that at the initial stage it is difficult to recognize. In the future, it can destroy the entire strawberry plantation and move on to other plants.
Signs of anthracnose are brown spots, similar to sores, which first appear on leaf stems and tendrils, and after a while - on the leaves. During flowering, they infect flowers and ovaries, and then fruits.
If this disease is detected, it is necessary to remove damaged stems and leaves (or the entire bush) and remove them from the site. To treat and prevent this and other pathogenic conditions, fungicides are used or plants are treated with Bordeaux mixture.
Among the pests, the crop is most often attacked by aphids, weevils and slugs. To combat them, various folk remedies are used (soap solutions, decoctions of tobacco, tansy, celandine, etc.) or industrially produced insecticides. Pests can be repelled by plants such as garlic and onions, which are planted between rows. They will not interfere with strawberries, but are unpleasant to parasitic insects.
Reproduction
Clery strawberries can be propagated in several ways:
- Usami. This method is the simplest and most effective. The best rosettes are planted in peat pots, without being separated from the mother bush. After 5-6 full leaves appear, the tendrils are cut off and the seedlings are planted in a permanent place.
- In spring or autumn, you can propagate the variety by dividing a two or three year old bush.
- Seeds. Planting is done in a heated room or heated greenhouse in February, after pre-soaking the seeds in an epin solution. Seeds should not be buried more than 5 mm. One way is to spread snow on the ground and place seeds on it. The snow will melt and draw the seeds a little into the soil.
Strawberries are propagated by seeds in extreme cases when it is not possible to obtain seedlings.
Video review of the Clery strawberry variety
In the video, the author shows the appearance of bushes and berries of garden strawberries of the Clery variety. Demonstrates yield and describes taste, describes benefits. We recommend viewing!
Fans of the “Clery” variety have noticed that in order for the berries to meet all the stated characteristics of the plantation, they must be placed in the sun. Plants that ripen in the shade have a sour taste. They do not have enough sunlight to collect the required amount of sugars. Many people note the sour taste of berries in cold and very wet seasons.
Reviews
I grow Clery for sale. Wholesalers are very fond of this variety for its beautiful berries of the same size. The taste is also pleasant sweet and sour. Provided that agricultural practices are followed, the yield is good. In addition to Clery, I have Honey growing. It has a slightly larger harvest, but I like Clery better in taste.
Last year I bought 2 Clery seedlings. I left one for harvest, and removed all flower stalks from the second. As a result, the first bush allowed me to try the berries, which turned out to be large and tasty. And from the second bush I got 24 seedlings by rooting mustache rosettes.
Strawberries of the Clery variety will delight gardeners with delicious, juicy, sweet fruits with minimal care. It is also profitable to grow it for commercial purposes. For this, it has a full range of advantages, ranging from excellent taste to evenly distributed berries and transportability. In addition, it can be grown in all regions of Russia and produce a good harvest.
Harvest and storage
The berries of the Clery variety ripen in the first ten days of July. Harvesting should be done in the morning or evening hours. In this case, it is undesirable to separate the stalks from the fruits. The harvest is stored in glass jars, wicker baskets, small wooden or plastic boxes.
You can rinse the berries with water only before consumption. They can be stored for up to four days at 0–2°C and humidity 85–90%; at room temperature, the storage period does not exceed a day. You can make jam, compotes, and jams from the berries of this variety.
The Clery variety is suitable for both fresh consumption and delicious preparations
