Caring for remontant strawberries in the fall: how to prepare strawberries for winter

Summer worries for a summer resident go on in an endless series. Caring for remontant strawberries after the first harvest is often overshadowed by other urgent matters , but doing without it means putting the future harvest in question.

The first harvest of remontant strawberries, although not the most abundant, takes a lot of energy from the plant, so by the end of the first fruiting the bush is fairly exhausted.

Helping the berry grower recover, gain strength and produce new berries is the gardener’s task, which should not be neglected.

Features of remontant strawberries
What to do after harvest
How to feed strawberry bushes
Summer pruning of bushes
Do I need to remove my mustache?
When to replace strawberry bushes

Features of remontant strawberries

How does a reusable crop differ from ordinary garden strawberries? It differs in the characteristics of fruiting, and, therefore, care. Their agricultural technology also differs.

The main feature of reusable strawberries is that they can please you with a harvest throughout the warm season.

Types of remontant strawberries

Reusable strawberries are divided into 2 types:

DSD - which means “long daylight hours”, that is, the crop bears fruit 2-3 times a season. The first time - together with the earliest varieties of ordinary Victoria, the second time after 2 months, and the third time - in the fall, in warm weather. In the southern regions, the berries turn red to “infinity.”
NSD - “neutral daylight”, that is, strawberries pamper themselves with a harvest almost without interruption. The best representatives of this group are Albion, Vima Rina, Queen Elizabeth and San Andreas.

Features of care

Caring for remontant strawberries also has its own characteristics. They manifest themselves in watering, fertilizing, mulching, removing the first flower stalks, and preparing for winter. The differences may not be too big, but they are worth paying attention to.

For example, large-fruited varieties of remontant strawberries can form very large berries weighing up to 90 grams. Naturally, in order to grow such berries, plants take all trace elements from the soil. The soil is depleted by autumn, so it will be necessary to apply fertilizers.

In order for plants to direct all their strength to the formation of large berries, many gardeners advise cutting off the first flower stalks. What should I do, cut it off or not? It has been experimentally proven that if you pick off the first flowers, the berries appear earlier and they are much larger.

Gardeners naturally feel pity, because Victoria is just beginning to bloom, and here they have to pick off the flowers!

How to properly remove flower stalks? Simply break it off with your hands at the base even before flowering begins. This especially applies to first-year plantings. By removing the flower stalks, you give the strawberries the opportunity to grow strong roots, rather than devote all their energy to flowering.

We will consider other agricultural techniques separately so that remontant strawberries will delight you with a bountiful harvest for a long time.

Features of growing in a greenhouse

Continuous fruiting garden strawberries are suitable for planting in greenhouses and harvesting all year round. Most often, this option is used when growing berries for sale, while for your own needs, beds in the open ground are quite enough.

Shelters made of durable and reliable polycarbonate are popular; glass greenhouses are still used. Film shelters are less reliable, so crops are grown in them most often in the south.

What to pay attention to:

ensuring a temperature regime that is comfortable for strawberries and optimal humidity levels;
arrangement of lighting: even neutral varieties need a sufficient amount of light, otherwise the yield will be low;
use of drip irrigation systems;
regular feeding.

Options for planting plants in shelter:

using hydroponic systems;
into the ground;
in pots and containers placed on shelves;
in bags.

Almost all methods require constant rejuvenation of bushes and seedling renewal. It is easier and faster to get a good harvest from young bushes, so you need to consider having a separate bed for growing replacement young plants.

To prevent the occurrence of infections, shelters are ventilated, diseased and dried shoots are promptly removed, and treated with Alirin and Glyocladin according to the instructions.

Do I need to water strawberries in the fall?

Remontant strawberries are more demanding when it comes to watering, because they need to produce crops throughout the summer, and August-September is the time to lay buds, from which shoots will grow the following summer.

If it is a dry, warm autumn, then the reusable variety should be watered as the soil dries out or once a week, 1 bucket per 1 square meter. meter of bed. If it rains, then naturally there is no need to water. Strawberries also do not need to be watered in the fall just before frost.

The rest of the time, care in the fall consists of abundant watering, because this crop continues its growing season until the coldest weather. Therefore, it needs moisture not only during the active growing season in summer, but also in autumn.

In addition to watering, in order for the bushes to survive the frosty winter well, they must be regularly irrigated with warm water from the beginning of September. Irrigation is carried out in the evening or early in the morning.

Autumn feeding of remontant strawberries

It is necessary to care for remontant strawberries from planting until late autumn, so that they have the strength to produce several harvests per season, and then survive in the winter. Therefore, this crop requires feeding not only in summer, but also in autumn, otherwise the bushes will go into winter completely exhausted.

Of course, before feeding in September, the rest should not be missed - nitrogen in the spring, potassium during flowering and complex during the fruiting period.

In August and September, an infusion of vermicompost is added, but this is not the last feeding. This is followed by another big feeding. By sending the prepared Victoria for the winter, you will be sure that next summer you will have a harvest again.
After harvesting the last berry, the remontant variety must be fed again. The following mixture is suitable for this procedure: add 100 ml of mullein to 1 bucket of water, add 0.5 cups of ash and 2 tbsp. superphosphate. Under each bush you need to pour 300 ml of the mixture.
You can feed strawberries for the winter with the following composition: potassium sulfate (30 g) and nitroammophoska (2 tablespoons). Scatter the mixture (50 g per 1 square meter) between the bushes and water well.
Special autumn complex fertilizers are also suitable. The last feeding is carried out by region, this is September-October.
Many gardeners feed reusable strawberries with an infusion of wormwood or nettle. The crushed raw materials are poured with water, then left in the sun for 6-7 days. A liter of infusion is poured into a bucket of water and watered. Strawberry bushes are fed with bird droppings at a rate of 1:15, as well as cow manure at a rate of 1:10.

Treatment

Having harvested Victoria, gardeners do not stop caring for the plants. After all, taking care of the strawberry plantation in the fall will result in a good harvest next season.

First of all, you need to remove the old leaves. Then pruning is carried out. Next comes the treatment of the beds with insecticides and fungicides so that pests do not remain on the bushes. Wintering plants without pests is the key to a clean, healthy harvest.

To rid the plantings of pests, they can be treated with Bordeaux mixture or brilliant green, which is diluted as follows: 12 drops are dripped onto a bucket of water and treated.

Increasing its immunity will help prepare strawberries for winter. To do this, it is watered with the preparations Fitosporin, Zircon, Actofit.

Strawberry care continues. Now it needs to be loosened between the rows and mulched. You need to loosen carefully so as not to touch the roots. The root system is located close to the surface, so you need to step back 15-16 cm from the bush.

With bare roots, wintering strawberries will not be able to survive until spring. After loosening, soil must be added under each bush. The new, loose soil keeps the roots from freezing well.

Growing methods

Remontant varieties are planted both in open ground and in a greenhouse. They practice a method where strawberries grow in the open air in the summer, then, as cold weather approaches, they are transferred to heated greenhouses or home.

Methods of growing in open ground:

on the ridges;
vertically (boxes, containers, tires, barrels, racks);
in bags (Dutch technology).

Traditionally, summer residents plant garden strawberries in beds using various patterns (stitches, carpet). Recently, planting using dark agrofibre as a mulching material, which greatly simplifies plant care, has become popular. In addition, with this method of planting, the berries do not lie on the ground, remain clean, are not subject to rotting, and the bushes themselves are less likely to become infected with fungal diseases.

The vertical option is used by gardeners in small areas, where every square meter is saved. Planting in layers, in a pyramid, in flowerpots or pipes, allows you to place more bushes in a limited area without losing productivity.

Landing

Planting of remontant strawberries is carried out throughout the growing season. But it is best to plant in early spring or early September. It will have time to take root before frost sets in.

Selecting a location

Remontant strawberries cannot be planted after cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage, all nightshades and cruciferous vegetables.

It will grow well after onions, garlic, beets, carrots, radishes, and legumes.

It is good to plant marigolds, onions and garlic next to remontant strawberries so that pests do not interfere with the growth of this berry crop.

Victoria is not too picky about soil. The main thing is good care, and it will grow on any soil except swampy and dry sandy.

If you take good care of remontant strawberries, they will give you a rich harvest when planted on slightly acidic loams and sandy loam soils.

How to plant correctly

Planting of remontant strawberries is carried out in rows in well-fertilized soil. 70-80 cm is left between the rows, and a distance of 20-30 cm between the bushes.

How to plant Victoria bushes correctly:

To plant a bush, you need to dig a hole up to 25 cm deep and pour about one liter of water into it.
Lower the bush, cover it with soil, compact it. There is no need to deepen it. Make sure that the root collar is visible.
Loosen the soil between the rows.
At first, protect from sunlight and water.

If you decide to expand the plantings, then prepare a new bed. Organic and mineral fertilizers must also be added to it according to the instructions.

Landing dates

You can plant reusable strawberry seedlings from July to the end of August. During this time, the new seedlings will take root and leave for the winter prepared. If mustaches begin to grow and you see that the seedlings are blooming, then all this must be carefully removed.

All tendrils and flowers must be plucked off until the plantings are covered with snow. Such actions will help to produce an early harvest of NSD varieties.

After the harvest of reusable strawberries is completed, planting seedlings can continue. First-order mustaches are suitable for planting; the rest must be removed.

Preparing for winter

The beds with seedlings need to be prepared for wintering. What should be done? After the seedlings have taken root, the row spacing should be covered with rotted manure, 8-10 cm thick. This procedure is an important stage in preparing strawberries for winter.

If the winter has little snow, the seedlings may die. The best technique for insulation is to create a covering structure, as with all reusable strawberry beds.

Agrotextiles

Currently, one of the best materials for covering strawberries for the winter is non-woven material. Agrotextiles with a thickness of 23 g/m² are best suited for this purpose. Preparing strawberries for winter in the fall in the Moscow region using textiles is a proven method. The material imitates the natural protection of snow cover.

It is permeable to water, protects strawberries from dry winds and ensures proper gas exchange. The use of agrotextiles accelerates the fruiting of strawberries and also guarantees the best quality berries. With proper use and storage, non-woven agrotextiles will last for many years.

Mulching strawberries in autumn

Autumn care for reusable strawberries includes mandatory mulching of the beds. For this purpose, you can use straw, hay, sawdust, dry leaf litter, covering the beds with a layer of up to 15 centimeters.

Over time, the mulch will settle, covering the ground more tightly. For the winter, the ground can be covered with green manure, which has time to grow before frost.

Before autumn mulching, the beds must be loosened and watered. The mulch does not need to be placed on the bushes themselves; it is laid out around them.

Straw is the most useful mulch. When it rots, hay bacillus will begin to develop in the soil. This soil bacterium loosens the soil so well that the roots begin to receive more oxygen, which means they grow better. In addition, the hay bacillus protects plantings from dangerous fungi.

Mulching provides the following benefits:

Ripe berries do not touch the ground.
Retains moisture in the soil, which leads to a reduction in watering.
There is no need to loosen the soil; oxygen reaches the roots.
Prevents weeds from growing

How to prune remontant strawberries in the fall

A debate is flaring up among gardeners: should remontant strawberries be pruned or not? Many gardeners believe that it is impossible to cut off the foliage of plants, even very old ones. After all, it protects the roots from freezing and traps snow in the garden bed.

However, there is a reasonable opinion that removing old tops is a mandatory procedure that will help get rid of diseases and pests.

Many harmful insects remain overwintering in the old foliage, and in the spring they begin to harm Victoria again. Therefore, after picking berries, almost all foliage and tendrils are cut off from remontant varieties.

Pruning of remontant strawberries is carried out very carefully, trying not to touch the fruit buds. If you cut them, then next year you can be left without any berries at all. The height of the trimmed bush should be 11-12 centimeters so as not to damage the plant.

For pruning, you need to prepare strawberry garden pruners or sharp scissors. After this work, the beds are loosened, watered abundantly, then sprinkled with ash, and mulch is laid out.

In order for plants to avoid fungal diseases, they must be treated with Bordeaux mixture or a solution of copper oxychloride. The mulch also needs to be treated with the same preparations.

You can conduct an experiment: trim one bed, but not the other. But a flowering bush must be freed from peduncles so that the flowers do not drain all the strength from the roots.

Summer pruning of bushes

Some gardeners, after the first harvest, cut off part of the rapidly growing foliage of remontant strawberries, citing the fact that the bush’s strength will be directed to the formation of flower stalks. But many believe that this weakens the bush, since plants receive nutrition not only from the root part, but also from the leaves, and photosynthesis is an important component of plant development. Most summer residents still leave new foliage alone, limiting themselves to removing yellowed and dying leaves from the bottom of the bush.

But sometimes you should still partially trim the strawberry bushes if they are too thick. This happens with abundant use of nitrogen fertilizing in the spring. To get a good second harvest, you need to improve the lighting of the bush. In this case, cut off the outer leaves without affecting the rosette. Sick and weak leaves are removed.

After thinning, there should be 7-8 strong leaves left on the strawberry bush. This is enough for photosynthesis.

Preparing for winter

In addition to all manipulations, it is necessary to prepare a shelter, protecting the plants from freezing in winter. To prevent mice from getting inside the shelter, it is best to cover plantations with seedlings with pine needles or spruce branches.

Young plantings must be completely covered, while mature ones must be surrounded. During thaws, the beds may die from damping off, so the shelter will have to be removed.

To avoid making a shelter, gardeners make beds over which they build insulating structures. But first, the beds are sprinkled with ash, mulch is placed, and then covered with non-woven lutrasil or agrotex.

It is warmer inside the structure than outside, which makes it easier for strawberries to overwinter. The fabric allows air to pass through, so the seedlings do not become damp from condensation. When it warms up, the shelter must be dismantled.

If you learn from experienced gardeners their techniques on how to prepare remontant strawberries for winter, you can learn a lot of interesting things.

It turns out that overgrown weeds are not removed before frost, but are left until spring.
Preparations for winter should be started after the first frost, so that the plants harden a little.
Do not cover the strawberries too early.

Summer residents have adapted to plant the most winter-hardy varieties. The winter-hardy variety Lyubava has become very popular. It hardly suffers from pests. Queen Elizabeth and Selva also winter well under cover.

Cleaning and weeding strawberry beds

Cleaning. The first thing you need to start preparing strawberries for winter is cleaning the garden bed. Over the course of the entire season, a lot of different debris has accumulated on it. All debris must be removed along with mulching material - straw, pine needles, sawdust, leaves, they have already completed their task.

Very often the old mulch is not removed and is left on the bed, adding a little new mulch. But in this case, the risk of developing various fungi and bacteria increases. If you do not want to remove the old mulch, then to neutralize fungi and bacteria, you need to sprinkle it with microbiological fertilizers.

Weeding. The second step in cleaning strawberry beds is weeding. From spring until harvest, strawberries are not weeded, therefore, all weeds must be removed during this period. Try to weed shallowly so as not to damage the strawberry roots.

When is strawberry harvesting and weeding not required? Strawberry beds under black covering material do not need these actions, since the covering material protects well from debris and weeds. For strawberry beds covered with spunbond, the weeding stage can be skipped. Just clear the surface of fallen leaves and your garden bed is clean.

Beardless variety

There is also a beardless variety of remontant strawberries. It saves space and time and is more resistant to heat and drought.

Peculiarities

Growing and caring for vineless strawberries is a little easier because you don't have to trim the vines. As soon as the snow melts, it begins to bloom. And then delicious oblong berries appear on the spreading bush. Flowering continues almost until frost.

Strawberryless reusable strawberries are often planted in borders, in flower beds, as a decoration. But it requires a transplant every 2 years. You can plant by dividing the bush, or you can use seeds, which are taken from the largest berry.

When to prune dead strawberries?

Here, too, gardeners will not come to a consensus. Many people think that there is no need to trim it, while others cut it in August, as they say, with a “hedgehog” cut.

You can make 2 small beds, trim one and not the other. Draw a conclusion based on the result.

Culture propagation

Remontant garden strawberries are characterized by abundant fruiting, so the bushes quickly lose productivity and age. The gardener must always have new planting material in stock, since rejuvenation of the plantation must be carried out once every 1-2 years.

Culture propagation is possible in several ways:

by seeds, this option is used for propagation of the variety by breeders, less often by ordinary gardeners; usually, bare strawberries are propagated by seeds;
dividing the bush (suitable for any varieties);
mustache is a traditional option for obtaining new planting material, in which bushes with mustaches are initially selected, the rosettes are rooted, and then they are separated and planted on a prepared bed.

Growing from seeds allows you to obtain excellent seedlings, but the procedure is labor-intensive. It is necessary to properly prepare the seeds, carry out stratification, ensure sowing at the right time, and create comfortable conditions for the plants.

When dividing, adult bushes are disassembled into several parts (2-3 horns) with well-developed leaves and buds. It is better to use this method in the spring, and immediately plant the cuttings in a permanent place. After planting, provide regular watering and cover for a while from the scorching rays of the sun.

When propagating by tendrils, healthy annual bushes are selected, from which the flower stalks are removed. Leave a couple of shoots and root them. Towards the end of summer, the rosettes are planted and, together with a lump of earth, are transferred to a permanent place.

On a note! If there is no separate bed with bushes for obtaining seedlings, plants from a common plantation are used selectively. They leave mustaches and remove flower stalks, sacrificing a repeat harvest for the sake of high-quality rosettes.

Many summer residents use frigo seedlings for planting, purchasing the required varieties from specialized nurseries.