Garden strawberries Irma: characteristics and cultivation features

Description of the strawberry variety Irma

Developed for the hot conditions of the Apennine Peninsula, the Irma variety revealed its full potential in a mild temperate climate with sufficient rainfall. Strawberry Irma is a day-neutral variety. This means that the plant lays fruit buds every 5-6 weeks, they develop within 2 weeks. The formation of generative buds is not affected by parameters such as daylight hours and air temperature, which can range from 2 to 30°C.

Strawberry bushes of the Irma variety are compact and have medium foliage. The leaf blade is large, dark green. The flower stalks are strong and rise high above the bush. Strawberry Irma produces an average number of runners, spending more energy on the formation of peduncles and ripening of berries.

Advice! To increase plant formation, experienced gardeners pluck flower stalks from strawberries.

Irma strawberries begin to bear fruit in mid-June, along with other mid-early varieties, and do not stop until autumn. The berries are harvested 3-4 times, the largest harvest is at the end of August. In many descriptions and reviews, Irma strawberries are called remontant, however, according to scientific data, at the same time it is a day-neutral crop (NDC). Strawberry Irma produces berries all the time. Flowers, ovaries, and ripe large fruits can be observed on the plant at the same time.

Irma's berries have a multifaceted dessert taste; they are sweet with an unobtrusive sourness. The peak of tasting indicators occurs in mid-summer; early berries have a more mediocre taste.

The fruits are juicy, dense, but not hard, with high sugar content. The skin is glossy, rich red-scarlet in color. The shape of the berry is cone-shaped; by the end of the season the tip may be asymmetrical. The weight of an average berry ranges from 25-35 g, some specimens reach 50 g, and by the end of the season the berries become smaller. On average, you can remove 1-2 kg from one bush per season, with good agricultural technology - 2.5 kg. Irma strawberries are suitable for fresh consumption, as well as for drying and canning.

Characteristics of culture

This variety is considered old, but after almost 40 years of existence on the market it has not lost its popularity. The Marvelous strawberry was obtained as a result of complex breeding work by gardeners from the USSR. The Holiday and Festival varieties were taken as the basis. At that time, these varieties were considered the best in their class.

Divnaya has an interesting structure. The description of the variety says that its bushes are tall, with erect stems. There are many leaves, they are glossy, with a noticeable tint, and large. Whiskers on bushes form intensively.

The fruits have the shape of an oblong cone. The berries themselves are attractive in appearance, the color is bright red. The variety cannot be called too large-fruited; at present there are varieties that are many times larger than it in size.

The weight of the fruit is approximately 20 g. The berries receive a high tasting score - 4.6-4.8 points out of 5 possible. They taste sweet and sour, but are classified as dessert. The berries can be seen in the photo.

The plant is suitable for growing in the south of Russia because it can tolerate summer heat and responds normally to a prolonged lack of watering. Frosts are destructive for it; without shelter, the bushes tolerate temperatures not lower than -25 °C. In cold regions, plantings are covered for the winter or immediately planted in a greenhouse. The variety is not remontant, so seasonality will prevent you from constantly harvesting a good harvest.

The flowers are bisexual, the plant does not need pollinators. Bud formation begins in early spring. In warm climates this occurs in late March or early April. The ripening period is ultra-early. The gardener harvests his first harvest at the end of May. When grown in a cool climate (middle zone) - in early June. Mass fruiting. Up to 1 kg of berries are collected from an adult healthy bush.

Pros and cons of strawberries Irma

Every gardener, when choosing a variety of a particular crop, must weigh the pros and cons. It is important to know not only the positive characteristics, but also the possible disadvantages. In describing the advantages of Irma strawberries, one cannot fail to mention the following:

• high productivity;
• resistance to frost and drought;
• good keeping quality of berries;
• excellent transportability;
• excellent taste;
• the berries do not bake in the heat;
• increased immunity to many diseases and pests;
• easily propagated by whiskers.

The disadvantages of the variety include:

• frequent transplantation is required;
• the bush ages quickly;
• enhanced agricultural technology is needed;
• berries crack during the rainy season;
• In hot summers, productivity decreases.

Reasons for decreased fertility

It happens that gardeners complain about a decrease in strawberry productivity over time. They wonder: why are crop yields falling? There are several reasons for this:

• If flowering weakens and the berries ripen small, it means the plant has reached exhaustion. In this case, the plantings should be updated. Changing the beds will help.
• If strawberries planted in the fall do not bloom in the spring, this indicates late planting. Strawberries should be planted no later than July.
• Productive bushes do not bloom. This happens due to insufficient watering or fertilization. Severe frosts in winter also reduce productivity.
• If the bushes bloomed profusely but did not produce a good harvest, perhaps rains and the use of insecticides prevented pollination. To remedy the situation, you can spray the bushes with anise oil to attract bees.
• The buds and ovaries fall off due to damage by the strawberry weevil. This is a small black beetle with a long proboscis that destroys greens and fruits of berry crops. Loosening the beds and insecticides will help in the fight against it.
• If the flowers darken in the center, frost is to blame. To prevent damage to flowers, plantings are covered at night. Darkened flowers are picked off as they will not produce berries. Darkening may occur due to the appearance of weevils.

Planting and caring for remontant strawberries Irma

Reviews from gardeners about Irma strawberries can vary, even negative. This is explained by ignorance of the nuances of growing the NSD variety. Such a crop requires more careful care: a more nutritious substrate, regular watering, and timely application of fertilizers. The plant spends all its energy on planting flower stalks and without the help of a gardener is unlikely to bring a decent harvest. If you follow all the rules of agricultural technology, strawberries of the Irma variety will delight you with a bountiful harvest commensurate with commercial indicators.

Selection and preparation of a landing site

For strawberry beds, it is better to choose a place well lit by the sun, since with a lack of light the berries will become smaller. Irma strawberries need fertile, nutritious soil with a high humus content. It is easy to prepare the soil based on humus yourself by digging up the beds with rotted manure in advance. Irma takes root much worse on clay and sandy soils, as well as with a high alkali content or, conversely, in soil with high acidity. To neutralize a substrate containing a large amount of peat, it is necessary to add the following components:

• dolomite flour;
• slaked lime;
• ground limestone;
• chalk;
• wood ash;
• sawdust.

Comment! The finer the fraction of deoxidizing agents introduced, the faster the reaction will occur, and the acidity of the soil will reach neutral levels.

The best predecessors of strawberries are considered:

• rape;
• radish;
• mustard;
• legumes;
• greenery;
• onion;
• garlic.

These plants enrich the soil with nitrogen as they grow. The Irma variety goes well with such crops as:

• nasturtium;
• Turkish cloves;
• marigold;
• irises;
• sea ​​​​buckthorn;
• Apple tree;
• grape.

Before planting strawberries, the bed is carefully dug up, removing weeds. It is better and more efficient to loosen the soil with a pitchfork rather than a shovel. In addition to manure, potassium chloride and superphosphate are added to the soil. The beds are formed in the form of rows 60-100 cm wide. Irma strawberry bushes are not particularly spreading, but powerful; ideal for the variety would be planting using the two-line method, when the distance between rows is 35-40 cm, and between plants - 15-25 cm.

Preparation of planting material

When choosing seedlings, you need to pay attention to the appearance of the plant. The rosette should be squat and have 3-5 well-straightened elastic leaves, rich green in color. There should be no stains or mechanical damage on the sheet plates.

The central bud is large, pink or red; if it is more than 20 mm in diameter, you can harvest a small harvest in the first year. Bushes with a green central bud and elongated petioles will not bear fruit in the first season. The place where the central bud grows should not be thick; the wider it is, the older the mother plant from which the tendril was taken was. In this case, the berries will obviously be small, and the seedling will quickly degenerate. If seedlings are sold in flowering form, you should choose specimens with the largest flowers - large berries will ripen on them.

Saplings with an open root system must have light roots at least 5 cm long; the dark color of the rhizome signals that the plant is sick or weakened, and the chances that it will take root are close to zero.

Before planting, seedlings are treated against pests by placing the pot in water at a temperature of 50°C for 15-20 minutes. The procedure is carried out 2 times with a break of half an hour. Hot water kills stem nematodes, mites, and root aphids. In order to prevent many diseases, seedlings are completely immersed in a solution of copper sulfate or copper oxychloride with the addition of table salt for 5-7 minutes. To prepare this product you will need:

• copper sulfate or “Hom” – 1 tsp;
• salt – 3 tbsp. l.;
• water – 10 l.

After soaking in the fungicide solution, the strawberries are rinsed with water and planted in a permanent place.

Landing rules

In the garden bed, dig holes 25 cm deep, the width and length are also 25 * 25 cm. It is advisable to add a well-fertilized substrate, mixed according to the following recipe, into each hole:

• garden soil – 5 kg;
• compost – 5 kg;
• wood ash – 1 tbsp.;
• vermicompost – 1 kg.

The seedlings are placed in the hole and the roots are placed vertically downwards, with the apical bud being slightly above ground level. Next, they are covered with soil, watered abundantly and covered with a thin layer of mulch made from sawdust, grass or pine needles.

Important! Until the young strawberries are well established, all flower stalks must be plucked out so that the bush spends energy on the formation of the root system and green mass.

Watering and fertilizing

Strawberry Irma is a moisture-loving crop. It needs watering throughout the warm season. If the beds are mulched, the soil does not dry out longer.

Comment! The problem of regular soil moisture can be solved by organizing drip irrigation on the site.

Day-neutral strawberries are a plant that works hard. Strawberries of the Irma variety in early spring, as well as during the period of flowering and setting berries, require fertilizing with complex mineral fertilizer. Many people use wood ash for these purposes; they also sprinkle it on plantings to prevent diseases and pests.

Mulching and loosening

Before the fruiting period begins, the soil between the rows of strawberries is loosened at least three times. In addition to sawdust, pine needles and grass, beds can be mulched with peat. Weeds, as they grow, are removed, old, diseased and reddened lower leaves are cut off from the bushes. If there is no need for propagation, all the mustaches are also cut off, this will significantly increase the strawberry yield.

Preparing for winter

Before wintering, watering strawberries is gradually stopped, and mustaches and damaged leaves are cut off from the bushes. Plantings are mulched with a layer of humus or peat. In winters with little snow, especially in northern latitudes, Irma strawberries need to be covered with agrofibre.

How to get an early harvest of garden strawberries

Garden strawberries are more often cultivated in summer cottages and in industrial production. Although strawberries are a sweet, tasty berry, they are small and are found much less frequently than the queen of garden beds. It is impossible to confuse them, since the berries differ in aroma, color, size and shape, and the leaves have a characteristic texture.

Wild strawberries, although small, have a unique taste.

When dormant in winter, strawberry bushes are rarely damaged by cold. But returning spring frosts can harm the crop. The first flowers produce the largest berries, and when there is frost, they are the first to suffer. The entire harvest will not be lost due to extended flowering, but the bush will not produce large berries this year. For protection, it is recommended to cover plants when there is a threat of frost. And if the planting areas are large, then smoke is used. Cover the strawberries under the arches with non-woven material, thereby protecting the plants and ensuring an early harvest of berries.

In general, in order to please yourself with high-quality berries in spring and summer, you need to take care of strawberry bushes in late summer and early autumn, when the plants accumulate nutrients before the dormant season. At the same time, fruit buds are laid. Therefore, the plants need to be fed with complex fertilizers and provided with water. But you shouldn’t cover strawberries until temperatures approach zero, as the plants may become overheated.

The root system of strawberries is fibrous and branched. Sometimes individual roots can reach up to a meter in depth. But mostly they are located at a distance of 20–30 cm from the soil surface. To prevent freezing and protect the root system of the plant, mulch with fallen leaves in the fall. The optimal time for mulching is a week after the temperature reaches 0°C. In the spring, after the strawberries awaken, plant residues are dug into the ground, simultaneously loosening the soil around the bushes. When last year's mulch rots, heat and moisture are released, and the roots are supplied with organic fertilizers. All this contributes to an early harvest of berries.

Reproduction

Like many other varieties, Irma strawberries can be propagated by seedlings and rooting. Each method has its pros and cons.

Propagation by seeds:

1. You can sow strawberries for seedlings from February to May.
2. To do this, prepare a soil mixture of turf soil, peat and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1.
3. Seeds are sown in shallow containers and covered with film or glass until the first shoots appear.
4. The temperature in the room with strawberry seedlings should be at 18-20°C.
5. Picking is carried out when there are 2 well-formed leaves; young plants are transferred to the garden bed when the 5th leaf appears.

Reproduction by mustache:

1. All flower stalks are removed from the mother bush, and the first two rosettes on the runner, the most powerful and healthy, are rooted in separate cups, without being separated from the mother plant.
2. When young bushes acquire their own, well-developed root system, they can be assigned to a permanent place.

Mulching

When growing strawberries on covering material, they will always have healthy and clean berries.

This will prevent contact of the berries with the soil and protect them from rot, and in the fall, to protect the soil from freezing. And also mulching is necessary for:

• improving the composition of the soil cover;
• protecting the soil from weathering and erosion;
• uniform distribution of moisture;
• improving root aeration;
• regulation of soil temperature;
• protection from diseases and pests.

Mulching can be done using sawdust, pine needles, tree bark, hay and straw, compost, cardboard, spunbond and agrofibre.

You can mulch strawberries immediately after planting.