The female strawberry bush produces the largest harvest, but it cannot do without male pollination. In this material we will show you how to optimally distribute male and female sockets on the site.
Not a single summer cottage is complete without the healthy sweet strawberry. Both adults and children love this delicacy. The ripening of the first summer berries always evokes positive emotions.
One of the reasons for the low yield may be the predominance of male bushes over female ones. How to correctly identify and correct such a pattern.
Why distinguish between male and female strawberry bushes, is there a difference?
You can plant a whole plantation of this berry crop and get almost no harvest, or you can plant a dozen bushes and have juicy and tasty berries every year.
It's all about what type of plants predominates on the site.
There are male and female strawberry bushes. The first ones practically do not bear fruit. The main harvest is always produced by female plants. However, the boys are actively involved in pollination, so they should not be removed.
Knowing how the varieties of berries differ is necessary so that there is no predominance of “boys” on the plantation. In addition, knowing the differences between different types, you can maintain optimal proportions and get a larger yield at lower costs.
ON A NOTE. Such names “male” and “female” are given conventionally in order to understand what kind of strawberry we are talking about.
In addition, male bushes “hammer” female bushes. If you do not distinguish between them and do not regulate the quantity, then sooner or later the berry crop on your site will stop bearing fruit.
Growing strawberries with seeds: advantages of the method and its features
You should not be afraid of this method, because it has several significant advantages over other methods, and the process itself is quite simple and even the most inexperienced gardener can handle it.
- Strawberry seeds have good germination for many years.
- Viruses and diseases are practically not transmitted through seed material, which means that the seedlings will be healthy and will be able to grow into strong plants.
- With simple steps you can get any number of seedlings and grow rare sora and vineless varieties of strawberries.
How to get seeds from strawberries? You can buy them in a specialized store, or you can assemble them yourself.
- choose the healthiest bush in the garden and collect ripe and large fruits from it;
- cut off the seeds along with the pulp from the middle of the berry or at its base;
- dry them naturally, first laying them out on paper napkins;
- after complete drying, the seeds must be carefully ground so that the grains are separated from the pulp;
- the resulting planting material must be stored in a glass container.
After the seeds are prepared for planting, you need to decide on planting days. Typically, seed planting of strawberries is carried out in late February.
- The soil for seeds needs to be very loose, with good air penetration, otherwise the roots will not be able to develop as expected and will rot and die. However, in such soil there is a risk of the roots drying out, which can also lead to the death of the plants. It is necessary to maintain the golden mean and monitor soil moisture.
- The soil is collected from several components: you should take peat, sand, black soil and humus in equal quantities, mix all the components well and fill the containers.
- Before planting in the soil, I soak the seeds in an aqueous solution with Kornevin, this will allow young shoots to take root faster and strengthen the plants. After soaking, the seeds must be dried and heated under a special lamp or in the sun for at least 6 hours.
Caring for seedlings is simple: moderate but regular watering, 1-2 feedings with a mineral complex, and then picking at the stage of appearance of 3-4 leaves. Another additional transplant into larger cups may be required if the rosette grows rapidly.
Planting seedlings in open ground
At the end of May, the rosettes of young seedlings are usually fully formed, and at this time they begin to be planted in the garden. For this event, it is better to choose cloudy weather or evening time.
If the weather is persistently sunny and hot outside, the plants are shaded with improvised materials for several days. The shelter saves it from the scorching rays of the sun and helps the bushes take root faster. Be sure to water the plantings additionally at this time in the evening. The strawberries are taking root quite well and soon you can see how fresh leaves and shoots begin to form. This indicates successful rooting in a new place and the beginning of active plant growth.
How to distinguish male strawberry bushes from female ones
To regulate the number of different types of bushes, you need to learn to distinguish them. At first glance, both types are no different from each other. But still there are certain differences.
What female strawberry bushes look like
Distinctive features are:
- Small size of the bush itself and leaves;
- Small number of mustaches;
- Small number of leaves;
- Produces many buds during flowering;
- The leaves grow in a bunch;
- Fertility (many berries during the fruiting period).
You can learn to distinguish varieties in the early stages of the growing season. The “girlish” bush has a flattened wide base, as well as a noticeable “heart”.
Features of male strawberry bushes
These bushes are distinguished by large leaves of rich green color. If we compare specimens of the same variety, the “boys” will be much larger.
A large number of whiskers helps to distinguish them, as well as a minimal number of ovaries, which do not form even with abundant flowering.
The berries are small and sour, but the flowers, on the contrary, are large with clearly visible stamens.
ON A NOTE. It is good to learn to distinguish this type of plant at the stage of purchasing seedlings. “Boys” have a small base that does not exceed 4 mm and a cone shape.
Determination methods
Male plants also bear fruit, but their difference from female ones is that there are few berries on the bushes and they are small. Such strawberries begin to throw out mustaches at the beginning of summer and continue to grow throughout the area until autumn. The buds may not yet form, but the stolons will already be growing rapidly.
On female plants, this process begins to be observed only at the end of July or beginning of August. To propagate fruiting strawberries, it is recommended to take the first rosette from a given plant.
Male bushes differ in leaf color. They have a bright emerald color and a large shape. Despite the fact that the fruits on such bushes are small, during flowering you can observe the formation of large buds. But the flower stalks may not produce any harvest.
In strawberries that do not bear fruit, you can notice a small, elongated rosette heart. You should pay attention to this feature when purchasing a seedling. Preference should be given to the heart, which is somewhat flattened and large.
It is also impossible to completely get rid of male plants. Otherwise, the female crop will also bear fruit poorly. In order to harvest a good harvest, it is recommended to adhere to the ratio of 1:10. This number of male plants will be enough for pollination to occur.
Should I leave the male bushes in the garden or is it better to remove them?
In general, many modern varieties of berry crops are self-pollinating, but they can bear fruit for only 3-4 years, after which it is necessary to replace the plants with new ones.
Old, time-tested varieties can bear fruit not just for 3, 4 or 5 years, but produce crops for decades. But they need to have different types of instances.
Therefore, if you plant only modern varieties of berry crops, and also regularly update them, then there is no particular point in leaving the “boys”.
If your strawberry plantation is many years old, then the presence of “male” plants is mandatory, otherwise there may be no harvest. At the same time, make sure that they do not take over the entire space.
REFERENCE. Experienced gardeners advise maintaining the number of male and female plants in a ratio of 1 to 10. This will allow all plants to be pollinated with minimal loss of usable area of the summer cottage.
No matter how strange it may sound, you can try to “change sex” for male bushes, that is, turn them into well-fruiting female specimens. To do this, they use this trick.
Collect several of these bushes and plant them in a separate area close to each other. All antennae must be trimmed immediately after they appear. If you quickly remove them throughout the season, then in August flower buds will begin to appear on the rosette. After this, these specimens are returned to the main plantation. Fruiting of the renewed plants will begin next year.
How to plant a crop correctly
The agricultural technology features of garden sea buckthorn are quite simple. It should be remembered that this light-loving crop grows well in areas not shaded by buildings or other tall plants. Planting in most regions must be done in the spring according to the following rules:
- the site for growing sea buckthorn should have light, fertile, sufficiently moist soils;
- Berry plants should not be planted in areas with stagnant water and high groundwater;
- too acidic soils require mandatory pre-planting liming with slaked lime at the rate of 0.5 kg per square meter;
- Work on deep digging of soil and liming is best carried out in the autumn;
- heavy loamy soils need to improve their air permeability, so it is necessary to add coarse river sand, humus or peat;
- You can plant plants in a clump, placing a male plant in the center and female bushes around it;
- Row planting is allowed with a standard distance between plants of approximately 2.0–2.5 m.
When digging in autumn, it is advisable to enrich the soil with basic nutrients.
For this purpose, for each square meter you need to add 0.25 kg of superphosphate and 40–45 g of potassium salt. If necessary, potash and phosphate fertilizers are applied directly to the planting hole. Nitrogen-containing fertilizers and lime cannot be poured into the planting hole, due to the risk of burning the root system. Sea buckthorn must be planted in pre-prepared planting holes measuring 65x65x65 cm. Two-year-old seedlings, placed according to a 2x4 m or 1.5x3.5 m pattern, take root best.
From which bushes is it better to take mustaches for propagation?
It doesn’t matter at all from which plants you will take planting material for propagation. In this regard, “boys” and “girls” are no different. Any of them can give different types of sockets.
What is much more important is which specimens you will use for reproduction. Here you need to know how different types of strawberries differ from each other.
The first to appear from the mother bush are female specimens. That is why for vegetative propagation it is recommended to use the first or second outlet. “Boys” bushes form later.
Therefore, in this regard, the types of sockets differ. If you want to get fertile planting material, take the first or second rosette on the mustache.
Why are weed species dangerous?
When germinating, “false” strawberry bushes inherit the characteristics not of the variety, but of a long-forgotten species. And productivity is not one of these signs. If you let reproduction take its course, allowing the tendrils of Bakhmutki and others to take root, you will end up with small, unsweetened berries... or without them at all: some forms of weeds do not bear fruit at all.
Strawberry bed (Photo used under standard license ©azbukaogorodnika.ru)
Common mistakes
- All “boys” are deleted. They are also needed for fruiting, so be sure to leave several of these specimens in your garden bed.
- The wrong socket is selected for reproduction. If you want to get a good strawberry harvest, then take the first or second rosette from the mother bush. These are the “girls” that will produce the vast majority of berries.
- The number and growth of male specimens is not regulated. This type of strawberry rosette tends to take over territory, so be sure to trim their whiskers.
Answers to frequently asked questions
What if there are no “boy” bushes in my garden bed?
If strawberries produce an excellent harvest, then there is no need to worry. If the number of berries varies less every year, then you can get the desired type by taking 3-4 rosettes from the mother bush.
How many “boys” should be left in the garden?
It depends on how many plants you have planted. Calculate so that for one male bush there are 8 - 10 female ones.
How strawberries propagate in a summer cottage
Strawberries are one of the most favorite berry plants that are planted in the garden bed of a summer cottage. A bountiful harvest of juicy, aromatic berries, rich in vitamins and microelements, is the result of painstaking work, caring attitude towards plants and proper care. Over the years, each experienced gardener develops his own secrets and wisdom that help him grow the largest and sweetest strawberries, but novice gardeners have many questions, for example, how to propagate strawberries, in the desire to achieve quick success, so that the efforts spent bring good results from the first summer garden. season.
