How are strawberries different from wild strawberries and why are they called Victoria?

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Published: 07/05/2020

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Gardeners who firmly believe that strawberries grow in their garden plots are often surprised to learn that this is absolutely not the case. Confusion with the queen of berries arose for various reasons, and it so happened that in everyday life the crop is called strawberry, garden strawberry, and Victoria. So how do these berries differ, and what kind of crop grows everywhere in the gardens of summer residents?

• 1 Mysterious Pink Family
• 2 A little history
• 3 So what are the differences?

How are strawberries different from wild strawberries?

Strawberries and wild strawberries belong to the Arbutaceae family and the genus Rosaceae. But these are two different plants.

How did it happen that we traditionally grow strawberries, while Europe and, subsequently, America grow strawberries.

The British were the first to cultivate. They took seedlings from nature and began to work.

In nature, strawberries and strawberries are small. Yes, they are sweet, aromatic, but small. It is not interesting to grow such berries on the plot; I would like larger ones.

And so the British successfully cultivated both strawberries and wild strawberries. Historically, it was strawberry seedlings that came to us 300 years ago. And Europe, especially France, began to grow strawberry seedlings.

What is the difference between strawberries and wild strawberries?

Let's start by figuring out how these seedlings differ in appearance.

Both strawberries and strawberries have red fruits. And if you are an inexperienced gardener, then you may not even see much of a difference at first glance.

But strawberries - also called garden strawberries or pineapple strawberries - have a brighter and sweeter taste.

If you cut a strawberry, you will see uniform red pulp on the cut. And the strawberries themselves are scarlet, lighter than strawberries.

Strawberries, in turn, have dense, rather hard berries. They are a little sour and not as flavorful as strawberries.

If we cut it, you will see whitish fibers and a rod.

Strawberries are larger, while wild strawberries are smaller. This applies to garden strawberries. But now new varieties and hybrids have been developed. And they are not that small.

Storage and keeping quality

Garden strawberries do not lie, they must be used for food or harvesting immediately after picking. These berries cannot be washed in advance due to the thin skin that covers the berries. You need to eat it right away if you decide to wash it. If washed and left for at least a couple of hours, it will lose many of its beneficial properties.

But in stores, especially in winter and spring, large berries are sold, they are stored quite well. This is what strawberries are.

We just recently started growing these strawberries on our plots.

Botanical features

The strawberry bush is larger. Strawberries have a smaller bush, more squat, it consists of several stems. And the name of the strawberry is that it spreads along the ground.

But the most important difference is that strawberries are dioecious, meaning they have male and female flowers. Female flowers have a pistil, and male flowers have stamens, a pollinator, and anther.

And in order for a berry to set (and it only sets on female flowers), pollen must move to these flowers.

And strawberries have bisexual flowers, that is, one flower has both stamens and pistils. And here such mass cross-pollination may not occur.

A light breeze or movement is enough for the flower to be pollinated and the berry to form. Therefore, strawberries have a larger harvest. It does not have so-called empty flowers, empty flowers that do not become a berry.

Beneficial features

Fresh berries have a high content of iron, potassium and magnesium, and also contain B vitamins and vitamin C. The iron content in wild strawberries is an order of magnitude higher than in grapes and apples.
Wild strawberry leaves contain a fairly high content of ascorbic acid. They also contain essential oils and tannins. For this reason, strawberry leaves are an important medicinal component, which is often used for many diseases.

Helps heal wounds

Fresh leaves can be applied to all kinds of wounds and ulcers. They have a positive effect on hemorrhoidal tumors. An infusion can be prepared from wild strawberry leaves. For this purpose, boiling water and 50 g of raw materials are taken. Infuse the product for about 4 hours, then take 3 times a day before meals.

An infusion from the leaves of a forest plant has a very positive effect on cardiac activity, helps in restoring and normalizing metabolism. In some cases, the infusion helps remove kidney stones. It is very useful to use for those people who have any respiratory diseases.

For your information! Wild strawberries, for all their positive qualities and properties, may not be suitable for certain people and have contraindications. In such cases, the berry can cause, perhaps, more harm to the human body than its usual benefit.

Strawberries are considered a berry that can lead to allergic reactions if a person is predisposed to it. To avoid such manifestations, it is necessary to consume it by mixing it with milk or sour cream.

The use of wild strawberries is not recommended when there are any diseases associated with the gastrointestinal tract, including the duodenum. This is explained by the fact that wild strawberries significantly increase acidity.

Women who are breastfeeding or pregnant women should consume these strawberries very little at a time and monitor for possible reactions.

What is Victoria?

Now we'll talk about Victoria. In the middle zone, garden strawberries are often called Victoria. Victoria does not have such a berry in nature. And there is a variety of garden strawberry, which, according to legend, was bred by the British and named Victoria.

According to one legend, the variety is named after the English Queen Victoria. According to another legend, the bushes were brought by sailors from Holland. It is believed that the variety was bred in Russia because it can survive even harsh Russian winters.

This was one of the most successful experiments of English breeders, which has taken root well here, especially in the middle zone. And gradually all garden strawberries began to be called Victoria.

Sometimes you can see information about the Victoria strawberry variety, although it does not appear in the lists of officially patented varieties.

Most likely, the same old tradition of calling any variety of strawberry Victoria played a role here, because even 30 years ago such a phenomenon was not uncommon among us. In fact, there is no such kind, except for possible amateur developments.

That is, if you want to find Victoria seedlings or seeds in a store, then don’t look. There is no such berry. This is an old variety of garden strawberry.

Of course, when buying Queen Victoria strawberries, you won’t be able to buy anything other than a pig in a poke. At best, it will be the Queen Elizabeth variety, if the seller is not trying to deceive you, but only does not fully understand the names of the varieties.

Strawberry variety Queen Elizabeth

Secrets of technology and agricultural technology for growing garden strawberries (with video)

The agricultural technology of garden strawberries is quite simple, but since the plants originate from southern latitudes, science has established that the optimal soil temperature for growth and good functioning of roots is about 26 degrees Celsius (for reference, in the non-chernozem zone the temperature at a soil depth is 10 cm in summer months reaches only 12-18 degrees). For this reason, strawberries cannot tolerate damp, cold soils. Due to the fact that the soil temperature throughout the season is significantly lower than optimal, the functioning of the roots is difficult and strawberries need very fertile soils with a high content of easily accessible nutrients, respond well to all measures to increase soil temperature (mulching), love regular fertilizing, including including foliar plants - an aqueous solution with nutrients is sprayed directly onto the leaves.

This is the basis of modern technology for growing garden strawberries with the aim of producing crops in industrial quantities.

Mulching is carried out several times a season: in the spring - to nourish the plants and protect the soil from drying out, in the summer - when the berries ripen, dry mulch will protect them from rotting, and in the fall a layer of mulch will help to overwinter better. The best mulching materials include peat, humus and straw. Here it is appropriate to envy English gardeners. They will definitely never forget, without which they cannot get excellent strawberry harvests. After all, in English, strawberries are called strawberries (strawberry; straw - straw + berry -berry).

Knowing from history that the ancestors of garden strawberries are species originating from the warm regions of the American continent, we can reasonably conclude that the crop is very heat- and light-loving

This is important when choosing a location. Strawberry bushes mulched on the site

Since the plants originate from southern latitudes, the optimal conditions for their development are in “short day” conditions (daylight hours no more than 12-13 hours). In our northern regions, the combination of “short day” conditions and fairly high soil and air temperatures necessary for the growth of the root system and leaves occurs in the month of May and the period of late July - early August. It is for this reason that they are most important for strawberries and are considered the best time for planting seedlings, as well as the optimal time for fertilizing with organic and mineral fertilizers.

Day length is very important not only for vegetative growth. It is even more important for the formation of flower buds - the formation of flower stalks. According to the generally accepted classification, all modern varieties of garden strawberries are divided into two main groups - ordinary (non-remontant) and remontant varieties. The division is based on the difference in the biology of the formation of peduncles.

For the final formation and impetus for development, flower buds also require a period of exposure to low positive temperatures. In our conditions, this is the period of overwintering of plants under snow cover. Further, the flowering of ordinary varieties occurs over an extended period from mid to late May, and the ripening of berries occurs from mid-June to early August. Due to such a significant difference in timing, the group of common varieties is further divided into early, mid and late ripening varieties. The difference in the timing of mass maturity of berries between neighboring groups is 7-12 days.

Watch all the secrets of growing garden strawberries in the video, which demonstrates agricultural techniques:

Traditional and remontant fruiting

There are strawberries and traditional fruiting strawberries. That is, it bloomed, bear fruit - that’s it.

And there are remontant strawberries and strawberries. But almost all garden strawberries are of traditional fruiting. There are no such hybrids that make strawberries remontant.

Remontant strawberries are small-fruited. These are practically the same strawberries that grow wild in the forest. She's certainly bigger. Developed by hybridization. Many hybrids have become resistant and have become varieties. She is practically beardless.

If our strawberries of traditional fruiting produce mustaches and can be propagated in this way, and this is the only way to propagate garden strawberries, then remontant strawberries can only be propagated by seeds.

Now there are varieties of strawberries that can be propagated by seeds. But it is better not to buy strawberry seeds of traditional fruiting, because only remontant strawberries are propagated by seeds.

Features of care

Agricultural technology and care are virtually the same, there are no special features here. Plants take root well in loamy or sandy soil. Chernozem soil, moderately moist, with pre-applied compost is also suitable.

Time for planting is late July to mid-August. Planting should be done early in the morning or in cloudy weather. If planted in spring, it is better in May.

Watering, loosening the soil between rows, removing excess tendrils is a prerequisite for care. To prevent plants from suffering from drought, mulch can be placed between the rows.

The first feeding is carried out at the end of April or beginning of May: 0.5 liters of mullein is diluted with water 1:6, poured with a bucket of water, 60 g of superphosphate and 2 tbsp are added. l. ash.

Before flowering, carry out a second feeding. Pour 3 tbsp into a bucket of water. l. ash and 2 tbsp. l. superphosphate.

The next feeding is carried out after harvesting. After watering, 10 g of ammonium nitrate or 20 g of ammonium sulfate are scattered onto each linear meter. You can water it with slurry - 1:6, spending 3 liters per 1 sq.m.

At the end of August, final feeding: 50 g of superphosphate and 25 g of potassium salt per linear meter.

Difficulties in classifying strawberry varieties

Confusion in classification occurs due to the similarity of taste and color of the berries. Indeed, we consider these familiar plants to be berries. All varieties of Strawberries have juicy fruits growing on bushes.

This was believed until botanists began to understand it in more depth. Delving deeper into the definition, strawberries and wild strawberries began to be classified as a type of fruit called “multi-nut”, since the seeds of the plants are located on the surface of the receptacle.

No matter how botanists look for features, for us it is a tasty juicy berry, not a nut.

All berries that belong to the Strawberry variety have some characteristics.

It turns out that unripe berries can be pickled like cucumbers. Pickled berries can replace cucumbers.

In France, it is considered the strongest aphrodisiac, so it is grown on large plantations and enjoyed with pleasure all year round.

Raspberry with strawberry flavor

Strawberry seedlings

There cannot be a hybrid of raspberries and strawberries. Strawberries are herbaceous plants, and raspberries are shrubs. But in East Asia, a variety of raspberries with strawberry flavor grows under natural conditions - this is strawberry-raspberry. She also owns the following names:

• seductive;
• Chinese;
• Tibetan;
• Himalayan;
• strawberry;
• strawberry;
• dwarf;
• rosaline or roseleaf.

In addition to the pleasant taste of the berries, the bush itself has decorative value. It has beautiful rose-like leaves and lovely large white flowers. This variety is characterized by the simultaneous presence on the bush of both flowers and large bright pink fruits that taste like strawberries. True, the berries are not suitable for transportation and therefore it is almost impossible to find them on sale.