Strawberries Mitze Schindler: varietal characteristics and growing features

Mitze Schindler is a late strawberry variety of German selection, obtained at the beginning of the 20th century (1930) as a result of crossing the Lucida Perfecta and Johann Müller (Müllerovka) varieties. Literally translated, the name of the variety sounds like “Schindler’s cat.” For its rich taste with characteristic raspberry notes, gardeners often call this assortment “raspberry”.

Varietal characteristics

The Mitze Schindler variety is characterized by low, spreading, weakly leafy bushes with a very large number of tendrils. The leaf blades are dark green, medium in size, with short petioles and a slightly ribbed, slightly shiny surface. The variety produces unisexual flowers without stamens, and therefore requires pollinators. The peduncles are thin, located above the level of the leaves, and do not lie on the ground.

The berries are small (5-12 g, only the first ones reach 20 g), round in shape, rich red in color, and when fully ripe they acquire a characteristic cherry hue. The seeds are small, strongly pressed into the surface of the fruit. The pulp is raspberry-colored, very juicy with a pleasant rich aroma.

Mitze Schindler strawberries are late varieties, so one of the late-ripening varieties, for example Malvina or Borovitskaya, should also be used as a pollinator.

The tasting rating of Mitze Schindler fruits is very high. The variety can be considered a kind of standard in terms of taste characteristics. Berries are universally used, great for fresh consumption or processing. The average yield per hectare does not exceed 40-50 centners.

How to care for the German variety

Our heroine, according to the reviews of many gardeners, has no special complaints about cultivation. The expression is often used - plant it and you can forget it. But if you don’t take care of the planting at all, it will become overgrown with mustaches, the harvest will be too small and will soon turn into just green thickets.

The agricultural technology of this variety is quite simple - regular watering with loosening and mulching of the beds, weeding, necessary fertilizing, protective measures against diseases and pests and shelter for the winter in regions with harsh winters.

Regarding the abundant conformation, I would like to note the following. There is a rule: if you want a berry harvest, remove the mustache; if you need planting material, remove the flower stalks and grow a mustache. In our heroine’s plan, the advice is to do the following: in one bed we grow mother bushes with mustaches and root them, in all other plantings we cut off the mustaches without regret.

If the whiskers are not removed, the harvest will be very small. In addition, self-rooting of the mustache will lead to rapid overgrowing of well-kept beds, with an unimportant harvest and a tendency to disease.

Since the variety is quite coveted among gardeners, you can make some money by selling rooted tendrils of the crop. In addition, as we discussed above, update your plantings every five years.

As they ripen, collect the berries, as overripe ones are almost impossible to remove from the bush.

Watering

As we have already written, the crop requires watering daily or once every two days only for the first two weeks after planting for rooting. In the future, be guided by the condition of the soil - watering is required only when the soil becomes dry. Over-watering can lead to rot and powdery mildew. Water by sprinkling, but the best method is drip irrigation from specially installed hose systems. Here are ready-made drip irrigation systems and current prices for them:

After each watering, loosen the soil and remove weeds, but carefully due to the shallow roots. If mulch is added, no loosening operation is required.

How to feed strawberries

Mitze Schindler will appreciate the addition of organic matter: humus, diluted bird droppings, nettle infusion, or special mineral complexes at least twice - during planting and during flowering.

In the fall, it is also worth adding fertilizer to give the plants strength before wintering.

Landing

The best time for planting strawberries is spring, from April to May, as well as the second half of summer. Under favorable conditions, complete rooting takes about 3 weeks. In the year of planting (if it was done in the spring), fruiting will be partial. A full harvest will be harvested only next season.

For planting strawberries, choose flat, well-lit areas with light, fertile soils. Waterlogged, swampy and clayey soils are not suitable for cultivation.

Most often, strawberries are planted in a single row with a distance between rows of at least 60 cm. An interval of about 20 cm is maintained between plants. More dense planting leads to thickening and lower yields.

Promising new varieties of strawberries

Every gardener strives to obtain a rich strawberry harvest. A good help for this would be to choose promising varieties of strawberries. Each of the species presented in the list is promising in its own way:

• Elizabeth II
• Gigantella
• Albion

Promising types of strawberries have in common: high yield per season, earlier ripening, and suitability for transportation. Elizabeth II is a continuous fruiting strawberry that produces a stable harvest until October. Gigantella is a Dutch crop with large fruits up to 100 grams. Albion - begins to bear fruit a year after planting. It has excellent taste with an alluring strawberry aroma. Albion strawberries can be propagated by dividing the bush, by tendrils or by seeds.

Caring for strawberries in spring

Spring care for strawberries is very important. Immediately after the snow melts, the strawberry beds are cleared of the remnants of last year's leaves. Collected plant residues must be destroyed. In most cases, they become breeding grounds for pests and diseases.

After cleaning the plantations, preventive spraying with fungicides is carried out. You can use Bordeaux mixture or other copper-containing products. For those who prefer organic farming, biological products are recommended: Fitosporin or Phytocid. 10 days after treatment with fungicides, spraying with insecticides is carried out: Aktara, Alatar, Komandor. They effectively destroy aphids, thrips, and weevils.

At the moment of leaf growth, strawberries need a large amount of nitrogen fertilizers. Their application can be carried out by scattering over the soil surface or through irrigation. For irrigation, ammonium nitrate is used, in a dosage of 1 matchbox per bucket of water. Urea is introduced by spreading followed by embedding; its consumption is about 20 g per square meter. Humus can be used as an organic fertilizer. They mulch the soil surface under the bushes. Humus consumption – 1 bucket per m2. The lack of fluorine and potassium can be compensated for with ordinary wood ash and without the use of mineral fertilizers. Ash consumption: 1 glass per m2.

The Mitze Schindler variety is very demanding on timely watering, as well as planting only in sunny areas.

Summer care

The main care for strawberries in the summer consists of timely weeding and loosening. When loosening, you need to act carefully; the bulk of the roots are in the top layer of soil. To reduce the amount of weeding and watering, the surface of the soil under the bushes is mulched. Peat, humus or straw can be used as mulch. It must be taken into account that organic mulch binds soil nitrogen and returns it back gradually during overheating. To avoid slowing down the development of the plant, it is advisable to spill the mulch with a solution of mullein (1:10) or chicken droppings (1:20).

During the summer, strawberry bushes must be periodically cleared of dry leaves. Rotting plant debris very often provokes the development of gray rot, powdery mildew and a number of other diseases. Dry foliage also serves as an excellent refuge for pests.

The Mitze Schindler variety is characterized by increased plant formation. To prevent the fruit from shrinking and yield reduction, the mustaches that form during the summer must be removed in a timely manner. If this is neglected, the strawberry beds will very quickly turn into a solid green mass with a few small fruits.

During the summer, strawberries are fed 3-4 times. Fertilizers are applied for the first time after the snow melts. For this purpose, universal mineral complexes with a high nitrogen content are used. After 10 days, the strawberries are fed with organic matter. For example, you can use fermented nettle infusion. This weed can be found in almost any area. To prepare the infusion, nettles are chopped and tightly stuffed into large plastic bags, which are then left in the sun. As soon as the contents turn into a homogeneous liquid, the infusion is ready. Before use, it is diluted in a ratio of 1:10. The last time fertilizer is applied is at the end of summer.

We organize competent care

Like any fruit crop, proper and timely care is important for strawberries, which includes watering, fertilizing and pruning the plants.

Watering

Water your homemade berry bush with settled, warm water. Irrigation work is carried out as needed, as soon as the top layer of soil dries out. Watering is done in the evening, and in the morning, the soil in the pots is loosened, enriching the plant rhizomes with oxygen.

Top dressing

Feeding the plant is directly related to the time of year. In spring and summer, fruit crops are fed with mineral complex fertilizers 2 times a month. To increase productivity, use fertilizers containing iron. In winter, strawberry fertilization activities are reduced. One feeding every 1.5-2 months is enough.

Most gardeners recommend feeding strawberries with natural infusions prepared using organic mixtures.

Trimming

Strawberry bushes accumulate the nutrients necessary for fruiting in the lower leaves. Therefore, the leaves are cut off only after they begin to turn yellow. This means that the bush has already received the supply of nutrition it needs from this leaf plate.

Advice! To get a large harvest of berries, the very first flowers are removed from young strawberry bushes.

Pollination

Remontant varieties of strawberries are capable of self-pollination, and incapable of pollination. In the first case, the ovaries are formed naturally after the flowering of the fruit crop. But if the variety is not able to pollinate on its own, then the gardener will have to work like bees, transferring pollen from one flower to another.

For these purposes, purchase a soft, thin brush, which is used to carefully collect pollen from all flowers one by one. The procedure is carried out once every 5-7 days throughout the entire flowering period of the fruit crop.

Interesting! If you apply this method to self-pollinated strawberry varieties, the resulting ripened berries will be larger and tastier.

Transshipment

The strawberry bush grows and develops. After 2-3 years, there comes a time when the plant becomes cramped in the pot. Then the berry crop is transferred to a larger container.

1. To transfer the strawberry bush, prepare a spacious container with drainage holes, twice the size of the previous one.
2. A drainage layer of small stone is placed at the bottom of the new container.
3. Next, fill the pot with fertile soil, make a deep hole in the middle and water it abundantly.
4. The plant is carefully removed from the old pot, along with the earthen lump.
5. The strawberry bush is carefully planted in a new container, sprinkled with soil and watered.
6. Large and old plants are separated and placed in different pots.

Important! Strawberries transplanted to a new location require additional care and attention.

Reproduction

Typically, a strawberry plantation is used for no more than 3-4 years. Then the yield indicators begin to gradually fall, and the berries themselves become smaller. To obtain planting material, pure uterine plots are left. The mustache that forms on them is not cut off. After rooting, they are transplanted to a new place.

In just one summer, from such a site you can get 2-3 generations of full-fledged, well-developed whiskers. Further use of this plantation is inappropriate, so it is being plowed up. Next year, green manure can be sown in this place to restore and improve the soil.

Strawberry Mitze Schindler

Garden strawberries, or strawberries, as they are commonly called, are very popular among Russians due to their unique taste and aroma. Among the varieties of this berry grown in household plots and summer cottages, there are old, but time-tested varieties that have not yet lost their position. One of them is the Mitze Schindler strawberry. Read about this variety, its characteristics, advantages, method of cultivation and propagation in this article.

Description

Strawberries of the Mitze Schindler variety were obtained in Germany a little less than a century ago - in the 30s of the 20th century. Its full name is “Frau Mieze Schindler”. The variety was bred from the then popular varieties Lucida perfecta and Johann Moller. As a result of their crossing, late-ripening strawberries were obtained, characterized by drought and frost resistance.

Description of strawberry variety Mitze Schindler and its photo:

• low bush, weakly leafy;
• the leaf is medium-sized, dense and smooth, its upper part is dark green, leathery, with a slight shine, the lower part is silvery;
• peduncles moderately tall, rising above the leaves, thin, branched;
• forms many tendrils; on some bushes they can be remontant;
• the berries are small or medium-sized, flattened-round, red, ripe - dark cherry, shiny;
• the weight of the first berries is 10-20 g, the average weight of subsequent berries is 5-10 g;
• the seeds are dark red, deeply embedded in the pulp;
• The pulp is light crimson in color, sweet, soft, tender.

In terms of taste, this old variety is still considered one of the best. Its yield is average (up to 0.8 kg of berries per 1 sq. m). Strawberries of this variety are consumed mainly fresh; they are less suitable for making juices, canning and freezing.

Choosing a landing site

According to the description of the variety, Mitze Schindler strawberries are undemanding to growing conditions, grow well in almost any soil, and are resistant to major crop diseases.

For bushes of this variety you need to find an open, sunny place on the site. The soil should be light, loose, breathable, moisture-absorbing, but not waterlogged, and rich in nutrients. Strawberries cannot tolerate dense and heavy soils; in them, their roots are deformed and cannot penetrate deeply, as a result of which the plant’s nutrition deteriorates and its growth stops. Sandy soil, which does not retain moisture well, is also unsuitable. It follows from this that it is not recommended to plant strawberries on clay and calcareous soils, and sandy loams and loams are best for them. Acceptable soil acidity is slightly acidic (pH 5-6).

Good predecessors for strawberries include legumes (peas, beans), cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, radishes, radishes and mustard), garlic and herbs. Less suitable in this regard are nightshade and pumpkin crops. You can plant this berry after green manure: alfalfa, lupine, clover, etc. You cannot plant it after sunflower and Jerusalem artichoke, as well as flowers of the ranunculaceae family, for example, columbine, anemones, clematis, delphinium.

Planting in beds

Planting of young strawberry plants can be done in early spring, as soon as it gets warmer, or in late summer - early autumn. It is not advisable to plant in late spring and late autumn: poorly rooted seedlings may dry out or freeze. Immediately before planting, the bushes should be carefully examined and those that have dried roots or leaves with traces of disease should be discarded. For prevention, it is advisable to treat planting specimens with Fitosporin.

It is best to plant Mitze Schindler strawberries in the evening and in cool weather. Approximate planting pattern: 20 cm between bushes and 50 cm between rows. This feeding area allows you to get maximum yield from each planted bush. The depth of the hole should be such that the root system of the strawberry seedling fits into it without any problems. Before immersing the bush in the hole, you need to add a little humus with wood ash to provide it with nutrition for the first time. The seedling needs to be buried up to the root collar. After transplanting, each plant must be watered with warm water. It is advisable to add rooting and growth stimulants and humate to it. It is better to mulch the soil around the strawberry bushes with straw, dry grass, leaves, or cover the ground with black agrofibre.

At first, while the seedlings are taking root, the soil under them must be kept constantly moist: it must be watered daily or every other day. After rooting, the frequency of watering should be reduced.

Vertical beds

There is another option for planting strawberries - not in ordinary horizontal beds, but in vertical ones. To create such beds, large, dense plastic bags or pieces of plastic water pipes are suitable (you will need 2 pipes of different diameters, the narrower one will be needed for watering the plants). In bags and wide pipes you need to make holes in a checkerboard pattern - bushes will grow in them, and in narrow pipes - many small holes through which water will penetrate to the strawberry roots. They need to be inserted into wide pipes.

You can fill bags and pipes with ready-made substrate, purchased at a vegetable grower's store, mixing it with peat and perlite. To irrigate strawberries in such containers, it is best to use drip irrigation.

Growing

Reviews from gardeners about Mitze Schindler strawberries show that they are quite unpretentious and can get by with standard care. Productivity does not suffer.

Here's how to care for these strawberry plants:

1. Water in the morning or evening with settled and warm water as soon as the soil becomes dry. Strawberries should not be overwatered, because despite the fact that they love water, waterlogging has a bad effect on them - susceptibility to infection by rot and powdery mildew increases, winter hardiness decreases and few generative buds are formed, which leads to a decrease in yield for the next year. You can water manually, but it is better to install a sprinkler system on the beds or lay drip irrigation hoses.
2. After watering or heavy rain, loosen the soil (if there is no mulch). Loosening will not only prevent weeds from growing, the presence of which is unacceptable near strawberries, but will also prevent the formation of a crust that does not allow air to reach the roots.
3. You can fertilize plants with organic matter (mullein, bird droppings, nettle infusion) or mineral complex fertilizers intended for berry crops.
4. Treat with fungicides if diseases appear and with insecticides when pests appear. To protect strawberries from weevils, you can sow marigolds near the beds.
5. Collect berries as they ripen on the bushes. There is no point in keeping them on the bush for too long; overripe strawberries quickly become soft and disappear.
6. In the northern regions of the Russian Federation, bushes of this variety, despite the fact that it is considered cold-resistant, must be covered for the winter.

Mitze Schindler strawberries need to be replanted in a new location every 4-5 years. This will increase the yield of bushes and minimize the likelihood of diseases.

Reproduction

Mature strawberry bushes should not be kept for more than 5 years - after this age they age, deplete the soil, quickly lose productivity, and accumulate diseases. To create a conveyor of vitamin berries, you can plant a new bed every year and at the same time remove the oldest one. It looks something like this:

• 1 year – new planting;
• 2nd year – strawberries of the 1st year of fruiting (with still a small harvest);
• Years 3 and 4 – productive bed;
• 5th year - after harvesting, the strawberries need to be removed and vegetables should be grown in this place the next year.

A new plot can be obtained from the whiskers, which are formed in sufficient quantities in strawberries of the Mitze Schindler variety. They need to be taken from the most well-developed, healthy and fertile plants on which berries ripen, which in all respects are characteristic of the variety. As soon as mustaches appear on the mother bush, they need to be buried for rooting, and planted in a permanent place in the fall.

Review and video

Strawberries of the Mitze Schindler variety have long been known to gardeners, so there is no need to wait for reviews about them.

Conclusion

Mitze Schindler is an excellent strawberry variety that can be recommended for cultivation to any gardener. It has the main characteristics that are valued in this culture, so it will not disappoint its new owner.

The most common diseases

If agricultural practices are not followed and as a result of exposure to unfavorable weather conditions, strawberries can be affected by a number of diseases. The most common of them are discussed in detail below.

Gray rot

It mainly affects berries. Spread is favored by prolonged rains. In some cases, it affects up to 90% of fruits. The main sign of the disease is a characteristic gray coating. To combat gray mold, fungicides are used: Horus, Strobi, Switch. Biological products: Fitosporin and Trichodermin are also highly effective. They can be used even during the fruiting period.

Leaf spot

Widespread fungal diseases. They can affect all parts of the plant, causing the leaves to dry out. As a result, weakened plants significantly reduce yields. The development of spots is promoted by high humidity, which occurs due to excessive watering or too dense planting. For processing, Bordeaux mixture, Skor, Fundazol and Ordan are used. Among biological products, Fitosporin and Pseudobacterin are effective.

Anthracnose

Affects mature and green fruits. High humidity promotes the development of the disease. Damage appears on the surface of the berries in the form of brown spots. With further progression, the pathogen infects leaves and stalks. To prevent anthracnose, strawberries during budding are treated with fungicides: Horus, Bordeaux mixture, Quadris.