Varieties of curly strawberries favorably differ in fertility and large beautiful leaves. They can decorate a greenhouse, a backyard or any room in an original way, and delicious and fragrant fruits will not leave anyone indifferent.
Distinctive features of curly strawberries
Compared to other strawberry varieties, climbing species are distinguished by some characteristics:
- the berry leaves a lot of mustache that can be fixed in an upright position;
- fruits appear both on the bushes and on the mustache, this allows you to harvest a rich harvest;
- many types of climbing strawberries are remontant, the berry does not require an annual transplant;
- does not need special care and frequent weeding.
Advantages and disadvantages
The positive qualities of the plant include:
- unpretentiousness (can grow in any soil, but require feeding);
- a large number of mustaches;
- fertility;
- berries can be harvested before the first frost;
- large fruits, not deformed during transportation.
The negative characteristics of the berry include:
- frequent and abundant watering;
- bushes require regular feeding;
- difficult preparation for wintering;
- plants are susceptible to disease.
Ampelous strawberry varieties
All ampelous varieties are ornamental plants with creeping, creeping or drooping stems. Can be grown outdoors or in vases.
Description of ampel strawberries, characteristics and growing rules, read in this article.
Queen Elizabeth
The history of the variety begins in England, where it was bred by folk breeders. Differs in large juicy fruits.
Variety characteristic:
- early ripening period (the beginning depends on the region and climate);
- fruiting 3-4 months (from the beginning of flowering to the first frost);
- flowers - no barren flowers, have an edge, large;
- fruit weight - from 30 to 100 g;
- bushes - powerful, vigorous;
- leaves are large, even;
- fruits - large, fleshy, juicy;
- life cycle - long-term (2-3 years);
- diseases - resistance to fungal diseases.
Homemade delicacy
The variety is unpretentious, you can breed at home in pots or on the balcony.
Variety characteristic:
- early ripening period (at home bears fruit all year round);
- fruiting from spring to frost;
- flowers - no empty flowers, have 5 petals;
- fruit weight - from 30 to 60 g;
- bushes - have many stems, strong;
- leaves - even, with an edge;
- fruits are large, bright red, sweet;
- life cycle - long-term (2-3 years);
- diseases - susceptible to nematodes, fungal infections.
Alba
The authorship of this variety belongs to Italian breeders. The variety grows in Europe and Russia. The view is loved by farmers and summer residents.
Variety characteristic:
- ripening period - early maturing;
- fruiting - remontant;
- flowers - no barren flowers, not twisted;
- fruit weight - from 25 to 40 g;
- bushes - powerful, vigorous;
- leaves are large, even;
- fruits - tender, fleshy, juicy;
- life cycle - long-term (2-3 years);
- diseases - resistance to core rot, verticillosis, powdery mildew, often sick with anthracnose.
You can read more about the Alba variety here.
Growing curly strawberries
It is quite possible to grow this type of strawberry in completely open ground or on hanging supports, this not only saves space, but also gives the site a unique beauty. Based on personal preferences, you can choose a specific method.
On vertical beds
Vertical beds can be made in the form of a pyramid. To do this, hammer together several boxes, where it is necessary to pour soil. You can also arrange the beds parallel to each other.
Vertical fit advantages:
- saving space on the site;
- ease of collection (there is no need to walk between plants and often bend over for a berry);
- pots or boxes can be placed in non-traditional places: on the fence, on the wall of a house or buildings;
- no need to weed;
- the berries do not touch the ground and remain clean.
Berries not grown on the ground require frequent watering (on average, once every 3 days).
You can make a "snake" bed that rises. This type of bed is made from a chain-link mesh (it supports the flower bed) and supports-fasteners. To prevent the soil from spilling out, the flower bed can be bordered with stones, boards, plastic.
Other types of vertical beds (the planting principle is the same):
- Holes are made in the metal pipe, the pipe is filled with earth. Strawberries will grow in the holes.
- Bags made of plastic film are covered with soil.
- Old barrels and metal containers.
- Car tires stacked on top of each other.
- You can make a bed from an old wooden chest of drawers.
On supports
This type of planting assumes that the bushes themselves will be planted on the ground, then, clinging to the support with a mustache, the berry grows up.
Supports can be:
- wire;
- Rabitz;
- nails driven into a wooden rack;
- pallets, boxes;
- plastic pipes.
Berries can be decorated with arbors, walls of buildings, poles and much more.
Air way
The berries, in this case, are planted in hanging pots. For planting, you can use the pipe to drain the water, which is cut to size and suspended on a rope or wire.
You can also pick up various types of containers:
- old dishes;
- used shoes;
- retro-style lamps (if you leave the backlighting, you get an interesting lamp);
- baskets, tues, watering cans;
- children's plastic toys;
- plastic bottles;
- jars with a wide neck.
Care Features
Unusual planting types and the variety itself require special care. You will learn more about this below.
Selection of earth mix
The soil for planting curly strawberries should be soft and fertile, saturated with trace elements. The most common mixture:
- It is necessary to take 30% of the compost, which has been standing for 2 years.
- Bring meadow sod - 30%.
- Purchase 25% peat.
- The remaining 20% can be filled with organic fertilizers or ordinary manure.
There are special mixtures and top dressings that can be purchased at a specialized store. Climbing strawberries are planted in a small amount of soil. Therefore, it is necessary to feed the soil as much as possible so that it contains all the nutrients.
Gardeners use sawdust to prepare soil mixtures. For this, it is necessary to soak wood chips in a urea solution for several hours (1 liter of water per 2 tbsp. Urea, 1 cup of chalk, 1 cup of wood ash).
Having mixed all the parts in the right proportion, Fitosporin is introduced into the composition. Well-soaked ingredients will serve as an excellent soil fertilizer.
Landing
It is recommended to plant strawberries in April, then it will gain strength, or in August. It should be noted that many remontant varieties begin to bear fruit one year after planting.
Landing rules:
- Immediately choose a place of constant growth, as ampel varieties are very difficult to take root. If a rich harvest is needed, then it is more expedient to plant a berry in the fall.
- When planting in containers, straighten the root right away, as it will have nowhere to grow. You should pay attention to the size of the container - it should be at least 25-30 cm. Make drainage holes.
- If planting is carried out in the ground or in a large container, then the distance between the bushes is also 25-30 cm. So the root system will better straighten out and the berry will take root.
- The core of the bush is located above the ground.
Planting ends with watering, loosening the soil and mulching. It is necessary to irrigate strawberries regularly. The berry loves moisture, but it should not be much. Drenched strawberries begin to rot roots, diseases appear. Watering is necessary at least 2 times a week. It is important to monitor the condition of the soil. It is better to choose a drip irrigation option.
Pruning
Ampel varieties of berries give a large yield, timely pruning of bushes will help improve fertility. This will give a neat appearance to the bushes, facilitates weeding, the fruits will receive more nutrients.
Trimming Rules:
- In the first year after planting, cut all flowers off the strawberries. This makes it possible for the main bushes to take root better, to be filled with strength.
- Mustache on one bush should be located no more than 5 pieces. This is necessary so that the plant is not depleted.
- At the end of the season, completely remove the leaves from the bushes.
You can trim with ordinary scissors. It is necessary to perform actions carefully so as not to damage the plants.
Top dressing
Top dressing applied on time increases the yield. When planting, mineral fertilizers should be applied to the soil, which will saturate the soil. After irrigation of the bushes, the fertilizer will decompose, providing the plant with all the necessary micronutrients.
Gardeners recommend using an infusion that can be made independently. You should take green grass, chop it. Then add wood ash and manure. Mix all this with water and water the strawberries once a week (instead of irrigation). Specialized stores sell balanced fertilizers.
It is necessary to introduce nutrients at the root.
Transfer
Curly varieties of berries are transplanted at 3-4 years of fruiting. This is necessary to change the land in boxes, pots or flowerpots. Over the years, the soil is losing nutrients.
Transplant Rules:
- the core cannot be dug into the ground;
- in the first 1-2 weeks after transplanting, strawberries should not be exposed to the sun, it is better to place it in the shade or create a shadow artificially;
- watering is done several times a week;
- after 2 weeks, the berry needs to be fed.
Reproduction
When caring for a berry, it is required to designate the most viable young bushes in order to divide them into several shoots in the fall. This is required for further propagation of strawberries.
Breeding rules:
- Detach young shoots from the main bush.
- Plant bushes in a separate container.
- For the winter period, bring the seedlings into the house or dig in the garden (greenhouse).
- In the spring, get seedlings from the containers and plant them on the main growth site.
The berry can be propagated with a mustache. To do this, the mustache is buried in the ground in several places and watered. After the young shoots appear, cut the mustache on both sides. Seedlings can be immediately transplanted to a new place or left in containers for the winter.
Winter preparations
To prevent strawberries from freezing in frosts, they must be covered or transferred to a warm room (the temperature in it should not fall below 0). It is worth adhering to the following recommendations:
- You can cover the berry with roofing material, a film, old blankets. The main thing is not to freeze the plants.
- Hinged beds must be removed to the ground (if possible, dig in) and well covered with spruce branches, old grass. If the structure cannot be disassembled, then cover the plant directly on the supports.
- If you plan to arrange the berries on a fence or net, then you should consider how to clean the plants for the winter.
- Strawberry mustache should be hidden in the ground in preparation for winter.
Diseases and pests
Vertical planting is not only beauty in the design of the garden, but also the prevention of diseases and pests. The latter mainly attack terrestrial plants.
The most common parasite is the strawberry mite. It feeds on fruits, when it appears, the berries shrink, lose their juiciness, dry out, the leaves curl and turn yellow.
Only chemical agents help against insects: Fufanon, Nero. They are sprayed with infected plants after 10 days 3 times.
It is impossible to get rid of some parasites in any way, therefore diseased bushes are dug up and destroyed.
The berry can contract a fungal infection. In order to prevent, before and after flowering, the culture is sprayed with substances containing copper.
Varieties are prone to nematodes - with it, the fruits grow stiff, stems become short, and also increase in volume. A diseased plant is dug up and burned.
Gardeners reviews
Natalia, 54 years old, amateur gardener, Chelyabinsk.For many years I have been growing strawberries on my site. I could not resist and bought 10 bushes of the unusual "Queen Elizabeth". Only 3 plants survived to me. The rest died on the way. Those that remained ate came out. The harvest in the first year was scanty. She brought the flowerpot into the house for the winter. The bushes survived the first winter badly. I thought they would die, but in the summer they pleased me with a plentiful harvest and excellent taste.
Elena, 57 years old, teacher, Moscow.I have a playground in front of my house. I decided to please the kids and planted several different varieties of ampel berries in the vertical pyramid. She took root extremely badly, but almost all the bushes survived. Hard work won! The grandchildren were delighted with juicy berries, which could be enjoyed without interrupting the game.
Sergey, 63 years old, summer resident, Murmansk.There were always a lot of berries on our site. My wife and I decided to decorate the fence on the site. For this, we chose several types of climbing plants, including strawberries. We took out the old dishes, decorated it in all the colors of the rainbow and planted seedlings in them. In the first year there were almost no berries, we decided to wait.
But when decorating, I did not think that I needed to wrap the berry for the winter. I had to buy covering material, nail it to the fence. We fiddled for a long time, but the berry overwintered. Frozen bushes were cut in the spring. The berry appeared at the end of June, finished bearing fruit in September (had to be removed before frost).
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Any cultivated plant requires constant care. Curly strawberries are no exception. For a good harvest, you need to make an effort. If the berry grows by itself, then a rich harvest should not be expected. Following the advice of experienced gardeners and gardeners, you can collect an impressive crop from a small number of bushes.