Strawberry of a neutral day (another name - remontant) - you probably already heard this term or met its mention in the horticultural literature. Today, more and more experienced gardeners, amateurs seek to replace their regular strawberries with remontans. You do not need to be a great mathematician to understand that getting two crops per season is much better than one.
In the photo, the repairing strawberry (September 2017):
Recently, new varieties of garden strawberries have appeared - Albion, Brighton, Moscow Delicacy, Mahern, Profyuzhen, Bogatyr, and others that are gaining more and more popularity. They belong to the repairing varieties of neutral daylight hours (NDS). What is the peculiarity of this culture? And the thing is that neutral day strawberries continuously lay flower buds throughout the season. The plant does not care when the sun rises or sets, sooner or later, therefore, fruiting is not interrupted. You can get delicious aromatic berries from spring until the very autumn frosts.
Repair grade, photo:
Daylight Strawberry - Planting
Planting strawberries in neutral daylight almost does not differ from planting ordinary varieties. Since this sweet berry loves the sun, then under its bookmark you need to choose an unshaded place. Acidic soil for this culture is not suitable, it should be deoxidized by applying lime (half a glass per 1 m2) The most suitable option for strawberries would be chernozem mixed with sand.
Prepare a plantation for laying strawberries should be in advance. In the spring, mustard can be planted in the designated area - this siderate will not only enrich the soil, but will drive away most of the May beetles. But every gardener knows that this pest is able to destroy a lot of crops. A month before planting (in late June - early July), the soil is dug up to the full bayonet of a shovel so that it is loose. You can’t do without fertilizing: you need humus, about 5 kg per m2 and 50-70 g of any complex fertilizer (suitable "Kemira", "Crystal"). If the beds are made high, then the ground on them will warm up faster, therefore, you can get the first berries a week earlier.
Removable strawberry spets, photo:
Repairing varieties should be planted from the beginning to mid-August (in the Kuban until mid-September). It is better not to delay the deadlines, as the seedlings should take root, get stronger before frost. It happens that for some reason you missed the time, then you can plant later, but with possible frosts, the bushes should be covered with non-woven material - so it will be warmer.
Prepared wells right before planting need to be watered (one glass of water for each will be enough). The root must be straightened, if you do not observe this rule, wrap the roots, then the plant will be sick for a long time, and may even die. The bushes are deepened to the core, it must necessarily remain at ground level.
It is advisable to cover the bed with non-woven material, cut holes in it - already plant plants in them or mulch the bed after. This will not only eliminate weeds, but also increase productivity. Planting must take place in sunny weather or in the evening, the bright sun will damage the plants. It is necessary to cut off all buds, flowers from seedlings, if they are, then the plant uses its strength for survival - strong, healthy bushes will please with an abundance of berries.
Strawberry neutral daylight - care, top dressing
Since the strawberries of NSD bear fruit almost without a break, this takes away a lot of her strength, and, therefore, the plant needs proper care:
- Firstly, be sure to do top dressing, it is recommended about 10 per season. It’s clear that you won’t be able to pay so much attention to strawberries alone, so at least half of the top dressings, for example with triazotum and potassium (1 tbsp.spoon of superphosphate + 1 glass of ash per 10 liters of water), and the second top dressing with a slurry solution ( 0.5 liters per 10 liters of water). On an element such as potassium, you need to pay close attention and in no case do not ignore it when feeding. Without potassium, permanently tied berries cannot ripen, although in appearance they will be red, but taste - watery, not sweet.
- Secondly, the crop requires regular watering. Of course, it is best if a drip irrigation system is installed on the strawberry plantation, but you can do without it - just make sure that the soil does not float when watering. Overdried, as well as swampy land is destructive for it.
- Thirdly, weed removal, soil loosening is necessary, and mulching will help to avoid unnecessary work.
There is one more subtlety: in order for more berries to be tied, the mustache on the plants must be broken off, leaving them only on the uterine bushes. By the way, since this culture is fully laid out, providing the gardener with a crop throughout the season, then it quickly becomes old, the berries grow smaller over time. This means that planting will have to be updated much more often, every 2-3 years.
If in August you plant several bushes of such strawberries of the day in the greenhouse, then all winter you can get fresh fragrant berries from them.
Daylight Strawberry - Varieties
Repairing varieties begin to bear fruit in the spring, this process lasts until the arrival of the first heralds of winter - frost. There are quite a lot of repairing varieties of the day, an interesting feature of some species are pink, raspberry flowers.
Strawberry Flowers, photo:
Grade Felicia
This is the result of the work of Turkish breeders, this variety has just raspberry flowers. The bushes on the beds look very attractive, unusual - bright raspberry flowers, and next to the berries are saturated red. Despite the small size of the fruit, the dugout turned out to be very fragrant, slightly reminiscent of the taste of its forest counterpart - strawberries. This variety blooms, bears fruit throughout the season, forms a small mustache. If you want to engage in the reproduction of Felicia, then you will have to use preparations such as "Kornevin" to stimulate the formation of roots.
Variety Aisha
Also from Turkey, but already with large, juicy, fleshy berries, very fragrant, sweet. A characteristic feature of this variety is the ability to give a lot of mustache. Sometimes you can observe this picture: the mustache has not yet had time to take root, and on it there are already flowers and berries begin to form. After the first “wave” of the harvest, a peculiar period of dormancy sets in, about 10-12 days, followed by a period of active fruiting until the onset of frost. Removable strawberry "Aisha" is quite resistant to disease.
Sort Albion
This is a neutral daylight strawberry bred by American breeders. Powerful variety in all respects - large bushes with high peduncles, juicy large fruits (40-60 g). Dark red berries have an amazing honey taste, pronounced aroma. An interesting feature - the longer the strawberries are in the cold - the sweeter it becomes “honeyier”. Strawberry "Albion" is able to bear fruit until the frost, due to its good density it can be transported even over long distances.
Variety Profusion
This is the brainchild of French breeders, the fruiting of which lasts continuously throughout the season, starting in the second half of May. The bushes of this strawberry are distinguished by high growth, large leaves, elongated with juicy berries of bright red color (fruit weight - 40-50 g). Due to the delicate aroma, outstanding taste, this variety is called by the people the king of taste. A characteristic feature - propagated by division, practically does not form a mustache. The union shows good resistance to major diseases, but is susceptible to tick attacks.
Variety Everest
This high-yielding variety is also bred in France. The bushes of this strawberry are medium in size, but due to the spreading leaves they tolerate wintering well. Brilliant fruits have a pleasant taste, aromatic, can reach 30-50 g. In the first year of life, Everest gives a few mustaches. To propagate this variety, you need to look in advance at the most tall, healthy, productive bushes, and in the spring remove them from the soil, cut into horns. For propagation, those bushes that give the fruit for the second season are optimal.
Listed above are the popular varieties of remodeling strawberry NSD, which should be considered when choosing a plantation to bookmark.
To summarize
So still, what is neutral day strawberry? What are its advantages?
- The peak yield in most repairing varieties is activated in the second half of the growing season - from about July until the onset of the first frost.
- The fruiting period lasts several months, respectively, the yield of such strawberries will be much more abundant than with ordinary varieties.
- In young bushes appearing on the mustache of the main bush (rosettes), berries can be observed after 6-8 weeks.
- These varieties (their vast majority) do not need a dormant period.
- Repairing strawberry varieties are not as widespread in our areas as, for example, ordinary varietal species. However, thanks to their positive qualities, they are gaining popularity every year.
Strawberries, as well as neutral day strawberries, have similar agrotechnical methods of cultivation, since, in fact, they are relatives. Landing and caring for them is also the same.
This culture finds more and more fans among summer residents and gardeners. If you follow the simple rules for care, timely feed, you can enjoy this sweet taste of summer until the frosts. Now you know what neutral day strawberries are, and thanks to quite attractive prospects, most likely, you want to settle them on your own site.