Growing strawberries all year round is an exciting experience, especially when there is the possibility of marketing off-season berries. It's no secret that such strawberries are in demand in the market and cost many times more.
Every gardener wants to grow strawberries in a greenhouse, and for this you need to adhere to special technologies, without which it is simply impossible.
We grow strawberries in greenhouses all year round
All technologies are based on only two necessary conditions, by controlling which you can achieve good results.
• Additional lighting;
• Super nutritious soil.
The main task of the gardener is to correctly regulate these components and select the varieties suitable for him for growing strawberries in the greenhouse.
How to choose a strawberry variety for growing year-round
When choosing between early and late varieties, first of all, you need to give preference to early self-pollinated hybrids, repairing types of strawberries, the productivity of which does not depend on the duration of daylight hours. Choosing earlier varieties, the gardener facilitates his work. This is due to the fact that such species bear fruit as much as possible even with tight plantings. Early varieties can save space and get a large number of berries.
Noticed that early strawberry varieties are able to plant berries and bloom regardless of the length of daylight hours, and this allows you to collect a stable crop. After all, the period of growth and fruiting of most varieties depends on light. Later varieties of strawberries begin to tie berries only with a shortened daylight, and strawberries of medium ripening time - with a long one.
Growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round, it is important to pay attention to the duration of flowering and fruiting. All these growth processes must go one after another. If you do not select the suitable varieties, then after the first wave of the harvest, you will have to wait for the next one for more than three weeks. When purchasing strawberry varieties for growing, you need to test them for a maximum of one season.
How to prepare beds for growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round
The technology of growing and arranging beds is simple, but you should take into account the level of illumination, select the most nutritious compositions.
You can grow strawberries in a greenhouse for a whole year in several ways:
• in overhead containers;
• on the ground.
In order to save space and get more berries, growing is carried out in hanging containers.
How to pick up containers
First of all, you need to choose a solid base for the container, which can withstand the large weight of containers with seedlings. As a rule, it is made of metal. The width of the structure should be about a meter, and the length is limited only by the area of the greenhouse.
The finished frame for containers is installed in two rows on both sides of the greenhouse. A metal corner is welded along the entire length of the fabricated frame; containers are inserted into the gaps formed.
Containers can be made of any available material: plastic, plywood or fiberboard.
Finished containers are placed in a metal frame and filled with a nutrient substrate.
Soil preparation for growing strawberries
Strawberry cultivation throughout the year (continuous cultivation) requires a particularly nutritious soil. Normal soil for cultivation will not work. A specially prepared highly nutritious soil is required, for which the available components are used:
• Straw - 500-600 kg;
• Bird droppings - 300 kg;
• Chalk - 5-7 kg;
• Urea - 3 kg;
• Gypsum - 15-20 kg.
To obtain a high-quality substrate, it is necessary to prepare a high-quality compost from several layers:
• straw up to 25 cm high;
• droppings of birds up to 10-15 cm high;
• urea, calculation of substance: 400 gr. drug for every 100 kg of straw.
During compost collar formation and component laying, each layer is necessarily poured with warm water. The process of fermentation and maturation of compost takes place within a month. To speed up the process, the compost is mixed. The first time this is done two weeks from the bookmark, the second - a week after the first. The last time the compost is mixed a week before ready.
Understand, that the composting is finished and the compost is ready, it is possible in appearance and smell. The finished compost is odorless of ammonia, it should be uniform without the admixture of large particles, dark brown.
After composting, it must be sterilized. To do this, on a metal pallet, I warm the earth to a temperature of 60 degrees. Be sure to ensure that the compost does not overheat, otherwise the earth will lose its quality.
Organization of strawberry irrigation in a greenhouse
All containers for planting seedlings should be equipped with a drip irrigation system, which will facilitate labor costs. Water consumption is calculated as follows: up to 3 liters per day is consumed per pot. The water tank should be installed above the strawberry beds by 50 cm.
Watering hose with a cap at the end and small holes are pulled through the containers. Prepared substrate is poured into the container. Hanging beds are watered through the laid hose, which is very convenient.
We grow seedlings for laying the mother liquor
The cultivation of the mother plantation and its planting occur in four cycles, i.e. 4 years.
1. The first year seedlings from prepared seeds are grown. Liked varieties are tested during the season. The most productive varieties for year-round cultivation of strawberries in a greenhouse are selected by the selection method.
2. In the second year plant the main uterine plantation in the garden. The first hundred outlets are moved to the greenhouse in early August. Already at the end of October we can expect the first strawberry crop. The main collection falls on the month of December.
3. Updating the main maternal plantation. In a greenhouse, strawberries grow until the fourth year.
4. Replace the deflated outlets in the greenhouse.
To grow strawberries in a greenhouse you need to select a variety of varieties, do not stop at one of your favorite views. Any even the best strawberry variety tends to degenerate.
How to light strawberries in a greenhouse
Planting strawberries that are grown in a greenhouse, regardless of technology, need additional lighting. In the winter season, double greenhouses let in less light, planting will grow worse and bear fruit.
For lighting in greenhouses, sodium lamps are used, which create a radiation spectrum that is closest to natural light. Selected lamps with a power of at least 400 watts.
The height of the lamps should be at the level of 1 meter from the beds. Lamps should work according to daylight hours:
• First inclusion from 8 to 11 days;
• Second turn-on at 5 p.m. - shut-off at 8 p.m.
In this mode of operation of the lamps, a natural 12-hour lighting is created, which is quite enough for a strawberry. If the weather is too cloudy, the lamps should work all day.
The results of year-round strawberry cultivation in the greenhouse
The technology for growing strawberries is simple, it is enough to acquire the necessary skills for planting care.
Using this growing technology, you can achieve good results and good yields. Experienced gardeners collect up to 60 kg of berries from one square meter of the garden. Of course, this requires a lot of labor, but even 30 kg of berries in winter - this will be an excellent result for beginners.
