Which is what I always do with strawberries in October, and I harvest a lot of large berries. Business for an hour
Flaming fireworks, fellow gardeners!
Do you want to harvest an excellent strawberry crop in your garden? Then take care of a decent dispatch of your favorite berries for the winter. After reading this article to the end, you will learn what to do with strawberries in October.
Strawberry Care in the Last Months of Autumn: Why I'm Putting This on the Agenda
Some of the summer residents think radically: "Since the strawberries have already fulfilled their mission, then I can forget about them until next spring." Quite a comfortable position, setting you up for an autumn vacation without pangs of conscience. But let me give you three arguments, comrades. And they make me fly out of a warm apartment every October and rush to the dacha.
- At first glance, it may seem that a careless strawberry is sitting idle in the beds. The bushes have already partly taken care of the future harvest of berries - they have laid flower buds next year. They are in the so-called "horns". And improper wintering will lead to the fact that some of the already formed rudiments of the future harvest will be lost in vain. It's a shame to lose what you have acquired with strawberries!
- A successful gardener is always on guard for the health of the garden. Autumn, with its high humidity and low temperatures, is a fertile time of the year for all kinds of fungi. And a strawberry that has gone sick for the winter will remain infected as before. And besides, weakened: she certainly won't have a big harvest and large berries.
Therefore, in the middle of autumn, I will definitely check the miniature strawberry plantation in my country house. The October task is to make procedures that really need a berry. And do not do too much!
What to do with strawberries in October and what she doesn't need
The first thing I do when I return to my dacha after a week in the city is to tidy up the strawberry garden. If the bushes are surrounded by weeds, I cut the grass to the root.. Although, of course, I try to avoid such a situation with regular summer tillage.
But the worst thing to do with bushes in October is to weed and loosen. Well-intentioned procedures will damage the delicate roots of strawberries, which will not have time to get stronger by winter. Loosening the root zone is completely capable of injuring flower buds - the very precious ones, from which berries should grow next year.
In our North-West, surprisingly warm weather stood out: "Indian summer" dragged on. The gentle sun is liked not only by garden flowers that paint flower beds, but also by strawberries. Plants continue to grow young foliage and the ubiquitous mustache.
Young strawberry leaves should not be cut off for the winter.. Otherwise, in the spring, the forces of the plant will go to the growth of new green mass, and not to well-behaved preparation for flowering and fruiting.
Before winter, old spotted leaves (a sure sign of a fungal disease) and all mustaches must be removed from strawberries. If the spread of the fungus is massive, I advise you, comrades, to treat the planting with a fungicide. There will be fewer problems next season!
You do not need to cover strawberries for the winter. Unless, of course, we are not talking about regions with extreme frosts. For example, a film cover will rather lead to rotting of the bush than will bring tangible benefits. Better spruce branches, but not a film: it does not allow air to pass through.
But it's still worth creating insulation. Ideally, sprinkle the strawberry bushes with breathable compost or humus. It will protect the flower buds in the "horns" from freezing. And the strawberries will win through without loss!