Strawberry "free": planting and growing

Modern technology has not been bypassed and gardening. In this article, we will introduce you to a promising technique for growing and storing seedlings of strawberries "free". With all the rules for planting and caring for the plant, you can collect aromatic and tasty berries throughout the year.

What does "free" strawberries mean?

Frigo technology is translated as "cold". It was invented by Dutch specialists for year-round growing berries. Very quickly this technique became popular in the world. It is important to understand that "free" is not a sort of strawberry, but a kind of seedlings harvested in a special way. In other words, the strawberry "free" can be of a variety of varieties.

The essence of technology is that artificial conditions are created for resting seedlings. The technique is also attractive because it allows you to harvest many seedlings that can be used in any period.

Growing and harvesting seedlings

To get seedlings, in the tunnel shelters or on open beds, the uterine bushes are planted in sandy loam and sandy soil. The peduncles that form on them are removed so that the plant directs all forces to form offspring. During plant growth, young bushes are actively fed. As soon as seedlings of strawberries enter the phase of rest, it is excavated.

The readiness of the sockets is usually checked on the rhizome - it becomes evenly colored in brown with light tips. Another indicator of "hibernation" are the leaves - they darken and acquire a brownish hue. Typically, this happens in November, when the temperature is set at 0 to -3 ° C. Previously, the plant should not be disturbed, since in this case the planting material will die during storage.

The excavated young plant is transferred to a cool room in which the temperature is maintained from +8 to +12 ° C. The roots shake well from the remnants of the soil (they do not wash!) To cut them off is also strictly forbidden. Then remove all the large leaves, leaving only the youngest leaves at the point of growth.

To avoid the appearance of rot, the prepared seedlings of the "free" strawberry are treated with fungicides - these are Vincite Forte, Fundazol, Hom, Topaz. After that, they are sorted according to the size of the root neck, and according to the grades, and then tied into dense bundles, usually 50-100 pieces.

How are the seedlings stored?

The bundles thus prepared are laid in small plastic bags. For storage it is possible to use boxes, having lined them preliminary from within with a film. Its thickness is also 0.5 mm. Practice shows, seedlings of strawberries "free" dies when stored in a film thicker than 10 mm. In each box, from 350 to 700 saplings are laid - the amount depends on their size.

The harvested strawberry "free" is stored in special cold rooms, in which the temperature is maintained from 0 to -2 ° C around the clock. In addition, the chamber should have a very high humidity - 90%. Moreover, the sensors are installed throughout the perimeter of the camera. The slightest variations of these parameters lead to the death of seedlings. For example, if the temperature rises to + 0.5 ° C, the strawberry will awaken, and at -3 ° C - the plants will freeze. Strawberry "free" in these conditions is stored from two weeks to ten months.

Recently, there have been recorded cases of viability of plants for three years. Specialists note that with too long storage of seedlings in the freezer, their yield is slightly reduced. Especially it concerns large-fruited varieties.

Classification

The yield of strawberries "free", subject to the rules of planting, largely depends on the quality of the seedlings. In European countries, strict standards have been developed that regulate the class affiliation of the plant in accordance with the diameter of the root neck of the plant.

Class A

In such seedlings, the diameter of the neck is from 12 to 15 mm. They have one or two, generative buds. Such a strawberry "free" "comes into fruiting in the year of planting. About 20 berries are formed on each bush.

Class A +

Root neck from 15 to 18 mm, has already three buds (running). In the year of planting three peduncles are formed, on which ripe up to forty berries. Despite the fact that the sorts of strawberries "free" of this class are more expensive, they are very much in demand for large plantations, since they allow collecting up to ten tons of berries per hectare.

Class WB

This class includes elite seedlings that yield record yields. The diameter of the neck is from 22 mm or more. It is possible to obtain such seedlings only by growing sockets in beds, on which additional agrotechnical work has been carried out. In the planting year the plant forms five peduncles. The harvest is guaranteed from 450 grams and above. From each hectare remove up to 20 tons of berries.

Class Tray Plants

Its advantages are the controlled yield load on condition of planting in modern greenhouses and compliance with technological requirements; Very powerful root system, significant stock of substances, resistance to high temperatures characteristic for the moment of planting; High yield and excellent quality.

Regardless of which class belongs to the "free" strawberry, it considerably exceeds the traditional seedlings in all the main parameters - the size of the leaves and berries, the size of the bush, the number of generative shoots. The "free" method, as a rule, is used for reproduction of the most promising and high-yielding varieties - Sonata, Alba, Clery, Elsanta, Honeoye.

Preparation of seedlings for planting

In the open ground, this strawberry is planted in May-June. In the greenhouse - all year round. To the process of growing berries was uninterrupted, it must be done at intervals of fifty to sixty days. Strawberry "free" goes on sale in a frozen form, so before planting it should be "awakened."

Initially, the seedlings must be unfrozen within 24 hours in closed containers, while the temperature should not be too sharp to cause a thermal shock to the planting material. To accelerate the defrost, open the packaging container and pour the sprouts with warm water. Defrosted bushes are removed from the package and put their roots in cold water for three hours. This will help to fill the moisture lost during the storage period. It is desirable to add a root growth stimulant to the water - "Geterauxin", "Zircon", "Kornevin".

Try not to let the solution get on the leaves, as this can lead to a slow development of the above-ground part of the bush.

Selecting a landing site

Planting of strawberries "free" is made on an even, cleaned from weeds, well-fertilized area. The ridges create a height of about twenty centimeters. Experts believe that the best predecessors are siderates: for example, autumn crops of mustard, legumes, rape, followed by a stockpile of green mass in the spring. It will become an excellent soil fertilizer.

You can bring manure from autumn. Such a measure is particularly effective on light depleted soils. Before planting, mineral fertilizer should be applied. Gardeners believe that the most convenient application of "Azofoska". Granules do not need to be deeply embedded in the soil: the fertilizer dissolves well and with rain (or irrigation) it easily penetrates into the soil. It can be applied both in slicing furrows, and superficially - from 800 g to 1.5 kg. The dosage depends on the soil and therefore, whether the green fertilizer or organic material was previously applied.

Terms of planting

A little more detail about the timing of planting, because this issue is of interest to many gardeners. We have already mentioned that berries from such strawberries can be obtained year-round, or in a convenient period for you. For this, it is only necessary to calculate the number of days before full maturation.

If you plant the seedlings in the middle of May, then in thirty days the flowering will come, after another month, the fruiting will come. Delayed for two weeks, landing for a week reduces the time to fruiting. However, it is better not to tighten especially with the landing: the weather in this period is still not very hot, which allows the seedlings to settle down better. Delay with planting negatively affects seedlings of class A +. Given that this seedling has the greatest potential, it is better to plant it at an earlier time.

The longest storage periods are class A seedlings, which can be planted without risk until the middle of June. Landing in later periods is fraught with a sharp drop in yields, the peak of which falls at the very end of August - early September. At this time, the nights become cool, which leads to a decrease in the quality of berries: their taste deteriorates due to a weak accumulation of sugars, they become smaller, softer and the risk of rot becomes higher.

Planting "free" (seedlings) of strawberries in the ground

An important rule: you can not leave the roots of the seedlings open for more than fifteen minutes. After soaking, the planting of the "free" strawberries to the prepared area immediately takes place. For spring planting the soil is prepared in autumn. And in summer the soil is dug up a month before planting, so that it is sufficiently compacted. You can form two-line or tape or beds. The distance between the bush should be at least 30 cm.

Planting is carried out in well-moistened soil. It is necessary to shorten the roots of the seedlings to ten centimeters. A special tool has been developed that facilitates the landing. Its length is 20 cm, and at the end there is a notch for pruning and deepening the plant.

Roots need to be well spread out, you can not bury them with a bundle. In pre-drilled holes, vertically lower the roots of seedlings, you need to make sure that there are no creases. The soil is tightly pressed and immediately watered to ensure a good contact with the rhizome.

Saplings of strawberry "free" do not have leaves, so it is especially important to make sure that the rosette is above the surface of the soil, and the root neck was covered with earth. Non-observance of these rules can lead to the death of the plant.

Advantages and disadvantages of the methodology

Strawberry "free" has a number of undeniable advantages, but it also has drawbacks. The obvious advantages of such a seedling include:

• Continuous cultivation of berries throughout the year;
• Compactness of planting material;
• Excellent survival rate;
• High productivity.

Growing strawberries "free" has the following disadvantages:

• High price (from 15 rubles per piece);
• Expensive equipment for storing seedlings;
• The complexity of growing in the northern regions.

Reviews

Today, the strawberry "free" is not too common among gardeners. Feedback from the owners of small plots suggests that wholesale supplies of seedlings involve packing of two thousand seedlings, and in retail trade it is problematic to purchase such seedlings.

Such seedlings are ideal for farms, which have the necessary refrigeration equipment and greenhouses, and the open ground area allows to grow "free".

Let's sum up the results

Prepare seedlings using Frigo technology is quite difficult - it undergoes special treatment and is stored under certain conditions. This significantly increases the cost of seedlings. However, more and more farmers and gardeners prefer this strawberry, because it allows you to significantly increase yield, and in greenhouses it can be grown throughout the year.