Vertical strawberry growing at home

Real amateur gardeners always lack space for interesting ideas and embodiment of ideas. And what if the owner of a small country plot is also a fan of garden strawberries? After planting this delicious and healthy berries take up a lot of space, and in order to harvest a good harvest, it is necessary to allocate at least one and a half hundred lit areas. And so you want to fit in a limited space, many more garden crops, plant flowers. Here and comes to the rescue vertical cultivation of strawberries - an excellent alternative to its familiar classic landing.

Features of vertical beds

The popularity of this method of growing strawberries grows from year to year, and all because at first glance, it would seem, sophisticated technology in fact turns into a number of benefits that many gardeners appreciated.

1. Significantly saves space in the suburban area, and the planting area significantly increases.
2. The berry does not get dirty and remains clean, it does not rot from damp during the rainy season.
3. The number of pests on it decreases, as it becomes inaccessible to them.
4. It is much easier to take care of such a plantation: the seeds of weed plants do not fall into the container, and the need to weed out the beds constantly disappears.
5. Fertilizers are absorbed as efficiently as possible, spreading evenly through the pipe.
6. Vertical cultivation of strawberries allows, collecting berries, not to bend down, which makes the procedure more enjoyable.
7. Such beds look very impressive, decorate any site and delight the neighbors with beauty and originality.

But, despite many advantages, growing strawberries in a vertical way still has some disadvantages:

1. The soil on these beds dries very quickly in hot weather, so it is advisable to water it often: at least once every 5 days.
2. The beds require liquid fertilizing at least once a season, because the base is not replenished with nutrients, compost and manure.
3. In winter, the ground freezes completely, so the beds should be made mobile, so that, with the onset of frosts, they should be moved to a warm place or covered well, otherwise the plants will not suffer severe colds.

Varieties of strawberries

Varieties of strawberries for vertical cultivation should be chosen remontant, ampel. They look very attractive on such beds, they are extremely fruitful and tasty.

The most popular variety is Queen Elizabeth, the harvest can be harvested several times a season, from the beginning of summer to October. The berries are beautiful, shiny, large, regular in shape, the flesh is very juicy. In total, you can harvest up to 2 kg of berries during the growing season . This species adapts very well to the area in which it grows.

Alba is a curly variety. Cultivation of strawberries in a vertical way provides for its presence on beds. Berries are very early and do not fear frost. Fruits resemble an elongated cone, bright red, well stored. One bush gathers more than a kilogram of berries.

Home-made delicacy is an early remontant variety. Dark red berries with a small sour, large, 3 cm in diameter. Look great in a vertical planting due to long peduncles.

Another ampel variety, bred in Holland, is Ostara. A compact bush with dark green bright leaves will please very tasty berries. The drawback of this is the exactingness to care.

Domestic specialists, except for Elizabeth, are advised to plant Finland on their site. The sweetest of strawberry varieties for vertical cultivation is Honey. Eros perfectly tolerates freezing, Geneva and Aluba are unpretentious, they will not make you worry about strawberry diseases, and the Moscow delicacy will be pleased with a big harvest in the autumn.

Varieties of vertical beds

Growing strawberries vertically allows the use of any containers: barrels, flower pots, boxes, tires, slate sheets, plastic bags, pipes.

Seams from automobile tires are practical and durable. Tires are stacked on top of each other, and holes are cut for plants. But these beds are toxic, therefore it is undesirable to plant berries in them.

You can make beds from flower pots, put them as you like, hang on supports, tree branches, decorate the arbor.

The most economical option is plastic bottles. This material is loved by gardeners, and if you fix them on a grid or poles, you will get an attractive bed. But in pots and bottles the volume of the earth is too small, therefore constant nutrition and watering are necessary, and it is difficult to control the amount of fertilizers, therefore the probability that their rate may be exceeded is high.

Strawberry bushes in barrels are interesting to look at the site, especially if they are painted in bright colors. But it is difficult to move a heavy barrel, it requires a reliable shelter for the winter, as well as beds from pallets and wooden boxes.

Strawberry growing in pipes

Previous methods have significant drawbacks, so a remarkable finding of gardeners is the cultivation of strawberries in pipes vertically. This is the most convenient and often used method of cultivation of ampel strawberries.

The height of such beds usually does not exceed 2 meters. Firstly, if the design is higher, then watering and picking berries will be inconvenient. Secondly, 4-meter PVC pipes can be simply cut in half, then there will be no material waste.

First you should select a pipe with a diameter of 200 mm, the next smaller tube is needed for watering plants, its diameter is much smaller, only 2 cm is enough, and the length, on the contrary, exceeds the main one by 15 cm.

In the upper part, approximately at the level of 2/3 of the pipe, small holes are drilled, their diameter should not exceed 5 mm. So that the pipe does not get clogged, and the water, flowing out, does not wash out the soil, it wraps tightly with non-woven fabric or burlap, and is wrapped on top with a rope.

The holes in the PVC pipe are drilled in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of a quarter of a meter from each other, their size 10x10 is sufficient to make the plant feel comfortable and free to develop. At the bottom of the pipe, about 25 cm from the soil, there is no need to make holes.

You should also think about the fact that the pipe will be laid for the winter, so it is inappropriate to drill the planting holes in a circular fashion. It is better to leave one side untouched and turn it to the north when setting. The bottom of the pipe should be closed with a lid, because the mobile bed provides for moving or laying in the cold season.

The next step is to insert the watering unit into the main pipe and fill the clay gravel, gravel or gravel with a height of 20 cm to the bottom. This is a kind of drainage, and a load holding the pipe vertically.

On top of the already laid drainage is filled with fertile soil. It should consist of a quarter of the turf ground, the same part of the peat, then it will be light and airy. This mixture adds 30% of the rotted compost and 20% of the manure. Get a nutritious substrate for strawberries.

The container, barrel or pipe to the top is filled with a substrate and filled with water from a hose. After watering, the soil will settle and become compact, then it is necessary to add more soil mixture. In each hole, carefully planted on the bush.

Ground Preparation

If vertical cultivation of strawberries is provided in pots, a nutritional mix is required a little. You can buy in the store any soil for vegetables or flowers. But if you plan to grow strawberries vertically in poles, you will need a large amount of land. It can be taken in the garden, after being subjected to decontamination: it must be treated with steam or hot water, and then shed with a solution of potassium permanganate. After 30 minutes it is ready for use.

But there is still a way to prepare an excellent fertile soil for your favorite berries. In the field or on the forest edge you need to cut the sod land with layers, bring it to the garden and add a neat square from them, shedding each layer with water. Then wrap it in polyethylene film, and make a shallow digging along the perimeter for oxygen supply. Under the film, the burning process will begin, all pathogenic bacteria, seeds, larvae will die from heat, and the grass will perepreet literally in 2 months. Then it is necessary to sift the humus, and the nutrient substrate is ready.

How to prepare sprouts

If you use strawberry growing in pipes vertically, you can buy ready-made seedlings and put them in the garden. But over time, you want to expand the plantation and increase the number of roots. Then it is easy to multiply the strawberries. In the spring it is necessary to cut off the two strongest mustaches from the bush and to prikopat in the nursery. So that they quickly become accustomed, the ground under them should be covered with grass or leaves. In 2 weeks, when the plants take root, they must be fertilized with fertilizer.

In October, the sprouts are excavated and folded into a box, sprinkled with earth and placed in a cool cellar. There they can stay up to 10 months. In February, they are taken out and planted in the soil, after 35 days the roots grow from them, ready-made bushes are obtained, which can be planted in new beds.

You can also multiply the strawberries with seeds, choosing for this the largest berries and cutting a thin layer of pulp with seeds in the middle part of the fruit. It must be dried and planted.

How to care for vertical beds

Before making vertical beds, it is important to decide where they will be placed. It should be noted that the berry is light-loving and drafts are not to her liking.

Vertical growing of strawberries at the initial stage involves frequent watering. If the weather is hot, then we must make sure that the land does not dry out, and then 2 watering a day will not interfere. Seedlings will take root in 15 days, then watering can be reduced.

If the flower buds immediately appeared on the plant, then it is better to remove them until the berry gathers strength. Superfluous mustaches are also removed, usually enough for the plant 5, and then the berries will be large.

If the strawberry fructifies the second summer, then it needs to be properly fed to increase the yield. Liquid complex mineral fertilizers, EM fertilizer and organic are used.

By the autumn, when the fruiting is over, you can rejuvenate the plants by cutting off the leaves.

For regular fruiting, strawberries should be transplanted regularly, every 3-4 years, this also applies to high beds. Alternatively, you can simply change the content in the pipes.

For winter, vertical beds should be brought into the room. But if such an opportunity is not available, they are wrapped up qualitatively with sackcloth, covered with leaves, slate, roofing material, hay or lapnik. The pillars are laid horizontally and also covered well.

Growing strawberries vertically only at first glance seems difficult and time consuming, therefore, having accumulated certain experience, you may want to deal with it seriously and sell the surplus of your labor, essentially replenishing the family cash desk.