Grow Strawberry Seedlings Ourselves

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Due to the increased demand for strawberry seedlings, especially new promising varieties, gardeners can organize micro-nurseries on their own plot and grow the required amount of planting material for themselves.

Maternity hospital

You need to start by purchasing a small amount of original pure-bred and rehabilitated plants in specialized nurseries. Before purchasing mother plants, determine where to plant them on a pre-prepared bed with well-fertilized and loose soil. Plant mother plants, water well and be sure to mulch. Remove peduncles immediately as they form. It is known that mulching the soil and removing peduncles on mother plants promotes earlier (by two weeks) the formation of whiskers and increases the output of rosettes by 2-3 times.

Use mother plants only for the first two years, as young plants form whiskers more intensively and are less infected with diseases and pests. For an earlier appearance of mustaches and rosettes, cover the mother plants with a frame with plastic wrap or lutrasil. As the whiskers grow and the rosettes are formed (in the phase of one to three leaves) with the primordial roots, separate the rosettes from the mother plant. At the same time, leave a part of the mustache up to 1 cm long on the outlet to make it easier to dive. Put the cut rosettes in a plastic bag, slightly moisten them with water, place in a cool place and dive into a special nursery the next day.

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Kindergarten

The nursery can be placed in a plastic greenhouse or in the open field. The soil in the nursery should be light texture (two parts of peat, one part of land and one part of sand). Make seedling beds no more than 80-100 cm wide - for the convenience of caring for seedlings. Before and after a dive, spill the ridges well with water. Dive the rosettes into grooves 1-2 cm deep according to the 10x7 or 10x10 cm pattern, which will allow placing 100-150 rosettes per 1 m of the ridge. After picking and watering, darken the seedlings for 1-2 days with paper, branches with leaves and other materials. In the future, water the seedlings as needed several times a day, then switch to one-time watering. Stop daily watering after two weeks, then water the ridges periodically.

It is necessary to water the seedlings from a watering can with a fine mesh or using a sprinkler, but without a strong pressure of water, so as not to knock out the cut out sockets from the substrate. To accelerate the development of seedlings, cover the ridges with a polyethylene frame. After 20-28 days, the seedlings will be ready for transplanting to a permanent place. Practice shows that an annual mother plant can give up to 30 outlets, and a biennial plant - 70 or even more. Standard seedlings should have 3-4 leaves and a root lobe at least 5 cm long. Weak seedlings should not be planted in a permanent place, it is better to leave them for growing.

And here pots are needed…

Sockets can also be dived into pots or special cassettes, in which they root well under the film, forming a powerful root lobe, which is very convenient for transplanting seedlings. In general, the more leaves are formed on the rosette, the thicker the horn and the more powerful the root system, the greater the yield such plants will give the next year. When planting in a permanent place, transplant rooted sockets with a clod of earth, this will ensure 100% survival and good development of plants.

Home education

In addition, strawberry seedlings can be obtained without separating the rosettes from the mother plants. In this case, plant mother plants on a ridge at a distance of 60-70 cm between rows and 30-40 cm between plants in rows. As the mustache grows, spread it out in the aisle. The resulting rosettes are slightly deepened into loose soil, sprinkle with earth or peat. In early autumn or spring, separate well-rooted seedlings from the mother plants and plant them in a permanent place.

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Films - diapers

The method of rooting rosettes on the substrate is also effective. For this purpose, spread a plastic wrap in the aisle of the ridge with mother plants. Pour a substrate (peat, a mixture of peat with sand or soil) on it in a layer of 5-7 cm. Weeds in the soil will not be able to germinate through the film and the substrate. Lay out all the resulting sockets on the substrate. After rooting, separate the creeping shoots from the mother plants and select seedlings, gently shaking off the substrate from the roots. Then remove the film from the aisle. This method saves the costs of manual labor for weeding in the aisle.

One more method of accelerated seedling formation can be recommended, which is as follows. As the mustache grows and several sockets are formed on them, cut the mustache with rosettes, collect them in small bundles (3-5 pcs.), Place in a plastic bag, pour 50-100 ml of water into it and tie. The increased temperature and humidity of the air created in the bag contributes to the rapid formation of seedlings. Separate the rosettes with roots (1-2 cm long) from the lashes and dive. Repeat this technique several times as the whiskers (whiskers) grow.

Some of the secrets of conception …

In order to increase the multiplication factor of strawberries, the mother bushes are treated with giberellic acid four times in the following phenophases: when the peduncles are extended, during the flowering of single "signal" plants, at the beginning of the formation of whiskers, during the formation of rosettes. The concentration of the drug solution is 50-60 ml per 1 liter of water. Spray in the morning at the rate of 1 liter of working fluid per 10 m². The next day after treatment with giberellic acid, apply foliar top dressing with one of the following fertilizers (per 10 liters of water): urea - 30 g, ammonium nitrate - 18 g, sodium nitrate - 19 g, potassium nitrate - 22 g.

… and wellness

Many gardeners propagate the varieties they like, separating the rosettes from the fruit-bearing bushes that have been growing on the site for several years, thereby spreading dangerous diseases and pests with seedlings. To avoid this, we can recommend a radical way to combat pests and diseases transmitted with planting material - disinfection of seedlings with thermotherapy.

Thermotherapy - heating plants in hot water: against strawberry mites and nematodes. The thermotherapy process is as follows: take outwardly healthy seedlings from the high-yielding bushes you noted, rinse them in cold water and immerse them in a container of warm water (30 ° C) for 5 minutes, preventing the plants from floating to the surface. Then transfer the seedlings to a second container with hot water at 45 … 46 ° C for 8-10 minutes.

After heat treatment, remove the plants and cool them in water at a temperature of 20 … 30 ° C for 15-20 minutes, then plant them for rooting and provide them with good care. In the future, lay the mother plant with heated plants and, as the outlets grow, separate them, root them in a micro-nursery and plant these healthy seedlings in a permanent place.

Planting plantings with healthy seedlings will provide you with a high yield of garden strawberries in the future.