What fertilizers are needed for strawberries?

Almost everyone loves sweet juicy strawberries. And this miracle berry is grown in different climatic zones, in different ways and on different soils.

Content:

• Introduction
• Organic fertilizers
• Mineral fertilizers
• Nitrogen
• Potassium
• Fertilizer application procedure
• Conclusion

But, according to experts, if you do not use fertilizers for strawberries, it is impossible to harvest worthy harvests this delicious berry. But what kind of fertilizers should be applied in order to get the maximum yield without harming your health?

Organic fertilizers

No matter what clever people invent in chemical laboratories, the best fertilizer for plants, including strawberries, remains humus or manure.

• Manure is a mixture of livestock bedding and droppings used to fertilize the soil. It is used as a fertilizer only in rotted form, since fresh manure contains a lot of living weed seeds that are ready to germinate on fertilized soil.
• Humus is the same manure only completely decomposed, turning into a dark, loose mass. It is humus that is the best fertilizer for any cultivated plants, since it provides a significant concentration of nutrients in a form that is best absorbed by plants. Organic fertilizers also include chicken manure. Every gardener knows that this is a rich source of nitrogen. For fertilizer strawberries a weak solution of chicken manure is made and soon you will see how much it will grow and delight you with large berries. When preparing a solution of water, you should not skimp, and proceed from the following proportion: take approximately 20 parts of water for one part of litter.

Mineral fertilizers

In addition, strawberries can be fed with mineral fertilizers including Nitrogen 14%, Phosphorus 7%, Potassium 27%, Magnesium 0.5%. These fertilizers prevent various diseases of strawberries. They are also one of the most frequently used. Complex mineral fertilizers have the greatest effect: they can be purchased at any garden supply store.

Nitrogen

So, in order for the berry to be large, red and have excellent taste properties, it needs nitrogen. This substance is found in ammonium nitrate and urea. Urea dissolves very easily and well in water. For a 10-liter bucket you will need one tablespoon of urea. The first time you need to fertilize strawberries is in early spring, after removing dry leaves and shoots. This solution should be poured under each bush in an amount of 0.5 liters. But you should not abuse this fertilizer, as its excess will lead to the loss of sugar by the berry.

Potassium

Many summer residents know how important potassium fertilizers are for strawberries. Thanks to them, the shelf life of the berry increases, its taste properties improve, and the sugar content increases.

If the strawberry has leaves whose ends are brown, then this is a clear sign of potassium deficiency and must be replenished. Potassium nitrate, wood ash, potassium chloride, and potassium sulfate are great for this. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied to the berries under the bushes in the spring.

Fertilizer application procedure

If you have already decided which fertilizers are preferable for strawberries, then the next question arises - when to fertilize strawberries, in spring or autumn? In principle it doesn't really matter. Typically, strawberry beds are dug up along with the selected fertilizer in advance (in winter or a couple of months before transplanting). The second stage of fertilizing is carried out after harvesting (it is at this time that complex mineral fertilizers are usually used). Useful fertilizers for strawberries, such as nitrogen fertilizers, are applied to the soil depending on its type: in clay soils in the fall, in light soils in the spring. During abundant flowering and fruiting, it is recommended not to fertilize strawberries.

Strawberries need good nutrition after harvesting, for the formation of new roots and buds. But those who believe that fertilizing strawberries after harvesting is the last thing to do are completely wrong.

The final feeding of this berries produced in September, somewhere in the middle. At the beginning of autumn, they fertilize with already fermented mullein, plus add half a glass of wood ash to each bucket. In the middle of the month, the following solution is prepared: a glass of wood ash, two tablespoons of nitrophoska, 20-30 grams of potassium fertilizers are dissolved in 10 liters of water. This care system will have a beneficial effect on next year's harvest.

If strawberries are planted in a new place, it is customary to add up to 8 kilograms of organic fertilizers and 30 grams of mineral fertilizers to this land.

So, by applying fertilizers, you can significantly increase crop productivity. However, the amount of fertilizer applied and the timing must be strictly observed.