In the “berry” category, strawberries undoubtedly hold a special place in everyone's heart and taste buds.
A fortiori when you have the happiness of being able to pick it yourself in the garden or on your balcony, some climbing varieties like 'Mount Everest' having the extreme kindness of wanting to grow in a pot.
But to taste these exquisite delicacies and fill them with trays and baskets, you have to start planting this weekend.
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The season is already well advanced, it is preferable to opt for seedlings in pots which will start faster than the "bare roots", reserved for planting at the end of summer or in autumn.
When planting, care must be taken not to bury the central bud of the young strawberry plant.
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Problem: what variety of strawberry to choose knowing that there are more than 600!
How to choose your variety of strawberry?
Several criteria are taken into account: taste quality of course, but also productivity, disease resistance and seasonality. Some varieties flower only once a year, in spring, while others start a new cycle in summer or even in autumn. We say of the latter that they are "uplifting" while the first are "non-uplifting", like raspberries and roses to which the strawberry is botanically very close (Rosaceae family).
The 'non-returning' strawberries generally give large-caliber fruits and an abundant harvest but limited in time, in May and June depending on their degree of precocity.
In this category, the varieties 'Gariguette', 'Gorella', 'Ciflorette', 'Magnum' or 'Cigoulette' are sure values which tick almost all the boxes.
For their part, the rising strawberries give smaller fruits but a production spread out until the autumn frosts.
'Généreuse des Combrailles', 'Mara des bois', 'Charlotte', 'Maestro' or 'Reine des Vallées' stand out (non-exhaustive list).
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The right formula is to cultivate varieties of the two categories because they are complementary: the peak of production of non-ascending at the end of spring makes it possible to fill baskets and jars with jams while the regularity of the ascending ones offers the pleasure of tasting good. strawberries until All Saints' Day.
Note that 'Charlotte' and 'Mara des bois' have a characteristic wild strawberry flavor while 'Ciflorette', 'Cigoulette', 'Généreuse de Combrailles', 'Mara des bois' and 'Maestro' offer good tolerance to diseases.
What land for your crops?
Growing strawberries is easy and rewarding provided you meet its requirements: sun, well-drained soil, cool, rich and slightly acidic (pH 6 to 6.5).
Start by loosening the soil to a good depth (30 to 40 cm) to facilitate penetration and anchoring of the roots, then incorporate ripe compost and a special strawberry fertilizer rich in phosphorus and potassium to promote flowering and ripening of the roots. fruits.
If your soil is heavy and clayey, make a flat mound about twenty centimeters high to avoid water stagnation that is detrimental to the roots.
The repeat varieties bloom again and produce until the frosts of the fall.
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How to plant your strawberries?
Depending on the variety, the strawberries should be separated by 30 to 40 cm in the row with a spacing of 40 to 50 cm between two rows.
But before proceeding with the planting, it is recommended to cover the board with an opaque plastic film of forty microns thick or with a mulch cloth in which you will make a cross incision at the presumed location of each plant. .
Read the file:
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The advantage is threefold: evaporation and therefore water losses will be reduced, the "weeds" will not grow or grow poorly and the fruits will not be soiled by the earth during heavy rains.
You can also plant on bare ground as long as you cover the ground immediately afterwards with cereal, flax or hemp straw.
Note that a strawberry plantation only lasts a maximum of three years. If the varieties chosen have given you satisfaction, you have the possibility of recovering, the last year, the plants which grow at the end of the runners in order to renew it inexpensively. Finally, keep in mind that the production of your strawberries will be at its maximum the year following planting. Gardening is and always will be a matter of patience.
