Strawberries are a bisexual plant. At the same time, the division into male and female bushes is considered very conditional. However, plants that are more prone to vegetative propagation are called male. In this case, female plants are bred sexually, that is, using seeds. Every gardener needs to know how to distinguish male from female strawberries. The yield of crops depends on this.
Why do you find out the gender of a berry?
Strawberries are grown for a tasty and aromatic harvest, and not as an ornamental shrub.This is why it is so important to be able to distinguish between male and female bushes. This ability can be useful if you purchase new seedlings in a nursery or specialty store.
At 2-3 years of life, the bush bears children. At the same time, its roots grow and form new rosettes. They are male and female. The ability to distinguish the sex of plants will help to avoid the colonization of a new area with barren crops.
Thanks to the timely identification and destruction of male divisions, the fertility of the uterus increases. This is due to the fact that the remaining female bushes will receive more micro- and macroelements from the soil. In addition, thinned foliage will be able to receive a lot of sunlight. This will improve protein photosynthesis.
Of course, it is not recommended to completely destroy male bushes. This is even dangerous, since they are responsible for pollinating female plants. For strawberry growing to be successful, it is important to be able to maintain a balance between different crops.
On average, one male bush helps pollinate 10 female ones. This is the ratio that experienced gardeners advise to adhere to. In this case, excess bushes must be removed. This will help increase the productivity of the remaining crops.
Main differences between the sexes
In order for strawberry growing to be successful, it is important to know how to distinguish bushes of different sexes. To do this, it is recommended to take into account a number of visual signs.
Difference in fruits
Female bushes produce crops, while male bushes only produce tendrils. They immediately produce young shoots, since the plant does not waste effort on ripening the berries. If more strawberry bushes are required, the mustache needs to be fixed in the right place. However, sometimes there are exceptions when male plants flower. In this case, a single large flower appears on the bush.After which it is replaced by a small berry.
In appearance
A closer look at the bushes reveals a number of visual differences. Male plants are larger in size. They have bright and rich foliage of large sizes.
In the mustache
When purchasing adult seedlings, you should not give preference to bushes with strong and powerful tendrils. In 95% of cases, infertile men have them. Females are characterized by the appearance of antennae after fruiting. There are fewer of them. In addition, women's mustaches are thinner. However, they are the ones who make it possible to replenish the female population on the site.
At the base
To identify differences, it is important to carefully examine the heart of the seedling’s rosette. If it has an elongated cone-shaped shape and a diameter of less than 4 millimeters, there is a high probability that it is a boy. In this case, there is no point in expecting berries from the bush. If the base is somewhat flattened and has a large radius, it is most likely a female bush.
In flowers
You can distinguish Victoria of different sexes by their flowers. Male specimens are characterized by larger sizes. They have more stamens. In addition, after flowering ends, the ovary of the future fruit does not appear.
Why is it worth destroying male plants?
Male plants do not produce fruit. At the same time, they negatively affect soil fertility, occupy territories and quickly penetrate into the soil. Therefore, it is important to remove excess of such plants.
At the same time, all male bushes cannot be destroyed, since they participate in pollinating the female ones. Experts advise keeping an eye on your balance. For 10 female bushes, 1 male bush is enough. The remaining plants must be destroyed. However, it is important to do this correctly.
Experts advise carefully unscrewing the male cutting from the ground so as not to damage the rhizomes of the remaining part of the plant. After that, you should fill the hole that appears with soil to level the bed. If the number of boys significantly exceeds the number of girls, after dividing the family, the male plants can be reoriented to bear fruit.
To do this, they need to be planted in a separate control bed, following a compacted pattern. The interval between seedlings should be 1 decimeter. After that, it is recommended to trim off all the mustaches that the bushes throw out. This stage should never be skipped. Only if you use unique varieties of strawberries can you leave the first couple of whiskers and use them for further propagation.
Artificially created crowding will lead to the fact that by the end of the season the boys stop growing whiskers and begin to lay flower stalks. At this stage, they can be moved to a permanent location.
When transplanting boys in the first half of autumn, they will have time to adapt to new conditions before the arrival of cold weather. Next season, real flower stalks will form on them, which will subsequently bear high-quality fruits.
It is important to consider that next season it is necessary to continue removing the mustache in the first half of summer. If new specimens are required for propagation, it is recommended to leave the rosettes that formed at the end of August on the strawberries. Practice shows that the first rosette on the mustache is almost always female. Therefore, it is these crops that should be left for breeding.
In order for strawberry cultivation to produce results, it is important to be able to distinguish between bushes of different sexes. To do this, you should focus on their appearance, size and number of flowers and berries.After determining the sex of the bushes, it is worth assessing their ratio. If excess plants are identified, they must be removed. However, this must be done extremely carefully, strictly following the recommendations of experts.
