How to properly prepare strawberries for winter, how to process and cover them

In the summer, thinking summer residents and gardeners are faced with the question - how to properly prepare your favorite strawberries for winter? Yes, you can rely on “maybe” and let everything take its course. It is not a fact that the bushes will definitely die. But the probability is quite high. It will be very disappointing to dig up dead, frozen plants in the spring, at a time when everything around begins to rapidly come to life and prepare for fruiting. And I don’t want to rush headlong into preparing the beds and urgently looking for seedlings for spring planting.

What are strawberries afraid of in winter? Do I need to mow the leaves?

In winter, sudden temperature changes are dangerous for garden strawberries, when mild thaws suddenly give way to a serious minus. Even if the entire bush does not freeze, severe freezing of the flower buds is possible. And this will have a negative impact on the future harvest.

Icy winds are also dangerous in winters with little snow. Bare soil is susceptible to severe freezing and cracking. And, of course, the temperature drops below -20 C degrees. This can already lead to the complete death of plants, regardless of the variety. One night with such a minus is enough. Plants with leaves cut to zero will be the first to die. Under no circumstances should you mow down foliage in the fall.

What needs to be done in the garden in autumn?

In autumn, a number of agrotechnical measures need to be carried out in the garden. This includes sanitary cleaning, loosening, weeding, fertilizing and processing of strawberries and shelter.

Trimming

Completely mowing down all the leaves in the fall can simply kill the plant. Lush healthy leaves of strawberries are, first of all, protection. Protection of the root system, heart and flower buds located in the axils of the upper leaves from the harmful effects of low temperatures.

But sanitary cleaning is a smart choice for maintaining the overall health of plants and preparing for a successful winter. If the leaves are partially speckled, then it’s okay, you can leave them.But twisted, dried, diseased, rotten ones should be removed. As well as old peduncles, mustaches and remains of dried fruits.

Top dressing

It is important that garden strawberries receive sufficient nutrition before wintering. It is necessary to fertilize strawberries at the right time. This will help you gain strength to fight negative factors in winter and build a powerful root system. It is worth abandoning preparations with a high nitrogen content, and focusing on phosphorus and potassium. Master and Plantafol (Planter) are good options.

Hilling

Another technique for protecting the root zone is hilling. After shallow loosening, the soil is raked directly to the bushes. In frosty winters with little snow, this technique allows you to protect the root system of plants.

Mulching

To protect the root system and soil from severe freezing in the garden bed, you need to thoroughly mulch the soil surface. Both sawdust and unsifted peat, the same leaves or well-rotted manure are suitable. The layer thickness should be from 10 centimeters. Well, both agrofibre itself and agrofabric are excellent mulching materials.

Treatment with drugs. When and what is the best treatment?

A prerequisite for processing is the complete absence of berries on the bushes. For regular varieties this is the month of September. And the purpose of processing is the treatment or prevention of diseases and pests. This gives the strawberries strength to prepare for a successful winter and laying flower buds for the future harvest. It would be wise to treat with chemicals after sanitary cleaning and pruning of leaves (pruning point).

Insectoacaricides Actellik and Actofit will help (use at an air temperature of at least 20 C degrees). They will help get rid of not only ticks, but also a wide range of other pests.Effective drugs will be copper-based fungicides (copper oxychloride, Medyan Extra) and systemic ones (Ridomil Gold, Horus).

How to protect strawberries from frost for the winter

Shelter is one of the most important elements of protection. In regions with snowy, consistently cold winters, you don’t have to worry about covering strawberries. But where there is a danger of temperature “swings” and a winter with little snow, it is worthwhile to thoroughly approach the issue of shelter.

Agrofibre is an excellent covering material

Agrofibre (synonyms agrotextile, spunbond, lutrasil, non-woven material) - for regions with mild winters, a density of 30 is suitable, for more severe winters - 40, 50. Spunbond is the name of the technology for manufacturing fiber from a polymer material. In general, agrofibre and spunbond are the same thing.

The fiber is spread directly over the bushes, and the edges are buried in the ground. An excellent option would be to install low arcs, and it’s worth rolling out agrofibre on them. A microclimate is created under the spunbond, and berries ripen early (up to 2 weeks). Moreover, the greater the layer of air, the better the wintering. Today, agrofibre is the most objective choice among covering materials and the best way to protect against frost. By the way, in summer it can help protect plants from the scorching sun.

Film is absolutely the wrong option

Covering strawberries with film for the winter is completely wrong. Such covering material will contribute to the complete loss of the strawberry crop. Only damping-resistant crops, for example, blackberries, can be covered with film. Without access to air, diseases develop quickly, plus strawberries simply spray. Especially during winter thaws.

Leaves

One option for shelter for the winter is to use fallen leaves. Not the best option, but if there are no other options, it will do. It is not advisable to cover it with oak leaves, or, to a lesser extent, walnut leaves. First of all, the leaves must be healthy. But there is a danger of the strawberries underneath them becoming damp. The main thing is to carefully cover the root zone, and cover the plants themselves with a layer of no more than 10-15 centimeters.

Sawdust

It is possible, but you will have to use a large fraction to prevent caking, and in the spring you must rake them from the beds. Over the winter, pathogenic bacteria accumulate in them and pests overwinter. And also, when rotting, they draw nitrogen from the top layer of soil. And pine sawdust also acidifies the soil.

Plastic bottles

Covering with cut plastic bottles of 2 liters or more is acceptable. The bottle seems to be placed on top of the bush with its neck up. The lower (cut) part is screwed into the ground and compacted. It is important to remove the plug from the neck, otherwise the strawberries will dry out. And this technique is used more often when propagating clematis.

Needles

Only dry pine needles are suitable for shelter, without forest soil, which contains a huge amount of weed seeds. It is more acceptable and useful for plants to cover themselves for the winter with needles than with leaves.

Pre-winter moisture loading, loosening and weeding

Important points when preparing for wintering are abundant pre-winter moisture replenishment of the soil, as well as weeding and loosening of the soil.

Features of preparing different types of strawberries for winter. Properly preparing bushes for wintering

The difference between remontant varieties and ordinary ones is their constant fruiting throughout the season. Therefore, before preparing remontant strawberry bushes for wintering, you need to take this feature into account.

Regular

Follow standard agricultural practices and apply all of the above techniques.

Remontantnaya

The main difference from the usual one is that the bushes often go into winter with berries and color. And then what is the best way to prepare remontant strawberries for winter? Before covering, it is advisable to carefully cut everything out. And also remontant varieties, due to constant fruiting, require more feeding.

When to start preparing for winter by region?

Depending on the region, preparations for wintering strawberries must be carried out at the correct time.

South

In the south, given the warm autumn, work on preparing strawberries for wintering begins in the first or even the second half of September. And they finish, depending on the weather, at the end of September, the first ten days of October.

Middle Strip

In the Middle Zone, it is advisable to start preparing from the end of August, beginning of September and finish by the middle of the first autumn month.

Ural and Siberia. It's better to prepare in August

In Siberia and the Urals, winter comes early, so preparatory work begins in the first ten days of August, and ends in the second half.