It is not recommended to keep strawberry bushes in one place for several years, as they reduce the yield over time. The question of how many years strawberries can bear fruit in one place often arises among beginning gardeners. Having understood the nuances of growing berries, you will be able to get a good harvest every season.
How many years can you grow strawberries in one place?
Most varieties of berries can grow in one place for 2-3 years. Further cultivation is not advisable, since the berries will become smaller and the yield will gradually decrease due to the many peduncles.
Also, strawberries can only grow for one season. When practicing annual plantings, bushes planted in autumn are removed after the first harvest, and new plants are planted in their place. This procedure is repeated every year. The planting density with this method of cultivation reaches 50 plants per square of land.
When growing berries, the placement of bushes is of great importance, on which the ability to bear fruit in one place depends. The planting scheme is determined taking into account the cultivation goals, the size of the plot and the agrotechnical techniques used.
If the berries are grown in one place for two years, the bushes in the row are placed at intervals of 15-30 cm. The row spacing is 30-40 cm, depending on the degree of growth of the variety being grown. The more powerful the plants, the greater the distance will need to be left. With a three-year growing cycle, the distances in rows and row spacing are increased by 10-15 and 15-20 cm, respectively.
The importance of fruit change
Properly planned fruit rotation allows you to get a bountiful harvest every season. In most cases, the productivity of strawberry bushes decreases sharply after three years of cultivation, so crop rotation is required. If possible, it is worth moving plants to a new place every season, and uprooting crops grown for longer than 5 years and planting other berries or vegetables instead. Taking into account this scheme, the following categories of small plantations will constantly grow in the garden:
- new plant;
- bushes of the first year of fruiting, producing minimal yield;
- high-yielding plants;
- strawberries finishing their development cycle, which are uprooted after the berries are harvested.
Growing strawberries using the Frigo system
The Frigo seed preparation technology has become widespread among experienced gardeners. According to the technology, mother bushes are placed in the ground in the spring and fertilized for active reproduction. Growing plants are also fertilized and wait until ripening, which begins in late autumn. During the ripening period, strawberry foliage becomes brown, and the roots become light brown, remaining white only at the ends.
Ripe plants are dug up, large leaves are removed, sprayed with fungicidal preparations for disinfection and sorted by size.
The sorted bushes are tied into bunches of several dozen and stored in a cool room. To store plants using the Frigo technology, transparent plastic bags are used, which are placed in the refrigerator. Inside the refrigeration chamber, a constant temperature is provided ranging from -2 to 0 degrees and humidity up to 90%. If the required conditions are met, the bushes can be stored for from a couple of weeks to a year without reducing the yield.
