When and how to properly mulch strawberries, the better

Why mulch strawberries

Mulching is the protection of the surface layer of soil from the effects of adverse factors. Thanks to this method, the process of evaporation of moisture from the soil slows down, and retaining moisture is beneficial for the plant and the future harvest.

A layer of mulch will inhibit the growth of weeds, which makes caring for garden strawberries easier and will avoid frequent weeding. Mulch retains heat in the ground, which is beneficial for the root system of the plant - it will be protected from possible night frosts.

The use of organic materials will saturate the soil under the strawberries with the necessary nutrients. The strawberries will be protected from contact with the ground, this will save them from contamination after watering or rain. During the ripening period, the berries do not suffer from powdery mildew, and when harvested they are clean.

When to mulch - timing

Mulching is recommended to be carried out twice per season, the first procedure is carried out in the spring before the formation of the ovary. The soil must first be loosened and cleared of weeds. Before laying the selected material, it is necessary to thoroughly water and fertilize the plants. After harvesting, the mulch is removed from the strawberry plantation.

The procedure is repeated in late autumn to protect green bushes from the cold. In the spring, when the strawberries begin to grow, the remaining layer of mulch is carefully removed, trying not to damage the young plants.

What is mulching?

Garden strawberries or strawberries have a superficial root system, that is, located in a layer of soil that is greatly depleted over the course of the season under the influence of unfavorable factors.

Minerals are removed from the soil, the covering layer freezes and dries out. As a result, good (useful) microorganisms living in the soil layers and forming humus move to depth. The composition loses its fertility.

Is it possible to mulch strawberries? Yes, and it is absolutely necessary to do this. The procedure consists of covering the soil under the bushes with different materials. They act as a shield - they protect the soil from the influence of various factors.

As a result, the activity of beneficial microorganisms, worms and insects, which can improve the composition of the soil, increases. As a result, fruiting increases.

When using the method, the following is ensured:

• protection of the root system from overheating and freezing;
• barrier to water evaporation, reducing the need for irrigation;
• the risk of plant damage from bacterial and viral infections is reduced;
• the berries do not come into contact with the ground, therefore they do not rot;
• When organic mulch decomposes, all the necessary minerals enter the soil; this happens gradually, therefore the exchange between the root and leaf parts is maintained.

Another benefit is that mulch helps grow weed-free strawberries because it blocks light from reaching the soil.

Advice! Before choosing the best material, you need to determine the main purpose. If strawberry mulch is used as a fertilizer, it is better to choose organic.

Methods and materials for mulching strawberries

There are several ways to mulch berry crops. Both organic and inorganic materials are used for this procedure. Before choosing materials, you should take into account the characteristics of the site. For sandy and rocky soil, organic material is suitable, which during the decomposition process will improve the structure of the soil and enrich it with nutrients.

To retain heat and moisture and protect against weeds, inorganic material - agrofabric - is suitable. It can be purchased in specialized stores and used for several years. But in the presence of high humidity, this method can lead to the formation of rot and fungus, which is detrimental to strawberry plants.

Advantages and disadvantages

There are benefits and harms to covering the soil surface with mulch, which are recommended to be familiarized with in advance. The main advantages of the mulch layer include:

• improving the fruiting of strawberry seedlings using organic components;
• reduction of soil loosening and watering;
• protection of ripened berries from attacks of certain insects and premature rotting;
• improving productivity by saturating the soil with micronutrients.

The disadvantages include the following:

• development of fungal diseases in the mulch layer;
• the appearance of mole crickets and slugs under the mulch.

Organic materials for mulching strawberries

The following can be used as organic mulching material:

• peat;
• compost;
• newspapers and cardboard;
• tree shavings and bark;
• grass and leaves;
• hay and straw;
• pine needles

The selected material is carefully laid out under each bush, lifting all the branches and berries.

Hay and straw

Gardeners do not recommend using hay, because it rots quickly. Straw will insulate the soil and retain moisture in it, but it should be used together with compost or rotted manure, since it draws nitrogen from the soil. In this case, it is useful to plant onions and garlic between the garden strawberry bushes.

Mulching with straw.

Straw is placed under each bush in layers no higher than 15 cm. Periodically it must be turned over and inspected, because mice like to make nests in such a shelter.

Grass

The covering material can be the green part of the weed, but without seeds. It is pre-crushed and dried, turning it over periodically. The grass is laid under the bushes in a layer of up to 5 cm.

Mulch from pine needles and pine cones

It is useful to mulch strawberries with pine needles, which contain bactericidal substances and phytoncides, protecting plants from various pests and diseases. Spruce or pine needles protect the soil from the sun and wind and prevent weeds from germinating.

In addition to pine needles, they also use cones, which are placed between the rows, but this method is labor-intensive; you will need to collect several bags of cones. More often, mulch from pine needles and cones is used for the winter, and in the spring it is removed from the site.

Sawdust

Before the plants bloom, you can mulch the soil with sawdust, which is used to cover the beds in a layer of up to 5 cm. Fresh shavings are pre-soaked for several days in water and then dried in the sun. Gradually rotting, the shavings will enrich the soil with potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen.

If after heavy rains the mulch becomes dirty, you can add a new layer on top. Used shavings are added to the compost to make it looser.

Using sawdust for mulch.

Before autumn mulching, thin branches of grapes and cherries are scattered around the area, covered with plastic film on top and covered with sawdust. This method is a good protection for strawberries from frost.

Humus and compost

You can protect the soil from weathering and drying out using compost or humus, but this method requires regular renewal of the mulch layer, since soil organisms quickly process it.

Why do you need mulch when growing strawberries?

Mulching is the covering of the soil around strawberry bushes with organic materials, cardboard or plastic film. The covering material prevents premature evaporation of liquid from the upper layers of the soil, and also significantly reduces the amount of watering in spring and summer. With the help of mulch, moisture in the soil is retained for a long time, which improves the fruiting of strawberries.

Some gardeners also cover the soil with a layer of mulch to slow down the growth of weeds. Therefore, people who mulch strawberry seedlings rarely do weeding. In addition, the covering layer prevents heat from escaping from the soil. This prevents the soil and strawberry roots from freezing.

Experienced gardeners advise using mulch to protect the plant from gray rot.

After mulching the soil, strawberries will not come into contact with damp soil, and therefore the likelihood that they will begin to rot is extremely low.

Inorganic materials for mulching strawberries

From inorganic materials, gardeners use plastic film, agrofibre or paper.

Black film

Using black plastic film for strawberries allows you to keep the berries clean and of high quality. The area is first loosened, fertilizers are added to the soil and watered. The mulching film is laid on the prepared soil and secured. Cuts are made in the film into which strawberry bushes are planted.

It is recommended to use a two-color film to protect the soil from overheating. The white side should be on the bottom, and the black or dark gray side should be on top.

The film has some disadvantages:

• plants must be watered only through cut holes;
• if there is excess moisture under the film, condensation forms, causing rot and attracting slugs;
• due to lack of air, the soil under the film is quickly depleted;
• Under the influence of sunlight, the material quickly becomes unusable.

Film for mulching strawberries.

Spunbond agrofibre

Spunbond agrofibre will be more durable and of higher quality. It is more expensive than film, but it passes water well and retains it. The material is a fabric obtained by weaving polypropylene threads. The fabric is two-layer, can be of different colors, it does not fade under the sun, does not crack, and is not afraid of cold weather. Agrofibre with ready-made round holes, which are made using perforation, is available for sale. This will save time when planting plants.

Mulching with cardboard

An economical and environmentally friendly way is to mulch with cardboard. Sheets of cardboard are laid overlapping on the prepared area, covered with a layer of 7-10 cm of soil on top. When planting strawberries, cuts are made in the cardboard, bushes are planted and watered well.

The benefits and harms of mulching in spring or autumn

Mulching strawberries causes heated debate among gardeners, during which diametrically opposed opinions can be heard. There are claims about unusually high yields after using mulch and also about its negative effect on strawberries. Evaluating the advantages and disadvantages will help you better understand mulching.

Advantages

Depending on the material used, mulching helps solve many gardener problems. This:

• prevention of soil overheating in summer and hypothermia in winter;
• maintaining soil moisture;
• reducing the number of weeds;
• protection from pathogens entering the soil;
• preventing soil erosion;
• protection against rotting of ripe berries in rainy summers;
• maintaining soil looseness;
• formation of a larger number of adventitious roots;
• reduction of ripening time.

This impressive list involves a lot of labor and money when doing them individually.

Strawberry grown under mulch

Features of watering strawberries with mulch

When watering a garden strawberry plantation that is covered with mulch, you must follow some rules. To avoid waterlogging of the soil and the occurrence of fungal infections, it is better to water in the morning so that the mulch dries out during the day.

When covering with film, watering is done at the root. To save water, you can organize drip irrigation under the material. Before watering, it is necessary to check the soil: if it is wet and loose, then it is better to postpone watering.

Watering strawberries.

When using cardboard, it is recommended to water under each bush so that the shelter does not get wet and is preserved throughout the summer.

Treatment against diseases and pests

Before the onset of cold weather, strawberries must be treated with products that protect against diseases and parasites. In autumn, as a result of increased humidity, the risk of fungal diseases and pest attacks increases. To prevent and prevent fungal infections, it is necessary to treat strawberry bushes with preparations containing copper.

Such drugs include:

• Bardos mixture;
• copper oxychloride;
• “Nitrafen” (has universal properties. Destroys fungal spores, insect larvae, disinfects the soil);
• strong solution of potassium permanganate. Water the soil around the bushes.

To control pests, treatment with such drugs as:

Application for berry crops

Mulching of strawberries is carried out 2 times during the entire growing season. First in the spring, when the first ovaries appear on the bushes. Treatment of plants helps prevent contact of flower stalks with the ground. At the end of summer or after the harvest, the mulch is removed. The second time the procedure is carried out at the end of October. Mulching helps prevent berries from freezing in winter. When spring comes, everything is removed from the beds.

The advantages of this processing:

• watering intensity decreases;
• the number of loosening is reduced;
• due to the decomposition of organic substances that make up the mulch layer, the soil fertility in the beds sharply increases;
• berries are better able to resist pest invasion;
• strawberry immunity to rot improves;
• crop productivity increases.

But mulching also has its disadvantages:

• the looseness of the soil increases, which attracts slugs and similar animals to plantings;
• fungi that carry various diseases develop well when they fall on the mulch-treated area.

An alternative to mulching strawberries would be the following methods used in summer cottages:

• Destruction of weeds by hilling berry bushes manually or using herbicides. This method does not completely get rid of pests.
• Increasing the intensity of loosening beds. The procedure requires caution due to the close proximity of the roots of the hybrids to the surface of the earth.
• Increased watering during flowering and fruit development. Problems will arise when liquid stagnates under the berry bushes.
• You will have to treat the soil 3 times per season with preparations that destroy fungi and soil bacteria. When using these products, you must strictly follow the dosage.

There are many methods and materials for carrying out soil improvement work. The gardener, based on the available capabilities, decides what to mulch the strawberries with and what to use when cultivating the beds.

Most often, gardeners use hay or straw as mulch, as they are the most accessible materials in rural areas. Some of them cultivate the land with spunbond, paper or bark of various trees. Some summer residents use manure or humus, roofing material, sawdust. But you need to keep in mind that most of these materials are suitable as mulch only in summer.

Mulching strawberries is hard work

Winter makes more stringent demands, so insulation materials are used to preserve strawberry bushes. These include hay, straw and pine needles, and they are placed between the bushes in a thick layer directly on the ground.

Important!

Do not pour covering material onto plants.

A small part of gardeners who start growing berries are faced with a choice: what to use to get a good harvest, how and with what to mulch the strawberries. Experts recommend using easily accessible materials for this.

Sawdust

But some doubt whether it is possible to mulch strawberries with sawdust, whether this will lead to crop loss. Breeders and scientists claim that this is one of the best covering materials. Therefore, all doubts about whether sawdust can be used for strawberries or not should be resolutely brushed aside and start mulching the soil. When using this material, the soil in the beds becomes loose and conducts air well. Therefore, even in extreme heat, crusts do not form on the ground, and the amount of loosening is reduced by 30-40%.

For strawberries or strawberries, sawdust from deciduous trees is used. They will rot faster and release the substances necessary for plants.

Important!

It is better to use pine needles and shavings only for insulating bushes in winter.

The soil in the area where mulching is carried out with sawdust should not be acidic. Neutral soil, or at least slightly alkaline soil, is selected. Neutralization of high acidity is carried out by adding wood ash, dolomite flour, and eggshells to the plants.

Important!

Newspapers should only be in black and white font. Color photos and text contain chemicals that are harmful to plants.

If the gardener has fresh sawdust, then the mulch is prepared in this way:

1. Choose a flat place on the site where direct rays of the sun do not fall. Spread a polyethylene film, securing the ends with stones. 3 buckets of sawdust are poured on top to form a layer of 100 mm.
2. Fill the mulch with urea (200 ml) and 10 liters of water. Then the operations are repeated several times.
3. To cover the resulting slide, use a film or fabric that does not allow air to pass through. After this, wait about 2 weeks until the sawdust is completely dry.

The resulting mulch must be sprinkled under the berry bushes according to the method described above. Further care involves adding sawdust and fertilizer. In the spring, when plants are flowering, the soil is loosened, fresh soil, horse manure and nitrogen fertilizers are added to it.

In the summer, new sawdust is added. The layer thickness must be at least 40 mm. When fruiting begins, potassium and phosphorus mixtures are introduced into the soil.

Important!

If this is not done, then by the end of August there will be no mulch left on the beds, which will reduce the crop yield.

Grass

If there is no sawdust, then use freshly cut grass. It contains quickly decomposing components that provide strawberries and strawberries with the necessary substances.

Important!

Such mulch can be placed under bushes only in the summer due to the short duration of its effect. Due to rotting of the grass in the lower layers of the coating, poisoning of the berries is possible.

Before laying the mulch layer, the freshly cut grass is dried, removing plants with ripened seeds from it. A layer of mulch (if used correctly, it is changed every 2 weeks) with a thickness of 30-50 to 70 mm is laid under the strawberries or strawberries, and it is not recommended to water the beds with water during the week.

Hay and straw

Hay and straw

Ash

Many novice gardeners are interested in whether it is possible to sprinkle strawberries with ash, and how to do it. This is done to kill or repel pests. The method is also suitable for feeding strawberries in spring, summer or autumn. The ash is placed under the stems in a layer 30-40 mm thick. Then the strawberry bush and the soil under it are watered with warm water.

Important!

The liquid should not stagnate, otherwise the roots will begin to rot. It is better to moisten the soil to a depth of 50 mm.

Ash, while aerating the soil, eliminates the danger of attack by slugs and most insects. It can also be used as a fertilizer. But it is better to first feed the bushes with nitrogen (spring) or phosphorus or potassium (summer and autumn) mixtures.

General information

Mulch can be organic (for example, leaves, sawdust, shavings, pine needles, etc.) and inorganic (various artificial fabrics, films, gravel, loose pebbles). In modern farms, components of the second type are used. The first type of coating attracts various arthropod pests, such as insects. In addition to them, slugs attack plants. Therefore, it is recommended to change organic mulch periodically.

Mulch should be poured onto the surface layer of soil between the stems of berry bushes. A wide variety of methods are used for this. Summer residents add mulching components to the beds manually, and large agricultural corporations use special machines for these purposes.

Mulching strawberries

The main purpose of mulch is to retain moisture near the roots of the plant. In summer, the powder prevents overheating, and in winter it helps protect the berries from the cold. Erosion processes are reduced and soil composition is improved.