In order to feast on strawberries not only in summer, they can be grown on a balcony in a multi-storey building. The option is also suitable for those who do not have a summer cottage, or there is no place for this culture. Strawberries are sold in supermarkets at any time of the year, but their berries are tastier, more aromatic and several times cheaper. In addition, growing strawberries on the balcony is not difficult. You just need to know some of the features and rules of how to grow strawberries on the balcony.

Culture information

The real name of strawberries is nutmeg strawberry or garden strawberry. It is a perennial. A compact bush. It reaches a height of 10-35 cm. In addition to leaves with petioles, the bush has creeping branches-shoots (whiskers), strong annual stems (horns), flower stalks. To find out how productive a given variety is, you need to pay attention to the horns. If there are enough of them, then the variety is fruitful. Reproduction takes place with a mustache, dividing roots, seeds.

Strawberries on the balcony

Thanks to breeders, a large number of different varieties of strawberries have been bred:

  • Albion... This is a newest remontant variety that surprises with its taste. The berries are sweet. Fruiting begins in late spring and continues throughout the summer. Resistant to disease. The berries are large. The average weight of each is 50 grams. Indoor ground is suitable for the variety.
  • Queen Elizabeth 2... Self-pollinating variety. Also applies to remontant. The fruits are large. Each weight is about 30-50 grams. At a comfortable air temperature (about +20 degrees), berries can grow up to 70-100 grams.
  • Tristan F1... This is an unusual hybrid. Purple, deep pink flowers bloom on the bush. There are practically no mustaches. Can be grown as an ornamental plant. After the strawberry has faded, sweet, slightly elongated berries appear on it. The hybrid can bear fruit all summer long. Not afraid of temperature changes, has a strong immunity.

Strawberry varieties for a loggia

Growing cucumbers on the balcony: features and planting methods

Today, there are no specific varieties that would be intended only for growing in an apartment. All varieties of garden strawberries that are suitable for a balcony can also be grown on a personal plot.

Ampel strawberry

The varieties that will bear fruit well and develop well in the home are self-pollinated remontants. They can produce crops with proper care all year round. To save space, it is best to take ampel varieties. They release a large number of whiskers, directly on which berries grow. Ampel strawberry care and cultivation on the balcony means exactly the same as the usual one. However, it looks the most advantageous. If you plant a plant in pots suspended on the wall, then the bushes will give a lot of hanging whiskers with peduncles. The mustache will curl to form a lush green curtain.

Home-suitable varieties:

  • Florin;
  • Pink flamingo;
  • Homemade delicacy;
  • Tuscany;
  • Festivalnaya;
  • World debut, etc.

Florina

A new variety of remontant strawberries. The berries are large. The average weight of one is 40 grams. The taste is sweet. Throughout the entire fruiting, the berries do not shrink. Flor has strong immunity.The variety can grow both in an open garden and on a balcony. A greenhouse suits him.

Florina

Pink flamingo

Ideal for growing at home. Pink flamingo strawberries in a flowerpot looks very impressive. Whiskers with peduncles stretch up to a meter in length. The variety resembles a liana. One of the advantages of this strawberry is its huge red berries. The weight of each can reach 70-90 grams.

Homemade delicacy

It is a curly variety. The plant must be planted in a hanging pot. Its greenery will curl beautifully and descend to the floor. It is not difficult to grow this variety. Berries of medium size. The taste is sweet and sour.

Homemade delicacy

Tuscany

Ampelny remontant grade. It bears fruit and blooms continuously in the garden throughout the summer and part of the fall. If strawberries grow in pots at home, then the berries are harvested before winter. The peculiarity of the variety is in fragrant lilac-purple flowers. The berries are medium in size, red.

Festivalnaya

The variety is fruitful, self-fertile. 0.5-1 kg of berries are collected from the bush. The berries have an average weight of 25-50 grams. The taste is sweetish with sourness.

Festivalnaya

World debut

This variety will decorate the green area in the apartment with its rich pink flowers. They exude a fruity-floral aroma. Experienced gardeners recommend planting the World Debut in planters. So the variety will look decorative and unusual. Long-term fruiting. The berries are large - about 30-45 grams.

How to grow strawberries on the balcony

Curly strawberries - care and cultivation

Cultivation of garden strawberries is possible if the apartment has an insulated, glazed balcony. If the balcony is the most common, then this is also not a problem for planting juicy berries. The insulated loggia is suitable for obtaining berries all year round. On an unglazed balcony, you can plant strawberries in the spring and enjoy them all summer. Thus, a vegetable garden will appear right in a high-rise building, and in order to harvest a crop, you will not need to leave the house.

Important! The very first thing before turning a balcony into a strawberry corner is to decide on the right varieties.

Culture tanks

Garden strawberries on the loggia can be grown in a variety of containers. For ampel varieties, it is best if the strawberries are in a flowerpot; in this case, cultivation will bring aesthetic pleasure to the landlady.

Also, seedlings are placed in large bags, flower pots, boxes. A five liter plastic bottle, plastic container will do. A plastic box is recommended. The main thing is that there are drainage holes at the bottom of the container. This is the only way the strawberry roots will not rot.

Note! In addition, craftsmen fix a pot or several directly on the walls of the loggia. The main thing is to place containers not too close to each other. It is recommended to maintain a distance between the pots of about 20-40 cm.

You can use the vertical growing method. Vertical beds are being built for him. They are made from wide large bags. The bags are divided into several tiers. Holes are cut on each tier. Bushes are planted there. The shops sell special structures, which are also divided into tiers for planting plants. Such designs save space.

To save space, experienced gardeners are cultivating strawberries in a structure based on a PVC pipe. Holes are made in the pipe for strawberry bushes. Drainage holes are drilled on the bottom. Plugs are put on the ends of the pipe. But you can do without them. Then the ends of the pipes are simply wrapped in bags, tape. The pipe can stand both horizontally and vertically. According to reviews, most often there are strawberries in pots on balconies, growing it is almost the same as growing flowers.

Note! Despite the fact that strawberries can be planted in any containers, one main condition must be observed: one plant should not be in a container with a volume of less than 3 liters. Otherwise, the roots will not be able to develop normally.

Land for planting

Strawberries love fertile, loose, light soil that allows air to pass through. Potting soil for containers for garden strawberries is sold in specialized stores. Its price is low. However, if you need to plant more than ten bushes, it will be cheaper to prepare the mixture yourself. This will require sod land, peat, humus, sawdust, river sand. The first three ingredients should be in equal proportions. Sawdust should make up only 10-15% of the total soil mixture, sand - 5-8%. Everything is mixed and poured into prepared containers.

Next, a nutrient solution is prepared. It is made from 1 teaspoon of copper sulfate and 6 liters of ordinary water. It is also recommended to add 350-400 grams of mullein there. With this cocktail, containers with earth are spilled. With this solution, the earth will become more fertile. It will contain enough potassium, phosphorus, and organic nitrogen for good crop growth.

Additional Information. You can not plant strawberries in the ground in which flowers previously grew. Seedlings of garden strawberries are too capricious and may not take root in such soil. Planting should take place in fresh soil mixture.

Suitable dates

Strawberries are best planted in the spring months or September. If the balcony is closed and insulated, then planting takes place in March, April. You can plant garden strawberries in September. If the balcony is ordinary, then all work on arranging a home mini-garden is carried out after the establishment of warm weather.

Step-by-step landing instructions

  1. Before planting, the soil mixture spilled with a nutrient solution should stand for several days. Only then holes are made in each pot or container. It is important not to thicken the planting. If the bushes are planted in a container for several plants, then the distance between the strawberries should be 20 cm from each other.
  2. Seedlings must be of high quality, healthy. It is best to buy it not in the market, but in specialized retail outlets. Plants take root faster if each bush has 4-6 strong leaves.
  3. The wells are made shallow. The main thing is that the position of the roots is straightened, and they have enough free space. They cannot look out of the ground or be too deep.
  4. Drainage is placed at the bottom. They can become pebbles, brick particles.
  5. It is recommended not to completely fill the containers with earth. Leave 2-3 cm of space to the edge.
  6. After planting, the plants are watered with water with the addition of growth stimulants. You can use Heteroauxin or Kornevin. So the strawberries will take root faster.

Kornevin

Basic Rules

To preserve the seedlings, it should be provided with light. If the sun rarely comes out, or the daylight hours are short, then the balcony is equipped with a lamp.

The owner of the apartment should provide the plants with warmth. The optimum temperature on the balcony is + 18 ... + 21 degrees in the daytime and +14 in the evening.

When winter comes, the plants on the non-insulated balcony must be sent for storage. Wintering takes place in boxes in which a container with strawberries is placed. Several boxes are taken, they must be of different sizes. A layer of sawdust is poured into a large box. A smaller box is placed on them. Containers with strawberries are placed in it. Strawberry containers are lined with rags, foam. Before the balcony strawberry plot is sent for the winter, the mustache and twigs on which the fruits ripen are cut off from the bushes.

Important! It is imperative to ventilate the room 2-3 times a day. But it is better to do this in a calm time, since young bushes are very sensitive to drafts.

Care

The main activities for caring for a balcony garden are:

  • Pollination;
  • Watering;
  • Removing the mustache;
  • Top dressing.

Pollination

Self-fertilized varieties still need help with pollination. Even if the street on which the house is located is buried in greenery, you should not wait for insect pollinators. Pollination is carried out by the landlord. During flowering, a fan is installed on the balcony. He is taken out in the morning for several hours and in the evening.Thus, the air currents will help the pollen to be in the right place for fruit to set.

Pollination

Watering

In order for pets to be able to constantly eat juicy berries, it is important to properly water the soil. This is done every other day. However, water stagnation should not be allowed. In addition, you need to spray the leaves of the plant with water.

Mustache removal

The mustache is removed as needed. These shoots should be removed so that the plant spends food on the formation of fruits.

Mustache removal

Top dressing

A crop that is grown at home needs more fertilizing than its garden brothers. Experienced summer residents are advised to fertilize garden strawberries on the balcony once every 15-20 days. For this, nutritious complex mineral mixtures are used, which contain phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen. They are alternated with humus and fly ash.

Balcony strawberry problems

Repairing strawberries - growing and care

Often, people who are just starting to grow strawberries face problems. For example, the bushes did not take root. This happens due to the wrong landing. The soil mixture was too clayey and infertile. And the bushes were too buried in the ground. It is important that the roots are completely hidden underground, and the foliage and buds are on the surface.

Note! The landlord's dissatisfaction can be caused by the meager harvest of berries, which gave the usual variety of garden strawberries. In this case, the gardener is advised to grow remontant varieties. Then the household will be able to eat the bushes an unlimited number of times.

Delays in plant development can be another problem. This situation usually occurs in low light conditions. It is best to have a balcony on the south side of the house. Also, the loggia is equipped with additional light sources.

Strawberries on the balcony will be an excellent decorative element of the apartment, as well as provide the owners with a sweet dessert. However, people who are just starting to grow a berry on a loggia are advised to start small. It is best to purchase a few bushes and try to grow them. If everything works out, then in a small area using different designs you can create a whole strawberry mini-garden.