In order to get a good harvest in the summer, you need to take care of it in the fall. It is recommended to apply fertilizers to the soil in the autumn. To do this, you need to know how to properly feed plants, in particular strawberries, and in what quantity. This will be discussed in this article.

What is top dressing

Strawberry is a completely unpretentious plant, it brings good yields for several years without fertilization. Nevertheless, if you take care of her, then she, in turn, will respond with gratitude in the form of large juicy fruits. Moreover, over time, the soil gives up all the nutrients, and exhaustion sets in. New gardeners are interested in when to feed strawberries.

It is especially important to take care of the plant after it ceases to bear fruit, because this takes all the strength of the culture.

Feeding strawberries

Therefore, in the autumn period, fertilizers need to be applied for:

  • Improving plant immunity;
  • The accumulation of nutrients to give the strawberries the strength to bear fruit for the next year.

Important! The substances with which the crop is fertilized are able to retain moisture in the soil and contribute to a better wintering of the plant.

It is also important to feed those plants that have been planted this year. This way, they will take root faster and start bearing fruit next summer. Fertilizers are applied at a time when the fruits are completely harvested. This is best done three to four weeks after the last berry harvest.

The timing of fertilization directly depends on the plant variety. Strawberries, which belong to the early varieties, and whose last fruits are removed in the middle of summer, are fed twice: at the end of August or early September and the second time at the end of October or early November. For late and remontant varieties, the feeding period falls on October.

Foliar dressing in spring

Spring feeding plays a significant role in the cultivation of crops such as strawberries. Thanks to her, the plant quickly wakes up after wintering and begins to form peduncles. This process must be timely and carried out in accordance with the norms. If more fertilizer is applied than it should be, then in summer the fruits will be small.

Foliar feeding of strawberries

Important! To feed young bushes in the spring, you will need half a liter of chicken manure or manure and a tablespoon of sodium sulfate for ten liters of water. Plants are watered with the mixture at the rate of a liter of solution per plant.

For foliar feeding, you will need to use fertilizers containing nitrogen. This feeding stimulates the culture to grow and develop actively, as well as to increase the number of ovaries. At the same time, the plant absorbs nutrients from the leaves. The process should be carried out only in the evening, when the sun no longer beats down and does not dry out the plants.

For feeding strawberries, fertilizers are used, which contain two types of substances:

  1. Highly mobile, which include phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and nitrogen. These substances are quickly absorbed into the foliage.
  2. Low-mobile ones are iron, boron, copper and manganese. They are absorbed more slowly.

For this reason, spraying must be done very carefully, completely irrigating the entire bush.

How to feed strawberries

Many gardeners are wondering which fertilizers are best for strawberries: mineral or organic. Mineral minerals are considered more effective, but they must be applied correctly and in the amount established by the standards, since at large doses the plant can be burned. In addition, the high concentration of nitrates in fruits can harm human health.

Top dressing strawberries in spring

Organic fertilizers give less effect to the plant, but at the same time they are safe for the human body. Such fertilizers can be applied in any quantity. Strawberries will independently regulate the concentration of nutrients that they need.

Summer residents most often use folk remedies on their plots for fertilizing strawberries.

Among such tools, it should be noted such as:

  1. Dung, mullein, or humus. They are considered the best for a given culture. All the substances contained in the humus perfectly stimulate the plant and promote the development of the ovary.
  2. Bread. This fertilizer acidifies the soil, so the fruits grow large and juicy.
  3. Infusion of nettle. It enriches the plant with minerals such as nitrogen and potassium. Thanks to them, the berries will be sweet and have a longer shelf life.
  4. Wood ash contains potassium and phosphorus. In most cases, it is used as mulch along with humus or compost.
  5. Carbamide, or urea, as fertilizer is also called, is used for both root fertilization and foliar feeding. Root top dressing is done together with loosening, the second method is for spraying the culture.
  6. Zinc sulfate has many benefits for strawberries. The plant is sprayed with this solution in the evening. In this case, the foliage is moistened thoroughly. If precipitation falls after processing the culture, then the procedure must be repeated exactly twelve hours later.
  7. You can buy fertilizer like Gumi at the store. It contains organic matter produced by earthworms and all the necessary trace elements of organic origin. This fertilizer is applied during the period when the culture is preparing for flowering. At the same time, the fertilizer has a mild effect and does not burn the root system.
  8. The use of baking soda will save strawberries from rot, which will allow you not to lose crops during the period of prolonged rains.
  9. Geolia is a versatile strawberry fertilizer that contains both organic and mineral components.

Geolia organic fertilizer

Answers on questions

Many novice gardeners ask a large number of questions about how and with what to fertilize strawberries, as well as when to feed them. The most common among them are.

How many times per season to feed strawberries

If the summer resident wants to get a high yield of strawberries, then in this case it is very important to apply fertilizer three times a year: in spring, summer and autumn. Thanks to this, you can get a large juicy berry. Remaining varieties respond best to this action. Fertilize them every week.

Feeding strawberries during budding

The first top dressing should be applied immediately after the snow cover has melted. Thanks to this, stimulation of the plant to bud break begins.

Important! The first top dressing should include nitrogen fertilization.

Feeding strawberries during flowering

Strawberry spring feeding is combined with the removal of leaves that remained from last summer, and mulching of the root system.

For those who do not know how to feed strawberries in spring for a good harvest, it is important to remember that they use for mulch:

  • Humus;
  • Moss;
  • Sawdust.

For spring feeding:

  • Ammonium sulfate, mullein;
  • Nitroammofosk;
  • Chicken droppings;
  • Infusion of nettle;
  • Iodine, boric acid, wood ash, ammonia;
  • Rye bread containing yeast;
  • Serum.

On a note. You need to water the culture with liquid fertilizers at the rate of half a liter of solution under one crop bush.

Feeding strawberries during berry ripening

Anyone interested in how to fertilize strawberries in May should know that during this period, as well as in the month of June, when the fruits begin to ripen, they bring in for feeding:

  • Urea, potassium sulfate;
  • Potassium nitrate;
  • Biohumus;
  • Ashes.

Feeding strawberries with ash

Fertilizers are applied by the same method as the first top dressing. The only difference is that the ash does not have to be diluted, it can be used dry. After two weeks, you can re-feed the plant.

The last time the plants are fed is in the autumn. The process is carried out just before wintering.

For him you need to take:

  • Mullein;
  • Ash;
  • Superphosphate;
  • Nitroammofosk;
  • Potassium sulfate.

These fertilizers can be replaced with organic mulch.

Potassium sulfate for feeding strawberries

How to feed if the strawberries are small

During fruiting and ripening, in order for the berries to be large, the plant must be processed:

  • A solution of mullein, which is diluted in a ratio of one liter of fertilizer to fifteen liters of water;
  • Chicken droppings, diluted in a ratio of one liter to thirty liters of water;
  • An infusion of nettle, which is prepared from crushed stems and leaves of a plant and ten liters of water.

If strawberries are burned with fertilizer

A plant can get burned when a high dose of nitrogen fertilizers was applied under it. The plant can be saved with abundant watering to "wash off" the nitrogen. Then for some time you need to stop the introduction of minerals. It is best to use organics in this case. If this method has not brought results, then the plant must be transplanted to another place.

Feeding strawberries is a very important stage for growing, and you need to strictly adhere to the dosage. Only in this case the culture will grow into a lush bush and bear fruit generously. The berries will be large and juicy.