What to Do If Strawberries Don't Bear Fruit? Master High-Yield Cultivation Techniques

Strawberries are one of the more popular fruits on the market, with a sweet, fragrant taste, a distinctive strawberry flavor, and high nutritional value. Recently a friend asked, how do you plant strawberries to get a high yield? And what should you do if they don't bear fruit?

1. How to plant strawberries for a high yield

1. Raising seedlings

For a high strawberry yield, strong seedlings are key; cultivating strong, disease-free seedlings is the foundation of a high strawberry yield, and good seedlings determine how well the strawberries will grow later on. So when growing good strawberry seedlings, first prepare the land well, and choose the seedling-raising time well. Choose the land and begin deep plowing on the eve of overwintering to improve the soil properties and also reduce the occurrence of pests and diseases. The field where seedlings are to be raised should be given sufficient base fertilizer in advance, then plowed and left to dry in the sun, and then irrigation and drainage equipment should be prepared. When selecting seedling varieties, choose varieties with good growth, vigor, and high yield potential.

2. Planting out

Autumn strawberry planting is generally done in early September, and at the latest should not go past early October. The day before transplanting the strawberries, it is best to water the seedlings once with fertilizer, but during transplanting you must be careful to avoid damaging the roots of the seedlings, and when planting, plant them in separate beds according to the size of the seedlings.

3. Covering the greenhouse

For those who choose greenhouse cultivation, when the cool season arrives, it is recommended to cover the greenhouse at night for insulation. The suitable period for covering the greenhouse is when the nighttime outdoor temperature is around 8 to 10; when the temperature drops below 5 degrees, strawberries will enter dormancy, so 6 to 8 degrees at night is the critical temperature for the strawberry insulation period, so it is recommended to cover the strawberries' greenhouse. After the strawberry seedlings become active in early spring, remove the plastic mulch from the seedlings, cut off all the old leaves, and clear them far away from the greenhouse, then burn them after they have dried in the wind.

4. Temperature and humidity

After covering the greenhouse, if the daytime temperature inside is relatively high, ventilate the greenhouse appropriately; generally a temperature controlled at 26-30 degrees is basically fine. The nighttime temperature should be controlled between 10-15 for good strawberry growth, and should not drop below 8 degrees.

5. Fertilizer and water management

Greenhouse strawberry cultivation takes a relatively long time. To prevent fertilizer deficiency and premature aging, first apply sufficient base fertilizer, and also add chemical fertilizer during the growing process, because base fertilizer alone cannot meet the strawberries' nutritional needs. When applying topdressing, you can appropriately spray foliar fertilizer. Generally, applying decomposed barnyard manure as a base along with compound fertilizer and calcium magnesium phosphate fertilizer gives good results. In the middle and late stages, spraying is also needed; generally foliar fertilizer is sprayed to boost fruit growth in the middle and late stages, and it can also increase fruit weight and the sugar content of the strawberries.

During the strawberry growing period, ensure sufficient water. During the flowering period the soil can be slightly dry, but during the vigorous growth period and the berry swelling period, more water is needed.

6. Timely harvesting

In a greenhouse the temperature is relatively warm, and the strawberries grown there generally have rather fresh fruit. Generally, once the surface of the strawberries reaches 70% ripeness they can be picked; in winter and early spring when the temperature is slightly lower, the fruit must be harvested once it is 80% to 90% ripe.

2. What to do if strawberries don't bear fruit

1. Temperature and light

Temperature and light affect physiological processes in strawberries such as photosynthesis and respiration, are related to the production and accumulation of carbon nutrition, and influence flower bud formation. Low temperatures and short-day conditions induce flower bud formation.

2. Leaf removal

Removing leaves from strawberry seedlings can induce flowering, and removing old leaves has a more obvious effect than removing new leaves. Analysis shows that old leaves contain more flower-inhibiting substances, and removing them reduces their content; removing old leaves can reduce the consumption of nutrients and increase accumulation, thereby promoting flower bud differentiation; in production, leaf removal should be kept moderate.

3. Fertilizing and watering

For the same variety, too much nitrogen fertilizer and too much watering or rainfall make the plant's vegetative growth vigorous, showing excessive sprawl, or too many leaves and too few leaves can both delay flower bud differentiation. In August, try not to irrigate heavily or apply too much nitrogen fertilizer, so as to avoid the plants staying green and sprawling, accumulating too few nutrients, and thereby affecting the quality of flower bud differentiation.

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