How to Plant Strawberry Seedlings for a High Survival Rate? A Detailed Guide to Practical Planting Methods
Strawberries are a rare fruit variety with excellent color, aroma and taste, and they are grown throughout our country, with planting strawberry seedlings as the main growing method, so how do you plant strawberry seedlings for a high survival rate?
1. Selection of strawberry seedling varieties
At present strawberries are mainly grown in greenhouses, and greenhouse strawberries should be varieties with shallow dormancy, no susceptibility to the effects of storage and transport, excellent quality, extremely high resistance to pests and diseases, high yield, and suitability for greenhouse cultivation, such as Zhangji, Hongyan, Fengxiang and others.
In addition, in a strawberry field it is best to grow 4-5 varieties, and by planting an appropriate number of multiple strawberry varieties the yield of strawberries can be greatly increased; in the mixed planting process in the strawberry field, early-maturing strawberries should be mixed with mid-maturing strawberries to spread out the peak picking period.
2. Preparation of the strawberry field
1. Field plot selection
A field plot that has not grown strawberries for many years should be selected as the production field for greenhouse strawberries.
2. Base fertilizer
Apply sufficient organic base fertilizer to the field; about one month before planting, generally apply 1500-2000 kg of fully decomposed organic fertilizer per mu as base fertilizer, and plow and harrow several times.
3. Making the ridges
Before building the ridges, add 50 kg of imported ternary compound fertilizer and 50 kg of superphosphate as surface fertilizer, and apply 10 kg of phoxim granules per mu to control underground pests such as white grubs.
3. Planting of strawberry seedlings
1. Planting time
Strawberry growers basically adopt the “one planting per year” method, that is, planting in early September, finishing picking and clearing the greenhouse in late April of the following year, then flooding the orchard to seal the greenhouse, leaving it idle until mid-August, when fertilizing, plowing and ridging begin, in preparation for planting strawberry seedlings in September.
2. Planting method
For greenhouse cultivation, the row spacing is 25-30 cm and the plant spacing is 18-20 cm, using double-row triangular planting, with 6500-8000 plants per mu.
In addition, the planting depth must be mastered, requiring that it be deep enough not to bury the crown and shallow enough not to expose the roots, with the seedling crown 0.5-1.0 cm above the soil surface as ideal.
Strawberry seedlings should be planted on a cloudy day or after 3:00 pm on a sunny day, and old leaves should be removed before planting.
3. Management after planting strawberry seedlings
(1) Watering
Immediately after planting strawberry seedlings, water with settling water; within 5 days after planting, water once every evening, and afterwards water once every other day until the seedlings survive.
(2) Topdressing
Greenhouse strawberry topdressing is generally applied 2-3 times after the plants have established and survived until around the time of covering with black plastic film. Each time, dissolve 3-5 kg of urea per mu in about 1000-1500 kg of water and pour it on. Afterwards, topdressing is mostly carried out as foliar feeding according to the vigor of the seedlings.
Generally, topdressing is combined with watering and should avoid the high-temperature period.
(3) Gibberellin treatment
Spraying gibberellin can elongate strawberry inflorescences and promote earlier flowering in strawberries. After the strawberry seedlings have been transplanted and survived, when the plants have more than 4 expanded leaves, spray an aqueous gibberellin solution directly at the seedling crown; it can be applied together with foliar fertilizer.
(4) Bud thinning and flower thinning
Bud thinning and flower thinning should be done as early as possible. Generally this work can be carried out right after flowering. It is mainly about keeping the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade flowers, first thinning out the 4th and 5th grade flower buds, black flowers (frost-damaged flowers) and severely malformed fruits. Generally, 6-7 fruits are kept on the terminal inflorescence of each strawberry plant, and the number of fruits kept on subsequent inflorescences depends on growth and harvesting conditions.
(5) Pest and disease control
The main pests and diseases of greenhouse strawberries include white grubs, gray mold, powdery mildew, aphids, spider mites and so on.
A combination of management and chemical agents should be adopted to carry out corresponding pest and disease prevention.