Winter Strawberry Transplanting Methods and Fertilization Experience Before and After Planting

For strawberry growers, how should strawberries be transplanted in winter to improve the survival rate, and how should fertilization be done before and after transplanting? These are very important questions! So here we will talk about some tips and techniques!

First, how to fertilize before transplanting:

Before transplanting, deeply plow the land, and during the plowing process apply 15 kg of diammonium phosphate and 10 kg of potassium sulfate. Because strawberries grow vigorously in the early stage and reproductive growth is too slow, it is very important to rationally adjust the use of nitrogen and phosphorus. Finally, rake the soil finely to prepare for ridging.

After transplanting, how can the survival rate be improved and fertilization be properly coordinated?

To improve the survival rate, you must: 1. Regulate temperature and humidity: Begin covering with film for insulation in early November. When the temperature drops to 5°C at night, an inner greenhouse frame should be added inside the greenhouse. When the lowest nighttime temperature drops below 0°C, small hoop frames should be added over the strawberry ridges.

2. Cover with film to suppress weeds: After completing weeding, loosening the soil, hilling the roots, and replanting missing seedlings, lay black plastic film over the plants on the ridge surface. This can maintain soil moisture, suppress weed growth, lower the air temperature inside the greenhouse, isolate the strawberry fruit from contact with the soil to reduce disease, and keep the fruit brightly colored, clean, and hygienic.

Laying method: Cover the black plastic film over the plants on the ridge surface, tear a small hole in the film, then carefully pull out the leaves, making sure to expose the central leaves of the seedling.

3. Tidy the plants: After greenhouse strawberries are insulated, plant growth accelerates and a large number of tillers and runners will sprout. These tillers and runners should be removed in time to increase the leaf area of the main stem, promote timely sprouting of the terminal flower buds and the emergence of robust terminal inflorescences, and lead to early flowering and fruiting. Generally, each strawberry plant should retain at most 1—2 relatively robust tillers, and old, declining, and diseased leaves should be removed in time.

4. Thin buds and flowers: Strawberries have umbel inflorescences with many flowers. The development and opening of these flowers consumes a lot of nutrients, especially the higher-order flowers. Even if they set fruit, the fruit is small and poor in quality, with no economic value, so buds and flowers should be thinned as early as possible. Generally, this work can be done after flowering. Mainly retain grade 1, 2, and 3 flowers, and remove grade 4 and 5 flower buds, frozen flowers, and severely deformed fruits. Generally, each strawberry plant's terminal inflorescence retains 6—7 fruits, and the number of fruits retained on subsequent inflorescences depends on growth and harvest conditions. In short, the total number of large and small fruits borne at the same time should not exceed 15. In conjunction with bud and flower thinning, remove old leaves and inflorescence stalks that have finished being harvested at any time.

5. Fertilization management after transplanting:

(1) One week after strawberry transplanting and survival, spray various fertilizers such as potassium nitrate, monopotassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, and zinc sulfate multiple times. In early October, apply urea and monopotassium phosphate according to the growth condition of the strawberries, adopting the method of small amounts applied frequently.

(2) In early November, choose a time period with sufficient sunlight and high temperature to spray gibberellin, thereby effectively breaking the strawberry's dormancy period and promoting flowering. When flower buds appear, spray trace elements such as boric acid in time, and fertilize reasonably according to the growth status of the strawberries to reduce the probability of deformed fruit. Two weeks before picking, apply 3 times a foliar fertilizer containing steviol glycosides. The main function of steviol glycosides is to increase the sugar content of the berries and regulate the sweet-sour ratio of the strawberries.

(3) Throughout the entire growth process, strawberries should also be sprayed with liquid silicon fertilizer to promote the growth of plant and fruit cell walls, increase leaf thickness, improve berry firmness, and play an important protective role for transportation and freshness preservation after harvest.