6. Insufficient illumination
At the beginning of his strawberry “career” I just planted a young outlet on a free site, not caring about the intensity of its coverage by the sun. As a result, one “tail” of the bed was located under the open sunlight, and the other – in the thick shade of the Apple tree growing nearby. “Sun” strawberries are well developed, bloomed and fruited, and one that grew in the shade and are unable to forgive me for resentment on some bushes the flowers were single, on the other they did not.
Do not repeat my mistakes: if your strawberry grows in the shade and does not bloom, urgently transplant it to an open Sunny area. This berry culture should be illuminated by direct sunlight at least 8 hours a day.
7. The freezing
Unstable weather of the winter months from sudden thaws and subsequent frost can lead to the freezing of hearts, and the death of the flower buds of strawberries. Frozen winter bushes are clearly visible to the naked eye – in the spring they develop as if reluctantly, slowly increasing new leaves, which often have a deformed shape.
No less harm can be caused by spring return frosts: in this case, the hearts usually remain intact, but the flower buds can be severely damaged. If snowless winters often occur in your region, be sure to build an additional shelter for strawberries in the autumn with the arrival of a steady cold snap. And do not forget about the danger of spring return frosts: in this case, you can throw directly on the bushes dense non-woven material that will keep the plants warm in the frosty nights.
8. Degeneration
If your strawberry bloomed profusely before and fruited, and then gradually lost ground, it is likely to be a degeneration of the bushes, which is particularly evident in the repair varieties. So first of all, ask yourself, how old is your strawberry growing in one place?
Very often frivolous summer residents in pursuit of the harvest and in the daily garden bustle lose track of years and forget that this berry crop requires regular updating. Ideally, such a procedure should be carried out every 3-4 years, planting a new well-fertilized bed of young strawberry sockets.
If your plants are more than 5 years old, do not miss the moment. Have time to get hold of high-quality planting material (take the mustache with their “old men” is not worth it – nothing good will come of it) and at the end of July or early August, drop them off at the new site. With this approach, young plants will have time to take root well before winter and will please you with the first berries next year.
9. The incidence of diseases and pests
Strawberries may cease to bloom because of diseases. If desired, they are easy to recognize by the modified form of the leaves, the presence of spots, strokes, points of white, brown, rusty hue, etc. Young plants that have picked up a fungal illness, you can try to cure systematic treatments with fungicides, which are carried out at intervals and in dosages specified in the instructions for the selected drug. Old sick bushes growing in one place for more than 4 years, you need to uproot and burn, replacing them with new outlets.
If we talk about insects, then for the harmfulness, which often causes the lack of inflorescences on strawberry bushes (or their small number), the palm should give Anthonomus rubi. If instead of full-fledged flowers you find broken peduncles with dried buds, arm yourself with a sprayer and a solution of a suitable insecticide.
Spraying will need to be carried out in the current season towards the end of summer, as well as next spring – at the beginning of the nomination of buds on the bushes. In addition, in the autumn, do not be lazy to carefully loosen the aisles to destroy the wintering places of adult weevils, and in the spring after the snow melts, be sure to collect and burn all last year’s plant residues.
10. Strawberries instead of varietal
Even with proper agricultural plants are very scarce bloom and give only small fruits or not bloom at all? Look closely at the bushes, perhaps on your site grows strawberries. To recognize it is quite simple: the plants have lush leaf rosettes with numerous leaves and annually produce a huge number of mustaches. Such a “gift” is very easy to get if you buy strawberry seedlings on the spontaneous market from random sellers or grow plants from seeds of an unknown manufacturer.
This strawberry won’t do any good. You will have to eradicate the plants growing in the garden and replace them with new outlets. After this lesson, you will surely have the enthusiasm to get to the local nursery and buy quality seedlings.
Do not be afraid that in the cultivation of strawberries there are so many subtleties – in practice it looks much easier and does not require significant labor. Work on the bugs, and the harvest of juicy sweet berries will be in your pocket.
Do not forget that it is thanks to the negative experience that you will soon be able to proudly boast of your berries and give useful advice to beginners – the same as you were before today. And if you – an experienced “strawberry”, and at the time were able to get along with this whim, which refused to bloom and bear fruit, be sure to share with us in the comments of your story.