There is an important nuance: how to care for strawberries after harvesting and what to pay attention to

The strawberry season is in full swing, which means that the berry patch will soon need post-harvest care. At this time, it is important to make sure that the plant bushes do not suffer from diseases or developmental defects and that they properly accumulate strength for the coming winter.

Experienced gardeners advise to be careful with strawberries that have already yielded a harvest. OBOZ.UA has collected tips on what to do immediately after you have picked all the berries.

First of all, carefully inspect the plants. Pay attention to the shape, color, and condition of the leaves. If you see deformed leaves with a characteristic oily sheen, it means that the plant has been attacked by a mite. You need to save the strawberries from it immediately. Aphids and weevils can also be dangerous.

Start by removing sick and old strawberry bushes, and cut off all the leaves and whiskers on relatively healthy ones. To avoid the risk of re-infestation, the harvested greens should be burned. After that, the bed is treated with special preparations. For example, it is sprayed with a solution of 10 milliliters of Fitovar per liter of water.

It is important to remember that this drug destroys adult ticks, but does not affect eggs. Therefore, this treatment will have to be repeated four times. Three days should pass between the first and second spraying, four days between the second and third, and let the bed rest for five days before the last. This way, you will wait until all the eggs hatch and destroy the mites.

If the strawberries look good after the end of the harvest season – the leaves are healthy and strong, you don't need to cut them. It will be enough to remove only old damaged leaves and dried whiskers from the bushes.

It is also worth fertilizing the plants after you have picked all the berries. For soil treatment, vermicompost, which can be poured directly under the root, or compost is well suited. Adding wood ash will also work well. Two liters of dry matter will be enough to process one square meter of the garden. But do not delay fertilizing. The nutrients must be absorbed by the soil, from where they will be taken up by the plants. This will help the strawberries get stronger before wintering and lay new buds and buds for the next season.

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