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Without lying, strawberries or garden strawberries can be considered one of the most favorite berries. Today, many gardeners grow delicious aromatic fruits, but in garden plots it quickly disappears. How you want fresh berries to be on the table all year round.
Growing strawberries using Dutch technology allows you to obtain products all year round. For planting, closed soil with a specially created microclimate, irrigation system and lighting is used. Today, many gardeners make good profits thanks to this method. The question is, is it possible? grow strawberries in Dutch in small areas, worries not only novice gardeners, but also experienced gardeners.
Why choose Dutch technology
The technology, as the name suggests, comes from Holland. This country is a leader in strawberry exports. The method can be used at home, providing not only your family with fragrant berries. Part of the harvested crop can be sold to recoup costs.
The application of the technique does not require large areas or special funds. The main thing is to have greenhouse, in which you can grow plants even in winter. Practice in growing strawberries using Dutch technology you can do it at home on the windowsill. At this stage, you can find out what thermal and light conditions and microclimate the plants need. For a large farm, special equipment will be required. Today there are many videos on the Internet telling about different ways of growing strawberries.
The essence of technology
The Dutch method of growing strawberries has a number of features:
- Firstly, it is necessary to equip a room for planting plants. The main thing is that it is closed ground. Containers can be very different. Strawberries can be grown in boxes, bags, trays and even in flower pots.
- Secondly, according to technology, plants cannot bear fruit all year round, so some of the bushes have to go into hibernation while others receive feeding and continue to work for the harvest. The technology for growing strawberries all year round involves planting seedlings at intervals of two months.
- Thirdly, nutrients and moisture are supplied to each root through drip irrigation.
- “Beds” can be placed vertically and horizontally.
Advantages
Today, more and more Russian gardeners are practicing the Dutch technology of growing strawberries. It has many advantages:
- Placing a large number of plants with minimal use of crop space.
- In greenhouses with heating and transparent walls, there is enough natural light for strawberries.
- Any premises can be used for planting.
- The resulting products do not get sick or suffer from pests because they do not come into contact with the ground.
- A stable harvest after one and a half to two months makes the Dutch strawberry growing technology attractive to businessmen.
- The taste of the berries is in no way inferior to fruits grown in the traditional way.
- A system once installed can last for years.
Which landing method to choose
Strawberries using the Dutch technology can grow in different placements - vertical or horizontal. Gardeners argue about this all the time. Although each method is good in its own way under certain conditions. But the main advantage of any is the minimum required area for growing a large number of seedlings.
In a large, bright greenhouse, both methods of placing beds can be used. If a garage or loggia is occupied by strawberries, then it is best to place the plantings vertically with additional lighting.
Planting material
Which varieties are suitable
Having become familiar with the description of the technology, gardeners must not only install the equipment, but also select the appropriate strawberry varieties, since not everyone is suitable for the Dutch method. The best varieties are considered to be remontant varieties, which produce good yields even in open ground. But their most important advantage is self-pollination.
Recommended varieties:
- Maria and Tristar;
- Selva and Elsanta;
- Sonata and Tribute;
- Marmolada and Polka;
- Darselect and Darkness.
Strawberry growing technology
Growing seedlings
Step-by-step instructions (some steps can be skipped):
- The soil for growing seedlings is prepared in the fall, superphosphate, potassium chloride, lime and manure are added. You cannot use soil from the ridges where strawberries grew.
- A continuous harvest throughout the year can be obtained with proper work with seedlings. When growing strawberries, you need to start some of the plants for artificial rest and wake them up at the right time for the gardener. In their natural environment, plants sleep under the snow in winter. You can obtain planting material from seeds or by rooting tendrils and rosettes. First-year plants grown from seeds or tendrils should not be allowed to bloom; flower stalks must be removed mercilessly.
- The following year, the mother bushes will produce up to 15 tendrils, from which healthy rosettes can be grown. As a rule, the dormant period for strawberries occurs in the second half of October. At this time, the sockets are dug up so that they are not killed by frost.
- Leave them indoors at a temperature of +10-12 degrees for 24 hours. After this, remove leaves, soil, and vegetative shoots. The roots cannot be touched.
- Planting material is tied into bundles and placed in thin plastic bags. Store the seedlings in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf (vegetable drawer). It is there that the temperature required for planting material is 0 degrees. High temperatures will promote premature growth of strawberries, and low temperatures will cause the plants to die.
- A day before planting, the planting material is taken out of storage and kept at a temperature of + 12 degrees.
- Mix sterile soil consisting of sandy soil with rotted manure and sand in a ratio of 3:1:1.Instead of sandy soil, some Dutch strawberry gardeners use mineral wool or coconut fiber.
- The containers are filled with soil and the seedlings are planted. Plants need to be watered drip-wise.
- Growing strawberries must comply with agricultural technology.
- After the harvest is harvested, the strawberry bushes need to be removed, leaving some of the most productive plants for new seedlings.
When grown in open ground, replacement is made after 4 years.
Video about the secrets of Dutch technology:
Lighting
If you decide to use the Dutch method, you will have to think about the lighting system. Remontant varieties of strawberries require good lighting. Especially in the autumn-spring period. The lamps are placed at a height of at least a meter from the plants. Reflective materials can be installed to improve efficiency.
The lamps in the greenhouse should burn for about 16 hours; only in this case can the normal development and fruiting of strawberries grown using Dutch technology be guaranteed. Approximately a decade after planting, the plants begin to throw out flower stalks, and after 30-35 days, depending on the early ripening of the variety, berries appear.
Irrigation system
The Dutch method of growing strawberries involves drip irrigation. It doesn’t matter whether water penetrates from above or through the soil to the plants, the main thing is that it does not fall on the leaves.
If the irrigation system is properly organized, strawberries will not be affected by diseases. Plants need to be watered with warm water. At the same time, fertilizing is applied to the roots. The Dutch system of growing strawberries in a greenhouse does not require foliar feeding.
Containers for growing strawberries
Gardeners who are interested in the features of the Dutch method are interested in the question of which containers are best to choose.
At home, you can use boxes or bags. The second option is used more often.
How to plant plants in bags
We bring to your attention a video about growing garden strawberries in bags:
The picture above shows a version of plastic bags in which strawberry bushes are planted. The diameter of the container must be at least 15 cm. Plants are planted in a bag filled with soil at a distance of 20-25 cm, preferably in a checkerboard pattern.
The seedlings are inserted into the slots at an angle of 40 degrees, carefully straightening the root system. The roots should always point downwards. Plastic containers can be placed on the windowsill or placed on the balcony in a pyramid in several rows. In this case, the harvest volume increases.
Large bags containing strawberries are grown using Dutch technology in greenhouses. Look at the photo below to see what the plantings look like. Strawberries grown in a greenhouse using this method contain all the vitamins and their taste is preserved.
Let's sum it up
The main thing for a gardener is to obtain a rich harvest with minimal labor. Dutch technology allows you to grow a large number of strawberry bushes horizontally or vertically in a small greenhouse area.
The method does not cause any particular difficulties; you just need to follow agrotechnical standards and treat your work with love.
