Content
Today there are many berry and vegetable crops that gardeners would like to grow on their plots. But space does not always allow this to be done. Growing strawberries the traditional way takes a lot of space. Summer residents have come up with an original way of growing it vertically or horizontally in a variety of containers: barrels, bags, and in kind of “fences.”
In recent years, gardeners have become increasingly interested in strawberries in tubes PVC. For beginning gardeners, this method raises many questions. First, how to use the pipe. Secondly, what strawberry varieties most suitable. Thirdly, how to care for such plantings. We will try to give answers to the most common questions.
Advantages
Before talking about the technology for making a “bed” from a plastic pipe, you need to find out what is the advantage of growing strawberries in such containers:
- Saving useful area of the site. Structures installed vertically or horizontally allow you to grow a large number of strawberry bushes and get a larger harvest of berries compared to the traditional method.
- vertical or horizontal structures can be moved to a new location at any time.
- Plants do not shade each other.
- Strawberries in a pipe do not require weeding or loosening the soil.
- Pests and diseases practically do not damage plants.
- The harvest is clean because the fruits do not come into contact with the ground. Picking berries is a pleasure.
Manufacturing technology
Tools
To make a bed you need to stock up on:
- PVC pipes of large and small diameters and plugs of appropriate sizes.
- Electric drill with attachments.
- With corks, with a knife.
- Burlap and twine, fasteners.
- Expanded clay, soil.
- Saplings.
Pipe manufacturing procedure
Before cutting holes, you need to decide in what position you will install the plastic structures. What you have to do:
- Cut the plastic pipe to the required height and install a plug at the bottom.
- In a narrow tube, the holes should be small and located opposite the large holes where the strawberries will be planted. The holes are drilled in a circle with a drill.
- To prevent soil from clogging the holes, they are wrapped in burlap and secured with twine. A plug is also installed at the bottom of the narrow tube.
- Holes are drilled in a wide pipe in a checkerboard pattern using a drill with attachments. The lowest hole should be at least 20 cm away from the edge of the pipe.
- When assembling the structure, a narrow tube is inserted into a large PVC pipe, the space between them is first filled with expanded clay or gravel (drainage), and then soil is filled.
Before planting strawberry bushes, polyvinyl chloride “beds” are installed vertically in the selected location and secured in a stable position using reliable fasteners.
If you grow strawberries horizontally, then plugs are placed at both ends. And the holes are cut only in the upper part of the pipe, and their diameter is larger than for a vertical structure. A narrow watering pipe is brought up for convenience. It is necessary to provide another hole in the bottom through which excess water will flow out.
Preparing a horizontal bed:
Suitable strawberry varieties
Growing strawberries in PVC pipes is an exciting and profitable activity. Not every variety is suitable for planting in vertical or horizontal structures. It is best to use remontant plants with multiple waves of ripening. Gardeners who have mastered this method to perfection advise beginners to use:
- Alba and the Queen;
- Marmalade and Homemade delicacy;
- Gigantella and Oscar;
- Queen Elizabeth and the Yellow Miracle;
- Pomegranate and Desnyanka.
The best varieties for planting strawberries in horizontal containers are:
- Troubadour;
- Honey;
- Baby elephant;
- Queen Elizabeth.
Planting rules
Soil features
You can use store-bought soil or prepare it yourself.They take equal amounts of soil from the garden, turf soil and peat.
You can improve the soil structure with sand and sawdust. Some gardeners add foam balls to the soil. Adding wood ash will save the root system from putrefactive processes. Strawberries love acidic soils, so add 10 ml of vinegar to one liter of water and water the soil.
How to plant strawberries
The pipe is filled with soil up to the first hole. The strawberry roots are carefully straightened, directed downwards and inserted into place. Then the next layer of soil is poured.
After all the seedlings are planted, a vertical or horizontal PVC pipe must be shaded for several days.
How to care for plantings
Strawberries grown in tubes do not require any special rules during care. It all comes down to timely watering, fertilizing, and protection from pests. But the yield of such beds is much higher. Firstly, gray rot does not form on the berries, since they do not come into contact with the ground. Secondly, such plantings are not afraid of mice, slugs, and snails.
If a gardener does not have time to visit his garden every day, he can install an autonomous irrigation system on the beds made of pipes. Strawberries respond well to drip irrigation.
How can you feed a strawberry bed before flowering:
- manganese sulfate;
- zinc;
- cobalt nitrate;
- boric acid.
Gardeners have different opinions about mineral fertilizers for strawberry bushes during the fruiting period: some believe that they are necessary, others tend to use only organic matter.
You can watch a video about the rules for caring for vertical and horizontal plantings of strawberries in a PVC pipe.
In autumn, when the plants stop bearing fruit, vertical and horizontal pipes with plants need to be covered. In the southern regions of Russia this is not a problem. But in the middle zone you will have to think about serious shelter. It is best to remove the pipes indoors so that the ground does not freeze. And already pile spruce branches, earth or sawdust on top of it.
