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If a summer cottage has a small vegetable garden, this does not mean that you should give up growing flowers, strawberries, wild strawberries and other crops. In this situation, you need to use your thinking and expand the landing area. And how to do it? Elementary structure vertical beds will help solve the problem. There are many ideas for creating such a design, but the most popular is considered to be a strawberry bed made from a pipe, which can be placed horizontally and vertically.
Pros and cons of using PVC pipes for planting strawberries
There are pros and cons to any technology. As for constructing a seat for strawberries from plastic pipes, there are more positive aspects:
- It should immediately be noted that there is space saving. From horizontally or vertically located PVC pipes you can put together a huge garden bed. It can accommodate up to a hundred strawberry or wild strawberry bushes, and such a structure will take up a small area in the yard.
- The structure made of plastic pipes is mobile. If necessary, it can be moved to another place, and when frost occurs, it can be brought into the barn.
- Strawberries and strawberries are growing at their best.The berries are easy to pick without bending over, and they are all clean without sand. The beds are not overgrown with grass, which simplifies the care of the plantings.
- Each PVC pipe grows several strawberry bushes. In the event of an epidemic, it is enough to remove the section with the affected plants so that the disease does not spread to the rest of the plantings.
Among the disadvantages, we can highlight certain costs for the purchase of sewer plastic pipes. However, there is a positive point here too. PVC pipe is characterized by a long service life. A vertical bed will only require a one-time large investment. Further, the design will only bring profit in the form of delicious berries.
The main disadvantage of beds made of PVC pipes is their insulation for the winter. The fact is that a small amount of soil in a plastic container freezes during severe frosts. This causes strawberry roots to die. To preserve the plantings, each pipe is wrapped with insulation for the winter. If the beds are small, they are brought into the barn.
The procedure for making vertical beds
To make vertical strawberry beds it is necessary to purchase PVC sewer pipes with a diameter of 110–150 mm. Plantings need to be irrigated. For this you will also need a polypropylene pipe with a diameter of 15–20 mm. It should be noted right away that you can make a garden bed in two ways:
- Each prepared pipe is simply dug in vertically. The method is simple and cheap.
- You can assemble a vertical bed using knees, tees and crosses. You will get a large wall in a V-shape or other shape.The design will be mobile, convenient and beautiful, but very expensive.
Beginner gardeners are better off sticking to the first method, and we will now look at how to make such a bed.
So, having purchased all the material, we begin to make the beds:
- Sewer pipes are available for sale in different lengths. You need to immediately decide on the height of the bed. If it was possible to buy only pipes that are too long, they are cut into pieces of the required size. The ideal height is obtained strawberry patch from PVC pipes 2 m long.
- When blanks are cut from large-diameter plastic pipes, we begin to manufacture the irrigation system. A thin polypropylene tube is cut into pieces 10 cm longer than the thick pieces.
- The lower part of the irrigation pipe is closed with a plug. Starting from the top, the third part is drilled with a regular drill with a diameter of 3–4 mm. The holes are made at approximately equal intervals.
- The perforated blank is wrapped with a piece of burlap, securing it with copper wire. The fabric will prevent soil from clogging the drainage holes. A similar procedure is performed with all thin tubes.
- Next, they move on to processing the thick pipe. To work, you will need an electric drill with a crown attachment with a diameter of 15 cm. Using a crown, holes are cut out on the side wall of the pipe. The first is located 20 cm above ground level. Here you also need to take into account the part of the pipe buried in the ground if this method of installing the bed is intended. The remaining holes are drilled in increments of 20 cm. The number of mounting slots depends on the height of the structure. If the structure is installed leaning against a wall, then the planting sockets are drilled only from the front side of the bed.In another case, the perforation of the sewer pipe is performed in a checkerboard pattern on both sides.
- The drilled thick workpiece is closed from below with a plug, after which it is vertically installed in its permanent place.
- A thin perforated piece with the plug facing down is inserted into the vertical sewer pipe exactly in the center. The space of a thick pipe is filled with gravel to a height of 10 cm, and then filled to the top with fertile soil. For better stability, it is good if the vertical bed on top is secured to a reliable support.
- The soil is watered through a drainage tube until completely saturated with moisture. Strawberry or wild strawberry bushes are planted in planting nests.
Further care of strawberry plantings involves only timely watering and fertilizing through drainage tubes.
The video talks about the strawberry bed:
Growing strawberries in horizontally laid pipes
You can grow strawberries not only in vertical pipes, but also in horizontal ones. The photo shows an example of how to make such a structure. Such beds for strawberries are installed, raised to a height convenient for maintenance. The principle of manufacturing the structure is almost the same, as in the case of a vertical analogue:
- The PVC sewer pipe is perforated in one line, forming seats. The holes in the plastic are cut with a crown with a diameter of 10–15 cm at a distance of 20 cm.
- Both ends of the thick workpiece are closed with plugs. A hole is made in the center of one cover for an irrigation pipe. In the second plug, a hole is cut on the bottom.Here, using a transition fitting, a hose is attached that goes down into a container installed under the bed. Excess water will drain here.
- A horizontally laid thick workpiece is covered 1/3 with expanded clay, washed in water and vinegar. Fertile soil is poured on top of the drainage layer. When it fills half of the free space, a perforated irrigation blank is inserted. It is made in the same way as it was done for a vertical bed. The free end of the irrigation pipe is led out through the hole in the center of the plug. Next, the sewer pipe is filled to the top with soil.
- A similar procedure is performed with all workpieces. Under the horizontal beds, a stand is welded from rods or a corner. It can be made wide to accommodate several pieces in one row.
When the horizontal bed is made, the soil is well moistened in the pipes, after which a strawberry bush is planted in each window.
Watering a horizontal bed
So, the strawberry beds are ready, the strawberries are planted, now they need to be watered. This is done through thin irrigation tubes protruding from thick blanks. In the case of vertical beds, water can be poured manually using a watering can. On large plantations a pump is connected. Horizontal plantings with strawberries cannot be watered with a watering can. Here, irrigation is organized in two ways:
- If there are not very many horizontal plantings, a tank is installed to water them. It must be at a height so that there is pressure in the system. All irrigation nipples protruding from the beds are connected to each other using fittings and a hose into one irrigation system. It is connected to an installed container of water. A tap is installed at the outlet of the tank to regulate watering.When the soil is dry, the owner opens the tap, water flows by gravity under the roots of the strawberry, and its excess is drained through a drainage hose attached to the opposite side of the pipe with a plug.
- Watering large strawberry plantations with horizontal beds from a tank is unrealistic. For these purposes, a pump is used instead of a storage tank. Moreover, it is installed in a container to drain excess water. The irrigation system is turned on as the soil dries out. It turns out to be a kind of water cycle. The pump forces water under the strawberry roots. Excess liquid is drained back into the container, from where it is again sent in a circle. However, some of the water is absorbed by plants, so you need to monitor and replenish the container on time. If desired, this process can be automated with sensors and the installation of a time relay.
If you need to feed strawberries, the fertilizer is simply dissolved in irrigation water.
If there is an empty heated room at home, you can move a small plantation with strawberries there for the winter. This will allow you to enjoy delicious berries all year round.
