How to fertilize strawberries right after winter to get a good harvest
For a good strawberry harvest, it is not necessary to fertilize them every spring.
When to fertilize strawberries in spring
If you take good care of your strawberries throughout the year - restoring soil fertility, mulching, and applying organic and mineral fertilizers in time for the fall - you don't need to fertilize them in the spring.
In the spring, you need to fertilize strawberries only if the soil is depleted, the strawberry beds are unkempt, and there is a lack of nutrients.
To get a good strawberry harvest, it is important not to overfeed the bushes and to make sure that they receive all the nutrients. And it is better to underfeed than to overfeed the plant with fertilizers, because this affects the usefulness of the berries.
Take into account the characteristics of the strawberry variety - remontant and ordinary garden varieties require a different approach to fertilization.
Important!!! Strawberries need to be fertilized only from the second, and often from the third year of plant cultivation.
Fertilize only when the soil temperature is above +9°C, in the evening or in cloudy weather, on a pre-moistened bed
How to fertilize strawberries in early spring
At the beginning of strawberry growth, after completing all the procedures in early spring, such as removing the shelter, pruning, loosening the soil, restoring mulch, the plant bushes actively grow green mass, so they need nitrogen fertilizers. If the soil is depleted and poor, it is imperative to fertilize strawberries with nitrogen. You need to focus not on certain dates, but on the condition of the plants themselves.
In the spring, especially when there is little rainfall, it is advisable to dissolve the fertilizer in water. Unlike in the fall, applying fertilizers in dry form to the soil is less effective. If you apply dry fertilizer to the soil, you need to protect the strawberries from drought and ensure soil moisture for the next two weeks.
Urea or other fast-soluble nitrogen fertilizers, such as ammonium nitrate in a concentration of 1 tbsp of fertilizer per 10 liters of water, can be used for fertilizing.
In organic farming, an alternative to nitrogen mineral fertilizers can be green fertilizers made from nettle, sow thistle, which are dissolved in the proportion of 1 liter of infusion per 1 bucket of water, infusion of manure, compost, poultry manure (proportion - 1 kg per 1 bucket of water with a dilution of 1 liter per bucket of water for irrigation). One bucket of solution should be used for 10-20 strawberry bushes