Caring for strawberries in August. Some tasks need to be done after the harvest

Have you already made the most of your bumper strawberry harvest? Most likely you have; often, only everbearing varieties are still bearing fruit in the beds. Even these, however, don’t produce too many berries in the height of summer. In any case, the time has come to look after your strawberry plants after the harvest. Certain tasks are definitely worth doing, as without them we might not see a decent harvest at all next year. So what exactly needs to be done now? We’ll look at that in the following paragraphs.

Pruning strawberry plants is essential

Absolutely. We should leave only the healthy parts of the strawberry plants. Any leaves affected by various diseases or pests must be removed. Often, only the stems remain. Thanks to this initial treatment of the strawberry plants, we’ll also help the plants’ root systems and ensure a bountiful harvest of large, sweet berries next year. The pruned strawberry plants must then be treated with specialised products for strawberry diseases, and we’ll also fertilise them with a nitrogen-based fertiliser. A yeast solution is also excellent.

Yeast fertiliser for strawberries

There’s no need to use any chemicals on strawberries. A solution based on ordinary yeast is sufficient. To prepare it, we need the following ingredients:

– 50 g of fresh yeast, or a teaspoon of dried yeast,

– 1 litre of warm water,

– a tablespoon of sugar.

Mix all the ingredients together and, ideally, leave the solution to stand for a day. This allows all the components to blend together perfectly, which is what we need.

Tip: Nettle fertilizer for strawberries? A tip on how to grow strawberries better.

Photo: Radek Stepan

Dosage of the yeast solution

The resulting solution needs to be diluted with water in a ratio of 1:5, with more water. Each strawberry plant should receive roughly half a litre of this liquid. The prepared quantity should be enough for around 10 strawberry plants. This will thoroughly strengthen the roots of the strawberry plants, and we can expect a very good harvest next season, with everything included.

Sources: Author, Meta, tojenapad.sk

Photo and photogellery: Radek Stepan