Strawberries, or garden strawberries as they are called in another way, are very popular among gardeners around the planet. The Tsaritsa strawberry variety is distinguished by its unpretentiousness in care and habitat conditions, in addition, such berries can boast of a large size and excellent taste.
Description of the queen strawberry variety
Let's start with a description of the berry. The Tsaritsa garden strawberry variety was bred in Russia, professor and breeding specialist S.D. Aitzhanova. The plant was born by crossing the Venta and Red Gotlenta strawberries. The learned plant boasts good survival in various conditions. Small bushes are not afraid of frost, drought, heat, most common diseases and pests.
In appearance, the Queen is a short, compact bushes, consisting of medium-sized dark green leaves, which lack the pubescence characteristic of the culture. Antennae are reddish, covered with fine hairs. Flowers are large enough, white, bisexual, appear on the bushes in small numbers.
Fruiting of the variety occurs at a later date, so it will be possible to collect ripe berries only at the end of June. For many gardeners, this quality plays an important role, because when other bushes stop yielding their crops, the Queen will only begin to delight everyone with delicious fruits.
Up to 13 tons of crops can be harvested from one hectare of planting. Berries of medium size (40-50 grams) have a regular conical shape, expanded at the base. Strawberries look very appetizing because they have a bright red color.
The fruits are smooth on the outside, but dense and very juicy inside. They have a sweet and sour taste and a bright aroma strongly reminiscent of the smell of wild strawberries. The resulting crop lends itself well to transportation and storage. The berries are suitable both for fresh consumption and for various preparations.
The queen lays the buds for the next harvest in late summer, early spring, when the intense heat subsides and the daylight hours will be less than 12 hours.
Region of natural growth
The queen was bred taking into account the harsh Russian climate, which is why this variety is not afraid of frosty winters and tolerates various temperature changes well. It can be grown both in the south and in the north.
Small bushes are not afraid of summer heat and drought. In winter, under the snow cover, they are able to withstand frosts down to -40 degrees. Without shelter, this mark is significantly reduced (to -20 degrees), so if winter is given out with little snow, it is better to cover it additionally.
Advantages and disadvantages
Variety advantages:
- berries are large, juicy and very tasty, the tasting score is 4.8 points;
- fruits are universal, suitable for various types of use;
- strawberries tolerate transportation well and are stored for a long time;
- unpretentious to care and growing conditions;
- the variety has high frost resistance and easily tolerates drought;
- the shrub is not afraid of diseases and pests;
- is able to bear fruit abundantly for 4-5 years.
Disadvantages:
- although the plant is not afraid of cold weather, it can die with insufficient snow cover, so you must definitely monitor this indicator;
- yields are average, so commercial use of the variety will not bring the desired results.
Planting and leaving
Before planting a plant, it is necessary to pick up healthy seedlings, from which strong fruiting bushes can grow in the future. Experienced gardeners recommend that you pay attention to the fact that there are at least 4 healthy leaves on the strawberry, and the length of the roots is at least 10 centimeters.
Seedlings with a closed root system purchased in a container take root best.
In order for the Queen to feel comfortable, it is necessary to provide her with all the necessary conditions, which include:
- the landing site should be flat and well lit;
- good air circulation is encouraged;
- tall plants, shrubs and trees, as well as nightshade crops should not be located in the neighborhood;
- the soil should be well-drained, light and fertile; loam is well suited for such purposes.
Planting recommendations
It is recommended to plant the Queen in the beds in spring, namely in mid-April. This is due to the fact that during autumn planting, the root system of seedlings will not have time to get stronger before the onset of cold weather. In order to prepare fertile soil, in the fall, six months before planting strawberries, the soil is dug up and the following fertilizers are applied to 1 square meter:
- 2 buckets of mullein or humus;
- 30 grams of wood ash;
- 50 grams of urea.
There are two popular planting methods:
- Tape - for this you need to dig grooves 15 centimeters deep and 40 centimeters wide. Separate bushes are located at a distance of 20 centimeters from each other;
- When planting seedlings in the hole, the same parameters are preserved, the only difference is that each bushes are planted in a separate hole.
The central kidney should be a few centimeters above the ground.
The last step will be abundant watering and mulching of the plantings.
Basic rules for caring for berries
In order for the plant to bring a good harvest, it needs proper and high-quality care, which consists of many nuances.
Watering the strawberries should be abundant, but not excessive. During flowering, setting and ripening of fruits, the soil is moistened once every 10-12 days, using 2-3 buckets of water per bush. The rest of the time, the amount of watering is reduced to 1 time in 3 weeks.
After each watering, it is recommended to additionally mulch the plantings with peat, straw or dry leaves. Also, do not forget about weeding, loosening and timely removal of excess mustache.
The fertilization scheme is as follows:
- In the spring, the beds are cleared and nitrogen and mineral fertilizers are applied, which include ash and urea;
- During flowering, the formation of ovaries is applied to the soil with potash fertilizers, iron or manganese;
- In the fall, 1 bucket of humus or half a bucket of peat mixed with the same amount of sawdust is introduced per square meter. Mineral fertilizers can be added to the fertile mixture.
During preparation for winter, in no case should the entire green part of the plant be removed, only diseased and dried leaves should be pruned.
For additional protection in winter, plantings are covered with spruce branches or agrofibre.
Reproduction
Reproduction of the Queen with the help of seeds rarely ends with success, because the resulting plants do not retain the main characteristics of the mother plant, become less resistant, and the berries lose their taste and size. In order to get seedlings from seeds, perform the following steps:
- 2-3 months before planting, the seeds are washed, dried and laid out in a container with sand, after which they are sprinkled with a thin layer of soil;
- the main care will be timely watering.
The most popular vegetative propagation method will be the use of whiskers, that is, the shoots that appear in adult plants.
- First, the healthiest mustache is chosen, the rest are removed;
- The first rosette is buried in the ground and looked after like a seedling;
- As soon as the core is formed and 3-4 leaf rosettes of the plant can be divided.
This method will help preserve all the positive qualities and will not harm an adult plant.
Another method is that an adult, spreading plant is dug out of the ground and divided into several parts, each of which must contain several leaf rosettes and developed roots. The resulting bushes are planted as separate plants.
Growing features
The queen is considered an unpretentious variety with good yields, but when growing such a plant, several nuances should be taken into account:
- In rainy and cloudy weather, the number of watering must be reduced in order to avoid stagnation of moisture and decay of the root system;
- With high-quality fertilization of the ridges before planting, the first fertilizing can be applied only in the third year of the plant's life;
- The berries ripen unevenly, so it is necessary to carefully inspect all the bushes and collect only ripe fruits;
- Experienced gardeners recommend harvesting after the dew has melted;
- With the age of the bush, the berries begin to shrink, so the plantings are renewed every 4-5 years.
Diseases and pests
The Tsaritsa variety is not susceptible to the appearance of various kinds of diseases, but pests can easily settle on such a plant. The most dangerous are the larvae of the May beetle and the wireworm, against which the spilling of soil with an ammonia solution helps well.
You can ward off insects with alkaloid lupine, which is placed nearby.
Also, a transparent strawberry mite can cause significant damage, which can be eliminated with the help of karbofos or special insecticides.
As a preventive measure, you need to follow all the rules for caring for strawberries and carry out regular treatments with Brodsky liquid or soapy water.
The Queen is a very worthy strawberry variety, popular throughout Russia. Its main advantages will be the excellent taste of berries and unpretentiousness to climatic conditions, thanks to which the plant can be grown even in the northern regions.