What to do if a strawberry does not bloom, but gives a mustache: a list of problems and how to solve them

There is an opinion that if a strawberry does not bloom, but gives a mustache, it means that only "male" bushes are planted on the plantation. This is true if you call the plant that it is strawberry. Unfortunately, it is often confused with large-fruited garden strawberries - a berry crop that is widely grown in summer cottages and household plots. This very strawberry has no gender division - on the same bush there are both staminate and pistillate flowers. However, she has many reasons for too poor flowering.

Degenerated bushes

Some gardeners believe that once planted in the garden, strawberries will bear fruit for many years - much like raspberries or currants. In fact, this plant is prone to aging. It actively blooms and bears fruit during the first three years of life, then the yield decreases, and in the sixth year you can pick a pitiful handful of berries from a huge garden bed.

In remontant varieties (those that yield several times per season) aging occurs even faster. The active phase lasts a year or one and a half, the maximum age of a plant that can bear fruit is three years.

To avoid trouble, you need:

• regularly renew plantings, while taking a mustache only from young bushes or purchasing varietal planting material in nurseries;
• Be vigilant when purchasing seedlings, especially in spontaneous markets. It is not uncommon for sellers engaged in illegal trade to sell "old stuff" - that is, strawberry bushes that have expired and should have been sent to the compost heap.

Features of the variety

For some varieties of garden strawberries, which are popularly called strawberries, increased whisker formation is a genetic feature. In early spring, near each bush, "babies" appear in huge quantities - they take nutrients from the mother plant, and, as a result, flowering does not occur. Depleted bushes will not be able to bloom until they gain strength.

It is easy to avoid such situations - you need to immediately cut off the mustache from all bushes that are not intended for breeding. On queen cells, it is worth leaving no more than two whiskers, choosing the strongest.

Deepening of the root collar

When planting, it is very important to place the root collar (the place where the border between the root and the stems passes) flush with the ground.

• If the neck is covered with earth, the peduncles simply will not appear.
• If the neck is exposed, the bush will most likely die.

It is not difficult to correct such a mistake. It is necessary to shake off the soil to the side so that the root collar is at the correct height.

Excess nitrogen

It happens that large-fruited strawberries, mistakenly called strawberries, do not bear fruit due to the gardener's excessive desire to “feed” it with nitrogen fertilizers (urea, ammonium nitrate, and others).

The fact is that the more nitrogen in the soil, the more beautiful the plants look - they quickly gain green mass, grow a lot of mustache and, as it seems at first glance, are full of health. However, flowering will not occur until the bushes use up a significant part of this chemical element.

Another danger is that in fattening plants there is an imbalance between the size of the aboveground and underground parts. Often they are unable to take in a sufficient amount of necessary nutrients from the soil and, anticipating imminent death, begin to actively multiply.The path for this is chosen the simplest - vegetative.

If nitrogen fertilizers were applied in excess, the situation can be corrected as follows:

• Remove all mustaches without exception. Leave a few bushes intact for propagation.
• Transplant the strawberries to another bed. This can be done even in summer - the earlier, the higher the chance of getting a harvest this year.
• Feed the bushes with phosphorus (it stimulates the growth of the root system) and potassium (activates flowering and fruiting).

In the future, with proper care and good weather conditions, the plants will certainly delight with berries.

Late landing

If large-fruited garden strawberries (“in the folk” - strawberries) are planted in the spring, then there is no need to immediately expect a harvest from it. Only by next year will it be able to take root, grow and bloom. But he grows a mustache in the summer, but in order not to interfere with growth and adaptation, they are mercilessly plucked out.

In the fall, this plant can be planted until mid-September. In cold regions - at least one and a half months before the onset of frost. Delaying the timing is fraught with the fact that the bushes will not have time to take root and, therefore, will not form flower buds.

If the planting was belated, there is no choice but to wait until the strawberries get stronger and prepare for fruiting.

Lack of light

This plant is very light-requiring and refuses to bloom if it grows in shaded areas. To harvest, you need to dig up the bushes and move them to where the sun is able to provide sufficient light.

This problem is especially relevant when growing strawberries in a pot culture. You can fix it by moving the container with bushes to a lighter room. It is important to remember that, ideally, the container should stand on a windowsill, and if this is not possible, no further than 50 cm from the window (provided that it is protected by curtains with high light transmission).

Garden strawberries, or strawberries, as everyone used to call them, is not a capricious plant, but for active flowering and fruiting, it needs proper care.