To enjoy sweet strawberries longer, you can grow varieties of different ripening periods. Or plant only one variety - Monterey's repairing strawberries - and pick berries on the plot from early summer to mid-autumn.
Monterey Strawberry Growing History
Monterey garden strawberry, which is commonly called strawberries, was bred in the USA by scientists at the University of California in 2001. The progenitor of the variety is Albion solid fruit strawberries, crossed with selection under number cal. 27-85.06.
Two years after the tests in Watsonville, in 2009, Monterey strawberry was registered as a separate variety and gained distribution in areas with a temperate climate - in Europe, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Grade description
The bushes are large, with bright green shiny leaves and a large number of peduncles, from 7 to 14 on each plant.
The fruits are cone-shaped with a pointed end and a glossy surface. The color of ripe berries is dark red, the pulp is fragrant and dense, sweet in taste. The weight of the fruits reaches 30-35 g for the harvest of the first wave and up to 40-50 g when re-harvested.
Being a repairing variety, Monterey bears fruit 3-4 times per season, and already from the second fruiting the quality of the berries increases. The yield of this strawberry is about 35% higher than that of the parent variety Albion, and the berries are softer and more tender.
Monterey can be harvested several times a season
Since Monterey belongs to the varieties of neutral daylight, it blooms and bears fruit continuously, and the buds form at temperatures from +2 to +30 aboutFROM.
The variety can be grown not only in gardens, but also in city apartments, where fruits can be harvested year-round.
Video: Monterey Strawberry Review
Planting and growing
Obviously, for a good harvest you need, firstly, to properly plant strawberries, and secondly, to properly care for it.
Strawberry Planting Tips
When choosing a site for strawberries, it is important to remember:
- the plant needs good lighting;
- Strawberry does not tolerate moisture stagnation - groundwater should be no higher than 1 m from the soil surface. If the conditions do not allow you to choose a suitable site, you need to prepare for planting beds 25-30 cm high and 70-80 cm wide;
- to plant a variety preferably on cultivated sandy or loamy soils rich in nutrients and moisture. In general, strawberries can grow on clay and sandy soils - with proper watering;
- soil reaction should be neutral or slightly acidic. If the pH is too low, dolomite (0.4-0.6 kg / m2) or crushed limestone (0.55-0.65 kg / m2) The area for planting the repair strawberries should be flat;
- The site designated for planting must first be freed of weeds, 9-10 kg of humus, 100-120 g of potassium salts, 70-80 g of superphosphate are added, and then digged to the depth of the shovel bayonet. All soil preparation work must be completed 1-1.5 months before planting.
Monterey is best grown not in a bush but in a row-wise way, so that a new row can be formed from a mustache
Seedlings should be chosen with healthy, undeformed leaves and well-developed roots of at least 6-7 cm in length. If seedlings with an open root system are purchased, they must be dug in moist soil, then planted in open ground - no later than 2 days after acquisition.
The distance between plants should be at least 35-40 cm, and between rows - at least 50 cm.
The length of the roots of seedlings should be at least 6-7 cm
Landing sequence:
- Inspect the plants, separate the weak and poorly developed. Too long roots cut to 8-10 cm.
- Prepare wells of sufficient size to accommodate the roots, pour 250-300 ml of warm water into each.
- Place the plants in the holes, spread the roots, cover with earth and compact with your hands. When planting strawberries, you cannot fill the ground with a growth point (heart), otherwise the plant will die.
- Water the plantings and mulch the soil with sawdust or straw.
For planting, it is better to choose a cloudy day, and in case of emergency planting in the heat, shade the plant for several days with straw or non-woven covering material.
Monterey Strawberry Care
If the repairing strawberry began to bloom in the year of planting, it is better to remove all the peduncles so that the plants take root better.
In the first year, it is advisable to feed Monterey with mullein solution on previously cut grooves at the rate of 1 bucket per 5 meters. Then the grooves are closed and watering is carried out. Fertilizer is introduced in June.
Before ovary or before flowering, top dressing is done with the preparations Master, Kedall, Roston concentrate.
You can choose any covering material for a bed with strawberries, for example, spandbond, which will save the plant from weeds in the summer and from freezing in the winter
From the second year after planting, the repair strawberries are fertilized several times during the season:
- in spring, when the leaves begin to grow, they make nitrofoska, nitroammophoska or other complex fertilizer (50-60 g / m2);
- in the second decade of June, they are fed with liquid organic matter (as in the first year);
- the third feeding is carried out before the start of the second fruiting wave, at the end of July: 10 g of ammonium nitrate, 10-15 g of double superphosphate and 60-70 g of wood ash per 1 m2.
The soil should be regularly weeded and loosened to a depth of 8-10 cm in rows and 2-3 cm near the bushes.
It is best to water Monterey's strawberries using a drip system, and feed through it.
Every spring, as soon as the snow falls, you should remove debris and old mulch from the bushes, release the hearts tightened with soil, remove old leaves with a sharp knife (secateurs), and sprinkle exposed roots with earth.
A variety bred in California needs shelter for the winter - it can be mulch, spandbond or a greenhouse from arcs.
Harvesting
Gather strawberry 3-4 times per season. The fruiting period is 10-12 days. The berries are removed in stages, as they ripen, every 2-3 days.
Video: Monterey's second strawberry harvest
Gardeners reviews
I have been Monterey for the second year. The taste is great. The spring was very sweet. Now it rains every day - sourness has appeared. The berry is juicy, the aroma is slightly pronounced, similar in taste to the varieties of one-time fruiting. Excellent density balance. Although they are relatives with Albion, in terms of density - heaven and earth. I threw out Albion precisely because of density.
Annie//forum.vinograd.info/archive/index.php?t-2845.html
Monterey didn’t like the taste (I’m fussy), but the children and relatives ate him on both cheeks, especially when there was no summer strawberry, he bore fruit to the very frosts, he already cut off the frozen berries and threw them out, although they tasted like compote ...
Forest, Primorsky Territory//forum.prihoz.ru/viewtopic.php?t=6499&start=480
Monterey is behaving badly in my area. For some reason, the third year leaves turn yellow, and only in this variety. Very productive, sweet and sour, berry for sale.
Korjav, Ryazan//www.forumhouse.ru/threads/351082/page-9
Pros: the berry is beautiful, the bushes are fresh, they tolerate the heat well, dispense with watering, are content with rains, quickly re-bear fruit, the second wave is softer than the first wave, and the taste is more pleasant. In full ripeness, even nothing.
Shrew, Pyatigorsk//club.wcb.ru/index.php?showtopic=1480&st=420
Monterey requires no more care than other varieties, but allows you to eat delicious strawberries all summer. Or grow berries in a flower pot at home - then you can indulge yourself with berries throughout the year.
