For quite a long time, summer residents in their garden have been conducting various experiments on growing strawberries using vertical structures. Another name for this method sounds like vertical beds.

It is quite obvious that with such a planting of strawberries, there is a significant saving in space in the country. Such a bed takes up much less useful space, moreover, it looks very attractive and original than those plantings that everyone is used to seeing. This approach is also applicable when the gardener has a small area available, then vertical cultivation of strawberries is a rational method.

What it is

Vertical strawberry beds are the planting of strawberry seedlings in vertical containers. Such containers can be made without much difficulty by any gardener, even those who do not have much experience. It is quite possible to use pipes, boards, tires, plastic bottles and bags as material.

Vertical beds for strawberries

General landing rules

When planting strawberries vertically, in principle, the rules are similar for the most common beds with berries, but some differences can still be distinguished. With properly organized and performed agrotechnical actions, the strawberry plantation can last 5 years or longer.

Strawberry seedlings are purchased at the store, or you can use the mustache, which the berry produces in sufficient quantities. When you take a mustache from your site, you need to be absolutely sure that there are no pests on them, such as strawberry mites or nematodes. In any case, it will not be superfluous to use disinfection both for your seedlings and for the store.

Before making a vertical strawberry bed with your own hands, you need to choose a place on the site. It should definitely be with enough sunlight. In addition, strawberries need free air circulation. It is not uncommon when this method is used to grow strawberries in a greenhouse. In order to grow strawberries vertically, the soil should be light, but at the same time not poor in composition.

Important information! A much smaller amount of mustache can be obtained from remontant strawberries. When planning the reproduction of the desired variety, towards the end of summer, they begin to pick off the flowers and loosen between the rows, combining all this with moderation when watering the berries.

Training

Before you start growing strawberries in PVC pipes vertically, you need to prepare the structure. So, for example, if a decision is made to make a vertical bed of PVC pipes, you will need not only them, but also some tools:

  • The pipes themselves, usually sewer pipes, with a diameter of at least 150 mm;
  • End caps of the appropriate size, at the rate of 2 pieces per pipe;
  • Also PVC pipes of a different diameter, as a rule, 30-40 mm and plugs on them;
  • Hose to drain water, a small piece;
  • Water capacity;
  • Expanded clay;
  • Earth;
  • Drill and bit;
  • Roulette and hacksaw.

Additional Information. To make it easier for the roots of the berries to grow, it is preferable to break the expanded clay into small pieces with a hammer.

Before the immediate start of work on the construction of a vertical bed of pillars, you need to decide what shape it will be, and also outline its dimensions and the place where it is supposed to be installed.Some of these pipes can be easily attached to the fence, but it must be borne in mind that they should be exposed to light.

When there is a desire to make a large number of vertical beds, you cannot do without supports for pipes. The shapes can be very diverse and represent pyramids or be gable. The main thing is not to forget about the fact that a pipe with earth, having a length of 2 m, is rather heavy, therefore the supports must be strong enough.

When choosing an affordable way to create a vertical bed using plastic bottles, you need to have:

  • Themselves bottles with a volume of 2 liters;
  • Wire and wire cutters;
  • Well sharpened knife;
  • Wooden or metal frame so that containers can be fixed.

Vertical beds for bottled strawberries

How to make

Urea for strawberries

How to plant strawberries in PVC pipes vertically with your own hands:

  • Holes are cut in a large pipe, several pieces, the diameter of which should be from 10 to 15 cm. The distance between these holes should correspond to 15 cm;
  • In a pipe with a smaller diameter, a large number of holes are drilled with a drill;
  • Further, a thinner pipe will need to be wrapped in agrofiber. To secure it, use a wire to avoid displacement or slipping;
  • In large plugs, a hole is drilled corresponding to the size of the thinner pipe;
  • Expanded clay, with a layer of about 3 cm, is poured into a large pipe to the bottom. It needs to be distributed as evenly as possible along the length;
  • Thin pipes are laid on expanded clay, and their ends are released outward through holes made in large plugs;
  • Through the holes made in a large pipe, earth is poured, which requires compaction and watering;
  • An irrigation hose is connected on one side. You can also use a container of water, positioning it so that it is higher than the pipes. On the opposite side, another hose is located, used in order to drain excess fluid.

It was a step-by-step instruction for making the structure itself, after which you need to start planting strawberries. For this, pits are made in the ground up to 10 cm deep. Before planting, these seedlings must be soaked in a root growth stimulant for up to 12 hours.

When this time expires, the seedlings are placed in the holes prepared the day before and sprinkled with earth, having previously comfortably placed the roots. After that, the first watering is carried out. In the first week, do not leave the sprouts in direct sunlight, they need to be shaded a little.

Strawberries in PVC pipes

How to beautifully plant strawberries in ordinary plastic bottles? If the beds are made from plastic bottles, then first of the prepared bottles, the volume of which, by the way, should be from 2 liters, it is necessary to cut off the necks, but do not rush to throw them out. A device for drainage is made from this cut neck, namely, the cap is removed and immersed on the bottom of the same bottle with an indentation of 5 cm. You also need to make a hole so that the moisture that is superfluous leaves or evaporates.

For watering not one, but several such beds at once, small holes are made so that water flows from the upper bottles and falls onto the beds below. A vertical bed for strawberries from plastic bottles should not be made too high, usually 4 or 5 rows.

Strawberry seedlings are planted in holes made with a diameter of 5 to 8 cm. The bottles themselves must be placed one above the other and tied to the frame with a wire.

Bed-bag

Some gardeners use bagged strawberries. The place for this method should be chosen taking into account the good ventilation of the landings. Sometimes strawberries are grown in bags, hanging on hooks in the greenhouse, all year round, you can simply put the bags on the street.

These bags are not so difficult to make yourself. To do this, you need polyethylene bags of a rather large size. You can also tailor such bags by taking reinforced polyethylene, in which the edges are soldered.

They act according to the following scheme:

  • Drainage needs to be poured on the bottom of the finished bags, and earth on top of it;
  • The sack is tied with a rope;
  • Cuts are made in any places over the entire surface. Their length is about 10 cm. The distance between them is 20-25 cm;
  • For watering, it is necessary to place bottles above the bags, with a volume of at least 2 liters. Holes need to be made in their lids, into which drip tubes are placed. They are lowered to the ground near the plants.

Additional Information! You can make a vertical bed from the remaining building mesh. It is bent around, the ends are fastened together. Place the film inside and tear it in the right places. Strawberry seedlings are planted in these breakouts.

Strawberry pots

Another original way for vertical strawberries is to use pots for this purpose, which are usually set in tiers. This is, as in the previous cases, done in order to save useful space. The use of pots is allowed.

Important! When using this method, it is important to choose suitable strawberry varieties, they must be remontant and self-pollinated.

It is necessary to take care of the preparation of the prospective seedlings in the fall. To do this, they are dug out, selecting the bushes that are healthy and strong, and stored in a place where it is cool and dry, covered with a material that does not allow air to penetrate. Here's the instruction:

  • Pots for planting strawberries take a volume of about two liters with a diameter of 45 cm. The material from which the pot is made does not matter;
  • After that, you need a drainage layer at the bottom of the pot, which should be no more than a third of its height. Ground is poured on top of it;
  • Strawberries are planted, but preferably no more than 3-4 plants per one such pot;
  • Once every 2 weeks, the plants are fed with organic or complex fertilizers.

Additional Information. The soil in pots tends to dry out an order of magnitude faster than under the same conditions on ordinary beds. It is necessary to closely monitor the moisture in these planting containers.

When grown in this way, shoots are removed, which are unnecessary, leaving only 1 or 2 of them. The mustaches obtained from the cut are often planted separately after that. After a year, bushes from one pot are seated each in its own container.

The pots must be taken out into the air when a stable, positive temperature is established. A shelf or pyramid is made for them. With the onset of the autumn period, the part of the strawberry that is above ground level is cut. The pots are removed from the vertical strawberry flower bed and placed in a dark and moderately cold place until spring.

Strawberry pots

Wintering strawberries

When winter comes, the soil becomes quite dense in vertical beds. For this reason, strawberries can seriously freeze the roots, and they have every chance of death. To prevent this from happening, strawberry beds are made portable during the manufacturing process. In this case, they can be transferred to a warm place, and not left to winter.

The best solution for storing strawberries in vertical beds in winter is to pre-cover the bushes with sawdust before carrying. Then the temperature under the bushes cannot be less than 4 degrees with a minus sign.

When it is decided to use a vertical planting of strawberries, other materials and devices that are at hand at their summer cottage can also be used for this purpose. If you pay enough attention to planting and growing strawberries in this way, they will definitely give a very good harvest.