Strawberry Alexandrina

Alexandrina strawberries are a favorite among remontant berries, small bushes can be grown both on the balcony and in your garden. Fragrant berries will delight you throughout the summer season. Many gardeners give their preference to this unpretentious look, which will easily fit into any landscape design.

Strawberry Alexandrina is remontant, that is, it has the ability to bloom and bear fruit multiple times in one season, is one of the most popular types of perennial crops with small fruits. The variety is unique in that it does not take up much space, the berries can be grown both on the plots and at home. Another name for the variety is Alexandria. This strawberry is interesting for its features:

• compactness;
• fragrant bloom;
• tasty, moderately large fruits;
• long fruiting period;
• resistance to most diseases;
• good transportability is noted;
• berries have a long shelf life.

Another feature of this species is that it does not produce whiskers. The bush grows powerful, up to approximately 20–25 cm in height. The leaves are bent along the central vein and have a serrated edging along the edges. Peduncles are rather thin, tall, grow in large numbers, scatter over the bush in the form of small white flowers.

The shape of the berry is conical, and among its relatives, this strawberry variety is the largest of its kind. The highly aromatic fruits have a pronounced bright red color. The average weight of one berry reaches 8 g. Up to 300 g can be removed from the bush.

A distinctive feature of Alexandrina strawberries is that among all garden varieties, it is this species that begins to bloom in May, and the first fruits may appear in early June. The crop can be harvested until October or before the first frost, much depends on in which part of Russia the crop is grown.

The bush is quite lush, stable, in the second year from 15 to 20 peduncles begin to ripen on such a bush. Although the variety blooms and bears fruit from May to the end of September, the yield is in influx. Some of the peduncles ripen, form berries, then the rest begin to ripen, and it turns out that the berries "come" in waves.

In the first years the harvest will be small, on average up to 200–250 g, the next year the harvest increases to 300 g. The maximum amount reaches 400 g, but this is a rather rare phenomenon. The number of berries is approximately 800 to 1000. The average duration of flowering is about 3-5 years, then the bushes need to be renewed.

The berries are conical in shape, oblong, with a moderately pointed crown. The skin is shiny, slightly glossy. Seeds on berries are moderately pronounced. The color of the berry is deep red, with time it acquires a darkish tint.

At first, the fruit has a pronounced sweet and sour taste, but after ripening or storage it becomes sweeter. The weight of one berry varies between 5-8 g.

Since this strawberry variety does not have a mustache, the gardener needs to know how to properly grow this crop. The most common cultivation method is seed. You only need a few of the most ripe berries. On the top layer there will be small, slightly yellowish seeds. These seeds must be cut, washed and dried.

There is another way: grind the berries, then put them in a thicket of water. The pulp will float, it is drained, then the rest is filtered. The seeds are dried and stored for later planting.

Planting seeds can be started from the end of April. Since this crop is quite frost-resistant, many gardeners plant new seeds immediately after the harvest season in heated greenhouses.

After the plant sprouts its first shoots, it is necessary to carefully monitor their growth. Thin shoots need to be fed to make them more resilient. During this period, many people use phytolamps so that the plants receive more ultraviolet radiation. It is quite easy to understand that the bush does not have enough light: the leaves begin to grow upward, that is, vertically.

It is worth noting that when more than 3 leaves appear on one bush, then you should immediately plant the strawberries in separate pots, where they should grow for about 2 weeks, only after that the seedlings can be planted in the ground on the site.

The Alexandrina strawberry bush is rather tall and large, so the minimum distance between 2 bushes should be at least 20-25 cm. It is advisable to remove the first flower stalks to allow the plant to grow stronger and get used to the soil. At the end of the season, when the strawberries will no longer bear fruit, remove any reddened leaves.

If strawberries are grown on the balcony, then you should take a container with a diameter of approximately 15-20 cm and plant no more than 4 bushes in it. All containers are selected with a pallet and must be equipped with a drainage system.

The landing site should be as illuminated as possible so that nothing is blocking the sun's rays. A small hole is made in the ground, poured with water, and humus and wood ash are added there.

After planting the plants, mulching must be carried out. For this, the soil around the seedlings is laid with organic mulch. It can be straw, hay, needles twigs, old dry sawdust. If you use fresh sawdust, then they must be wetted before use, otherwise they will suck all moisture from the ground.

The most common and natural way of pollination is by bees, but if the cultivation takes place at home, then you need to resort to a little trick. In this case, you need to do pollination yourself. To do this, you need a brush or cotton swab. It is necessary to transfer pollen from flower to flower.

This variety of berries is quite resistant to various pests, diseases and fungi, but for prevention it can be treated with fungicides after harvest. Weeds can be fought with mulch; without it, you will have to weed in a timely manner.

The main pests are birds. For protection, there are different nets that interfere with the birds. Also, gardeners hang a variety of flags and balls to scare away birds.

Since the Alexandrina strawberry bushes do not give a mustache, it can be propagated in 2 ways.

• An adult plant must be divided into several seedlings. You can use a knife for this division. In this case, it must be remembered that it is better to choose a bush 2-3 years old for reproduction, since its roots have already grown stronger and amenable to division. Older bushes simply cannot be separated from each other.
• The second method of reproduction is seed.