- Taste: sweet and sour
- The size: medium or small
- Weight: 20 g
- Yield rate: high
- Yield: up to 0.4 kg
- Repairability: Yes
- Ripening terms: mid-late
- Appointment: universal
- Description of the bush: tall, semi-spreading
- Berry color: red-purple
Today, gardeners who grow strawberries on their site have a fairly large selection of varieties of this fragrant berry. Hybrid varieties deserve special attention. They are distinguished by their bright taste, fruits uniform in size, and high keeping quality. Diana strawberries belong to such varieties.
Description of the variety
The Diana variety is a hybrid obtained by crossing strawberries (Milanese) and garden strawberries (Yielding). He is often called a dugout. The good thing about the hybrid is that it combines all the positive properties of both varieties:
- taste;
- aroma;
- winter hardiness;
- disease and pest resistance;
- high productivity.
Distinctive features:
- renovation;
- transportability;
- versatility of appointment.
The bush with a large number of whiskers is a tall, large-leaved, semi-spreading plant, the width and height of which varies within 10–40 cm. The leaves are bright green-yellow in color. Berries are oval, medium in size, homogeneous, dense, juicy. They are painted in a red-violet (closer to burgundy) shade. The weight of one berry can reach 20 g.
Ripening terms
Strawberry Diana belongs to medium early varieties. Flowering occurs in April and September. The first harvest of berries can be obtained by the end of June. On average, the hybrid bears fruit from mid-June to late July.
Yield
This variety has a high yield: up to 400 g of fragrant berries can be harvested from one bush. The branches, literally dotted with fruits, do not support their weight and tend to the ground.
Berries and their taste
Diana berries have an interesting combination of nutmeg strawberry aroma and sweet and sour strawberry flavor. Leaves a pleasant aftertaste. Suitable both for fresh consumption and for making jams and desserts.
Growing features
The cultivation of Diana strawberries is usually straightforward. This hybrid is easy to care for. But in order to get a high-quality harvest, it is still necessary to know some of the nuances.
Site selection and soil preparation
Choose a planting site for strawberries in advance. The plot should be spacious enough, because the correct distance between the bushes in the garden is 30 cm, and between the rows - 40 cm. It is imperative to observe these parameters, because the variety is one of the vigorous ones.
Diana grows well in sunny beds, so when choosing a place for planting, you should give preference to the southern side of the site. It is important to protect the seedlings from strong winds and drafts.
Berries of this variety prefer soil with moderate moisture, therefore, there should be no close adhesion of subsoil waters in the selected area. Otherwise, drainage should be considered, otherwise there is a risk of root rot.
Loamy and sandy loam soil is more suitable for growing strawberries. This structure allows the root system to develop perfectly. The acidity index of the soil should be in the region of 6-8. It is desirable that the soil in the beds is high in humus.
The best time to plant this variety is August, early September. Before planting, a place for strawberries needs digging and organic fertilizers into the soil.
Pollination
A distinctive feature of the Diana variety is the absence of the need for pollination.
One of the important techniques in strawberry care is feeding. Regular fertilization guarantees a rich harvest. There are several different ways to feed strawberries, and each of them is designed for a specific period of plant development. During flowering, fruiting and after it, feeding should be different.
Diseases and pests
The Diana variety is quite resistant to diseases and pests. But with high soil moisture, it is rare, but still the plant can be exposed to the incidence of gray rot. For prevention, you need to monitor watering. The soil should be moderately moist. Waterlogging and stagnant water are detrimental to strawberries. Also, the timely removal of the growing strawberry whiskers belongs to the prevention of gray rot, you should not allow thickening.
Strawberries are often subject to many dangerous diseases that can seriously undermine their condition. Among the most common are powdery mildew, gray mold, brown spot, anthracnose, and verticillosis. Before buying a variety, you need to inquire about its disease resistance.
Reproduction
This hybrid is characterized by mustache reproduction. After harvesting, the mustache of the earthworms is buried in the ground next to the mother plant for rooting.In early autumn, rooted sockets are transplanted to a new place by transferring with a lump of earth.
The Diana strawberry variety has great advantages. Minimal care for it is not at all burdensome, and as a result - a rich harvest of universal berries with excellent taste.