Peat as a fertilizer for strawberries: how and when to apply?
Peat is decomposed remains of vegetation and animals and is classified as a natural organic fertilizer. However, it also contains useful mineral elements (sulfur, nitrogen), due to which peat is actively used in horticulture and horticulture. Strawberries respond especially well to peat.
Peat is recommended for growing strawberries on clay and sandy soils. Fertile soil does not need it.
Qualitative peat is brown, moist to the touch and crumbly. Moisture is a prerequisite, otherwise the soil will not retain moisture well after application. It should be noted that the maximum effect of peat feeding will be noticeable only in the second year after application.
Features of the use of peat in strawberry beds
For strawberry fertilization, peat is used both in spring and in autumn. But it must be understood that a pure product can only be used for the purpose of mulching strawberry beds, having previously ventilated it and mixed with sawdust. To neutralize the acidity of the peat, you also need to add to the mixture wood ash (5 kg for 50 kg of peat).
For application to the soil, it will be necessary to prepare compost based on peat in order to enrich the composition of trace elements. When laying a compost heap, layers of peat should be alternated with manure. You can also add green mass left over from weeding your garden and household kitchen waste. Water the pile periodically with a superphosphate solution (100 g per bucket of water).
There are two ways to fertilize strawberries with peat compost:
- When planting, put a layer of peat no more than 5 cm in each hole before planting the plant.
- During tillage - scatter between rows at the rate of 30 kg per 1 sq. m and dig it up.
If there is no desire or opportunity to bother with composting, ready-made peat-based preparations can be purchased in specialized stores that sell fertilizers:
- In the form of granules... Used when planting by adding to the hole.
- In the form of a liquid solution... Used for root dressing.
The action of peat as fertilizer
As a result of fertilizing plants with peat:
- the soil structure improves - it allows moisture to pass through and "breathes";
- the growth of cultures is intensified;
- the root system of plants receives ideal conditions for development;
- the quantity and quality of the crop increases.
In the second year after fertilizing the soil with peat manure, strawberries will actively develop and bear fruit.