How to distinguish male and female strawberries: what is the difference between the bushes

Strawberry is a bisexual plant. At the same time, the division into male and female bushes is considered very conditional. However, plants that are more prone to vegetative reproduction are called male. In this case, female plants are bred sexually, that is, with the help of seeds. Every gardener needs to know how to tell a male strawberry from a female strawberry. The yield of crops depends on this.

Why do they know the gender of the berry

Strawberries are grown for the sake of obtaining a tasty and fragrant crop, and not as an ornamental shrub.That is why it is so important to be able to distinguish between male and female bushes This ability can be useful in case of purchasing new seedlings in a nursery or speci alty store.

At 2-3 years of life, the bush brings babies. At the same time, its roots grow and form new sockets. They are male and female. The ability to distinguish the sex of plants will help to avoid populating a new site with barren crops.

Due to the timely detection and destruction of male delenok increases the fertility of the uterus. This is due to the fact that the remaining female bushes will receive more micro and macro elements from the soil. In addition, thinned foliage will be able to receive a lot of sunlight. This will improve protein photosynthesis.

Of course, it is not recommended to completely destroy male bushes. This is even dangerous, as they are responsible for pollinating female plants. For strawberry cultivation to be successful, it is important to be able to strike a balance between different crops.

On average, one male bush helps to pollinate 10 female ones. It is this ratio that experienced gardeners advise to adhere to. In this case, excess bushes must be removed. This will help improve the productivity of the remaining crops.

Main gender differences

In order to grow strawberries successfully, it is important to know how to distinguish bushes of different sexes. To do this, it is recommended to take into account a number of visual signs.

Fruit difference

Women's bushes produce crops, while men's bushes only grow mustaches. They immediately give young sprouts, since the plant does not spend effort on the ripening of berries. If more strawberry bushes are required, the mustache needs to be fixed in the right place. However, sometimes there are exceptions when male plants bloom. In this case, a single large flower appears on the bush. After that, it is replaced by a small berry.

In appearance

A closer look at the bushes reveals a number of visual differences. Male plants are larger. They have bright and rich foliage of large sizes.

Mustache

When buying adult seedlings, do not give preference to bushes with strong and powerful whiskers. In 95% of cases, infertile men have them. For females, the appearance of antennae after fruiting is characteristic. They are less in number. In addition, female mustaches are thinner. However, it is they who allow replenishing the female population on the site.

At the base

To identify differences, it is important to carefully examine the heart of the seedling rosette. If it has an elongated cone shape, and the diameter is less than 4 millimeters, it is highly likely that it is a boy. In this case, it is pointless to expect berries from the bush. If the base is somewhat flattened and has a large radius, it is most likely a female bush.

In flowers

You can distinguish between Victoria of different sex by flowers. Male specimens are characterized by larger sizes. They have more stamens. In addition, after the end of flowering, the ovary of the future fetus does not appear.

Why destroy male plants

Male plants do not bear fruit. At the same time, they negatively affect the fertility of the soil, capture territories and quickly penetrate into the soil. Therefore, it is important to remove the excess of such plants.

At the same time, all male bushes cannot be destroyed, since they participate in the pollination of female ones. Experts advise to keep the balance. For 10 female bushes, 1 male bush is enough. The remaining plants must be destroyed. However, it is important to do it right.

Experts advise gently twisting the male delenka out of the ground so as not to damage the rhizomes of the rest of the plant. After that, it is worth filling the hole that has appeared with soil for the level of the beds. If the number of boys significantly exceeds the number of girls, after the separation of the family, male plants can be reoriented to fruiting.

To do this, they need to be planted on a separate control bed, following a compacted pattern.The interval between seedlings should be 1 decimeter. After that, it is recommended to cut off all the mustaches that the bushes throw out. This step should never be skipped. Only in the case of using unique varieties of strawberries, you can leave a couple of first whiskers and use them for further reproduction.

Artificially created tightness will lead to the fact that by the end of the season, the boys stop growing mustaches and begin to lay flower stalks. At this stage, they can be moved to a permanent location.

When transplanting boys in the first half of autumn, they will have time to adapt to new conditions by the arrival of cold weather. In the next season, real flower stalks will form on them, which will subsequently bring high-quality fruits.

It is important to consider that next season it is required to continue to remove mustaches in the first half of summer. If new specimens are required for propagation, it is recommended to leave rosettes on strawberries that formed at the end of August.Practice shows that the first rosette on the mustache is almost always female. Therefore, it is worth leaving just such crops for breeding.

In order for strawberry cultivation to give results, it is important to be able to distinguish between bushes of different sexes. To do this, you should focus on their appearance, size and number of flowers and berries. After determining the sex of the bushes, it is worth evaluating their ratio. If extra plants are identified, they must be removed. However, this must be done very carefully, strictly following the recommendations of experts.

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