Pandora Strawberry: variety description and characteristics, cultivation and care with photo

Bright and juicy strawberries not only have an excellent taste, but also contain trace elements, rich in acids, antioxidants, pectins. Strawberries begin to ripen already at the end of May, the last berries are harvested in June. After garden strawberries, currants and gooseberries ripen, and although the fruits of shrubs are very useful for humans, they cannot replace the taste of bright red berries. Strawberries Pandora have a lot of advantages, but the variety attracted summer residents not with high yields, not with giant fruits, but with late ripening.

Strawberry Description

Hybrid Moling Pandora obtained by crossing garden strawberries Ananassa with Fragia variety. Low bushes are densely covered with shiny leaves. Round berries are laid on thin peduncles, which, when ripe, acquire:

• cherry color;
• forest fragrance;
• weight up to 60 g.

The surface of the fruit, slightly flattened laterally, is covered with small seeds. The juicy pulp of garden strawberries pleases with a sweet taste with a barely noticeable sourness. Strawberries created in England do not deform during transportation, do not let juice in.

Pandora Feature

The description of the variety indicates that the berries are ripe in July, from 300 to 400 g of garden strawberries are picked from one bush. A hybrid of English origin normally tolerates frost and even in a temperate climate is not covered for the winter. Pandora is prized for its resistance to bacterial infection.Strawberries rarely suffer:

• from powdery mildew;
• verticillium;
• brown spotting.

The variety is affected by rot if the weather is wet for a long time. The bushes bloom when the frosts are already receding, the ovary does not crumble from the cold. Pandora is not a remontant variety, harvested only once a season. In hot weather, the berries of the hybrid become smaller, the plant produces few whiskers.

Main positives and negatives

It is of great importance for gardeners that the hybrid is resistant to powdery mildew, rarely affected by mites. The advantages of Pandora strawberries include:

• high productivity;
• presentable berries;
• bright taste and large fruit size;
• excellent transportability.

There are negative sides to the hybrid. Strawberries have female flowers that lack stamens, which means that garden strawberries do not bear fruit without pollinators. The variety is affected by gray rot, brown spotting.

The subtleties of growing a plant

To harvest a good harvest of large berries, Pandora strawberries need to be planted in fertile land, follow the rules of agricultural technology.

Time and place

The hybrid variety does not tolerate drafts, is picky about lighting, feels comfortable in the sun. If the water comes closer than a meter to the surface, the roots of the plant may die. A place for Pandora strawberries should be chosen on a small hill in the southwestern part of a summer cottage or suburban area. Strawberry bushes are planted in spring, summer or autumn. The soil is dug up in advance, leveled, freed from weeds, organic matter is introduced.

Seedlings for planting

When buying strawberry bushes for growing in the country or in the yard, you need to carefully look at how they look, whether they have he althy roots. It is better to purchase planting material not in the market, but in a nursery where the Pandora hybrid will not be confused with another variety.

Hubs with 3 leaves are well received, without spots, stripes and creases.

Fit features

Strawberries are not placed in the place where peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins and zucchini grew last season. Variety Pandora, like these crops, is affected by root rot. The best predecessors for strawberries are green manure. A month before planting, the soil on the site is dug up and applied:

• compost or manure;
• superphosphate;
• potassium s alt.

Fertilizers improve soil structure, make it looser. In the first year, it is preferable to place strawberries in a single line pattern. Bushes are planted every 25 or 30 cm, a little less than a meter is left between the rows, the free space is filled with rooted mustache rosettes. Before the procedure, the plant is dipped in a solution of potassium permanganate and washed with water:

1. Dig holes, form a small mound at the bottom.
2. They put a bush, straightening the roots.
3. The kidney is left above the ground.
4. The hole is covered with soil, compacted and irrigated with warm water, covered with mulch.

So that Pandora is not affected by gray rot, you can not thicken the plantings, apply an excess amount of fertilizers in which nitrogen is present.

If strawberry mites are infested on the site, the leaves of the plants are cut off.

How to properly care for a crop

In order for the English hybrid to please with a harvest of beautiful and sweet berries, you will have to take care of strawberries.

Soil and fertilizers

Garden strawberries grow well in light loose soil, which contains some sand, feels great on loams with acidity up to 7.

Accelerates the development of strawberries, the introduction of mineral complexes, as well as humus or bird droppings, diluted in water in a ratio of 1 to 20-25. Organics are more often used in the spring and when transplanting bushes to another place.

Pandora variety responds positively to fertilizing with fertilizers containing:

• phosphorus;
• magnesium;
• potassium.

Mineral complexes are introduced after picking berries. Microelements are necessary for strawberries to form new buds and roots.

Water and humidity

In order for garden strawberries to grow, develop, please with a high yield, it is worth installing a drip irrigation system. The roots of the plant are located close to the surface, the water jet from the hose must be directed carefully.

Water the strawberries once a week, during the flowering period - a little more often. In cloudy weather, humidification is not necessary. It is better to start the irrigation system early in the morning, the water evaporates quickly during the day.

Attitude to temperature

Summer residents noticed that the Pandora variety, grown in hot climates, ripens small berries. Sunburn spots often appear on fruits. In mid-latitudes, in wet weather, strawberry shoots develop faster, which is not surprising, because the birthplace of the hybrid variety is England, where it is damp and cool.

Loosening and weeding

It is impossible to allow the beds on which strawberries are planted to become overgrown with weeds. They need to be pulled out by the roots, to fight from early spring until autumn. The earth is loosened after irrigation or rain.

Mulching

To make moisture evaporate less, the soil under the bushes is covered with straw or peat mixed with sand. In recent years, gardeners have been using agrofiber or spandbond instead of organic matter for mulching. When using such materials, the berries do not touch the ground, do not get dirty on the sand and ripen faster.

Disease and pest control methods

Danger for strawberries are fungi that, multiplying, cause gray rot, powdery mildew, and various types of spotting. Compliance with the rules of agricultural technology helps to reduce the likelihood of activation of pathogenic microorganisms.

If spores appear on the bushes, the affected stems and leaves are cut out, the plantings are sprayed with fungicides. Processing can be performed only before the formation of flowers and after picking berries. Strawberry Pandora suffers from invasion:

• aphids;
• weevils;
• spider mites.

To cope with pests, insecticides are used in the form of Actellik, Aktara, Bi-58, Inta-Vira. Timely watering, prevention, and fertilization help to increase the resistance of the hybrid to parasites and diseases.

Propagation of the variety

Growers who love Pandora rarely use seeds to grow strawberries. Seed material must be hardened for two weeks at 2 ° C heat in wet cloth and cotton wool, periodically wetting with water. In February, the substrate is poured into containers or cups and the seeds are laid out, slightly deepened into the ground with a match, covered with foil and left in a well-lit place.After a while, the seedlings sprout, when three leaves appear, the bushes dive into a new container. The grown strawberries are moved to the garden not earlier than at the end of April.

It is much easier to propagate the variety with side shoots. The mustache that the plant lets out is sprinkled with earth. When they take root, which usually happens already in July, they are planted in the garden.

Adult plants from which a lot of berries are harvested are divided into several parts so that each has up to 3 leaves and an elongated root. In autumn, they dig holes and plant one bush at a time.

Growing difficulties and recommendations

In order for the Pandora variety to please with a harvest, it is necessary to pick up strawberries that act as a pollinator. Next to the hybrid, you need to plant Florence or Sophie strawberries that bloom at the same time.

Pandora suffers from rot to protect the bushes from infection, the soil under them is covered with straw or mulched with sawdust.

Cleaning and storage of garden strawberries

In July, when the strawberries are ripe, the berries are picked with a tail and put in a small basket or box in one layer. Work is carried out in dry weather. Garden strawberries are not stored for a long time, they lie in the refrigerator for a maximum of a week, do not lose their taste, do not change the composition when frozen.

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