Strawberry Queen

The Tsaritsa strawberry, intended for fresh consumption and processing, is included in the list of nationally bred berry plants. It is recommended for planting in climatic zones with short daylight hours, praised for its large berries, as well as for its ability to resist pest attacks and contact with pathogens of fungal diseases.

Bred at a variety testing station in the Bryansk region by a group of domestic originators under the leadership of Professor S. Aitzhanova, the variety was obtained on the basis of Venta and Red Gauntlet strawberries. The breeding pair has a Baltic and Scottish origin, which made it possible to obtain plants with the necessary resistance to difficult climatic conditions. The Tsarina was sent to state tests in 2002, registration in the register was successfully completed 7 years later. The variety is included in the database as mid-season, belongs to the group of garden strawberries for universal use.

The queen is a strawberry that gives compact bushes no more than 20 cm high with green leaves. Red pubescent whiskers are formed on the plants. The first harvests are the most plentiful, the fruits are large. Subsequently, they become smaller. In one place, the variety is grown for no more than 4-5 years.

The queen belongs to the large-fruited varieties of strawberries. Garden strawberry of this species tolerates short daylight hours well. Refers to universal, suitable for fresh consumption, processing, freezing.

The peduncles of this variety are hidden under the leaves. Their number depends on the intensity of the autumn bud setting, the success of wintering. The flowers are large, with white petals.

The variety ripens on average for strawberries. Flowering occurs in May, the fruits are harvested in June and until the end of July. Fruiting is one-time, abundant. Technical ripeness is reached in the second decade of June.

On the recommendation of breeders, the Queen is best suited for cultivation in the Central region of the Russian Federation. The climatic conditions of Poland and Belarus can be called optimal for this strawberry. In Russia, it is successfully grown in Siberia, Moscow region, Kaluga, Smolensk regions, Bryansk, Orel, Vladimir, Suzdal and Ryazan.

With industrial cultivation, up to 13 centners / ha are collected. The variety is high-yielding, the harvested berries are well adapted for transportation. From a bush, you can get up to 350-1000 g of fruit per season.

On the bush, cone-shaped, widened at the base berries with a rich red skin ripen. The pulp is firm, with a sweet and sour taste. The aroma is practically not expressed. The average weight of the berry reaches 30-40 g. According to the tasting assessment, the fruits reach 4.8 points.

The Queen is planted at a distance of about 20 cm from each other. The formation of whiskers in the variety is not very intense, so you can not be afraid that the crops will overgrow with new rosettes. With an autumn planting, the first harvest can be obtained as early as next summer. The variety thrives best on moderately dense loam, with the obligatory mulching of the soil surface or covering the beds with black agrotex.Watering during periods of fruiting, in drought is done in the morning so as not to burn the leaves.

The main recommendations for choosing a place are reduced to finding a sunny, well-lit area. It is important that the ridge is not closer than 1.5 meters from the groundwater area. The variety cannot be cultivated after nightshade crops. It is worth giving preference to areas with light and loose soil. In preparation for planting strawberries, it is flavored with urea, sand, humus and wood ash.

It is better to plant shoots in open ground in early spring, early April, and also in September. Autumn planting gives a faster yield to harvest. At the same time, the root system has time to take root sufficiently. Landing is done in a one-line or two-line way. In the aisles, 60-80 cm of free area is left.

This variety requires cross-pollination. Planting a number of other plants of the same group helps to enhance the formation of fruits. On the bushes themselves, bisexual flowers are formed, self-pollination is possible.

The variety needs periodic application of fertilizers, both mineral complexes and organic matter. For 1 m2 of soil, it is customary to make at least a bucket of humus, supplementing it with the same amount of peat-sawdust mixture. The variety does not like excess nitrogen. Top dressing with its use is possible only before the flowering period, in order to prevent an increase in green mass during the fruiting period to the detriment of the number of fruits.

The queen is on the list of strawberries bred for cultivation in cold regions. It easily tolerates frosts down to -40 degrees. It winters well under the snow without additional shelter. With a low amount of precipitation, it is better to additionally protect it from external influences.

With a relatively high resistance to fungal diseases, the Queen still suffers from pest infestations. Pre-treatment of the territory with "Karbofos" will help to protect the crop from attacks by transparent strawberry mites. Against the larvae of the wireworm, the May beetle, a spring spill of soil with ammonia water is used. Also, for prevention, you can use the sowing of alkaloid lupine.

Spring preventive watering on the leaf with Bordeaux liquid is used against rot. At the end of fruiting, the leaf rosettes are cut off. Only the core remains on the garden bed.

Young plants are obtained in private households mainly at the expense of daughter outlets. In this case, the established shoots can be transplanted after rooting. Only the required number of mustaches are left on the bushes.

Those gardeners who have already managed to grow more than one crop of Queen's strawberries on their site note the large size of the fruits, their characteristic glossy shine. The variety is highly praised for the juiciness of berries, abundant fruiting in the first 2-3 years, the ability to do without preventive sanitization during growth and ripening. The Tsarina's winter hardiness also corresponds to that declared by the breeders. Summer residents do without unnecessary shelters in the cold season, only in completely snowless times they have to additionally use straw or other material to protect the bushes.

The disadvantages include a noticeable sourness in taste. However, some summer residents consider this an advantage. In addition, for planting, you have to build rather high ridges, choosing a place in the sun. In the shade of fences and buildings, berries ripen worse. During periods of drought, with a lack of watering, the mass of berries does not exceed 12 g, decreasing 4-5 times from the average.