Strawberry Baby Elephant

Gardeners living in regions with a harsh climate should take a closer look at such a strawberry variety as the Elephant. It is resistant to cold and sudden temperature changes. With careful care, a good harvest of fragrant berries can be harvested.

The authors of this wonderful variety of strawberries were breeders of the V.I. MA Lisavenko, it happened in the mid-80s of the twentieth century. This variety received a sonorous and tender name - Elephant.

Non-repair grade. The bushes of the plant are spreading, powerful, erect. The foliage is abundant, the leaves are large, dark green, the veins on them are of medium thickness, and the teeth along the edges are well pronounced. Strawberries of this variety can produce an average of 10-15 mustaches of a pale pink color. A lot of peduncles are formed on the bushes. They are located just below the leaves or at the same height with them. The flowers are white or slightly creamy. Berries have a universal purpose. They are suitable for freezing, canning.

The baby elephant is a medium-ripening strawberry variety.

The variety was created for cultivation in the regions of Western and Eastern Siberia. It has good frost and drought resistance. The harsh Siberian climate is not terrible for the elephant.

A very productive variety. The tests carried out showed that it is possible to collect 7.13-8.73 tons of strawberries from 1 hectare.

Strawberry Elephant has appetizing red berries with a shiny surface. The berries do not have a strictly defined shape, they are usually broad-ovate, without a neck. Their appearance resembles the head and huge ears of an elephant. Very large berries, about the size of a hen's egg. The average weight is 9.6-28.3 g. Some specimens can reach a weight of 100 g. The largest berries appear in early summer, when fruiting begins. By the end of this period, the berries become smaller.

The pulp is red, firm. The aroma is very pleasant, strawberry, without any additional notes. The taste is unusual, sweet and sour. The sugar content is 7.2% and the acid content is 0.8%. High content of vitamin C - 875.2 mg%. The berries have excellent taste - the tasting score reaches 4.7 points (on a five-point scale).

Caring for this strawberry variety is simple. One of the main features of care is control over watering. The baby elephant does not tolerate waterlogging of the soil. Due to excess moisture, the berries become sour. And also an excess of water can lead to the defeat of the plant by fungal diseases.

Despite the resistance of the variety to drought, you should not leave it completely without watering. It is important to find a middle ground while avoiding excessive water shortages. Due to the complete lack of watering, the berries are crushed and become tasteless, with an unpleasant sourness.

Watering is done by drip method. The water should be prepared in advance, warmed up during the day in the sun. If the heat is set and there is no rain, you can water it 2 times a week.

When growing this variety of strawberries, it is advisable to use mulch. This will help avoid frequent watering and loosening of the soil. Mulching will help prevent berries from rotting, as the berries will not come into contact with damp ground.

It is necessary to allocate a sunny place to the berry on the site. Low areas where stagnant water can form should be avoided. The surface occurrence of groundwater is also harmful.

The soil is prepared in advance, dug up, freed from weeds. The soil should be neutral (pH 6-7). Therefore, if necessary, to lower the acidity, lime, ash, chalk are introduced. Strawberry precursors can be legumes or cucumbers.

Pits for bushes are made at a distance of 30-40 cm. A distance of about half a meter is left between the rows. The bushes are rather sprawling, in order to avoid the spread of rot, strawberries are planted sparsely.

Planting work is carried out in the fall or spring.

The flowers are bisexual. Pollen is carried by insects or the wind. Top dressing

The variety responds very well to the application of various types of fertilizers. This is an important agricultural technique. Thanks to the introduction of top dressing, the plant will release more peduncles, and the berries themselves will be larger. You can use complex mineral fertilizers, as well as compost or manure.

In the spring, nitrogen-containing fertilizers are applied, for example, urea.

Potash fertilizers are suitable during flowering. Potassium promotes the formation of ovaries, the accumulation of sugar in the berries and improves the taste of strawberries. You can use potassium nitrate (20 g of fertilizer is added to a ten-liter bucket of water) or potassium sulfate (30 g of the substance is dissolved in a bucket of water). A method of spraying the leaves using potassium nitrate is suitable (25 g of the substance is dissolved in a bucket of water). In September, it is recommended to add manure or ash.

Low temperature resistance is a feature that this strawberry variety can boast of. But it is advisable to make shelters made of straw and spruce branches for the winter period.

The disadvantage of the variety is its vulnerability to rot. If there is a lot of precipitation in the summer, then the bushes and berries can strongly affect fungal diseases. For prevention, chemicals or folk remedies are used: a tincture of garlic, diluted in water with mustard, spraying with iodine (10-12 drops per bucket of water). Insects usually do not infect this strawberry variety.

Three ways are suitable for breeding the Elephant.

Division of the bush. Choose bushes without lignified roots. The plant is divided with a sharp knife into 2-3 parts, each of them should have a root lobe.

Sowing seeds. To do this, at the end of February, seeds are carefully laid out in transparent containers on the surface of the earth. Sprinkle a little with earth or sand. The soil must be moist. When 2-3 leaves appear, the plants dive. After warm weather is established, juveniles can be planted in open ground. Before sowing, it is necessary to perform a seed stratification procedure.

Mustache reproduction. Peduncles must be removed on uterine bushes. The mustache is cut off with scissors or pruning shears, making an oblique cut. The rooted outlet is transplanted in cloudy weather.