Strawberry Tuscany

The ampelous garden strawberry looks attractive and expressive. Cascading branches and peduncles will add charm to any live composition. A distinctive feature of the Tuscany variety is its bright crimson flowers. The Italian fruit culture has taken root in many regions of Russia. Bushes can be strewn with flowers, buds, and ripe and green berries at the same time.

Lush bushes reach a width of 40-45 centimeters with a height of 15-20 centimeters. The leaves are painted in a rich dark green color. Their surface is glossy, with shine. Low bushes of strawberries are squat, neat. In the process of development, the strawberry forms a powerful and long mustache. They are able to grow 1 meter from the mother plant.

This variety received high decorative qualities due to the unusual color of the flowers. During the flowering period, they completely cover the plant. Tuscany will be a great addition to the winter garden.

Garden strawberries bloom for a long time, from spring to autumn. It begins to bear fruit from the third decade of June until the beginning of frost. Due to its remontability, it is able to bear fruit several times during one growing season.

Under favorable weather conditions, up to 1 kg of berries can be harvested from one bush. The variety is able to delight with the harvest almost continuously.

Ripe fruits acquire a bright scarlet color. The weight of the conical berries is 35 g. Some specimens may be larger. The strawberry pulp is juicy and moderately dense. The size is medium. The quality of the crop depends significantly on the care of the plantations.

Tasters describe the taste as sweet and balanced. The aroma contains notes of strawberry. The harvested crop can be stored for a long time without loss of marketability.

Garden strawberry Tuscany is a vigorous variety. Therefore, you need to carefully monitor the green mass, remove excess shoots and dry leaves. The plant tolerates both dry, hot weather and severe frosts without any problems. The variety does not need special agricultural technology. Even novice gardeners can handle it.

Plantations should be irrigated regularly and abundantly, since the bushes bear fruit, and the plant constantly needs moisture. In the hot season, garden strawberries need to be watered twice a week. Irrigation is carried out in the evening or early in the morning. At the start of the growing season, the bushes need more moisture than during fruiting.

If the plant is blooming or covered with fruit, water at the root. Moisture on the leaves can spread mold and rot.

This variety grows poorly and develops next to weeds, so they are removed. If the garden is not cleaned in time, the immune system of the garden strawberry will suffer.

Like most varieties of strawberries, this variety prefers sunny areas. Tuscany is unpretentious in the composition of the soil, but the best results can be achieved on fertile soil saturated with oxygen.

Depleted soil must be fed before replanting seedlings there. You can prepare the nutrient mixture yourself. You will need the following ingredients: 6 parts peat, 3 parts compost, 2 parts turf and one part sand. The resulting composition is perfect for growing garden strawberries.

Experienced gardeners recommend using humus. This is an affordable and effective top dressing. For germination of young plants in pots, it is advisable to use ready-made soil mixture.

In the open field, the Tuscany variety is able to pollinate independently due to the presence of male and female flowers. The buds are located on long peduncles. In greenhouses or greenhouses, you need to pollinate the bushes manually using brushes. Bushes form a large number of peduncles that cover the entire plant.

Constant feeding is necessary for this variety for the regular formation of fruits. For remontant garden strawberries, fertilization is an important component of agricultural technology. The nutrients will make your crops not only stable, but also tasty.

You can use ready-made preparations with a balanced composition. Before use, be sure to read the instructions for use and follow them exactly. You can also prepare top dressing by mixing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in a 1x3x6 ratio. Plants are fertilized every two weeks. An excess of fertilizing will be no less dangerous for the bushes than a lack of them. Therefore, add fertilizers in a measured and portioned manner.

The Italian variety Tuscany has an innate resistance to cold snaps, but despite this characteristic, it is advisable to protect berry plantations from severe frosts. Additional shelter is also used in regions with drastic changes in climate.If the plants are grown in pots, when winter comes, they need to be transferred to a loggia or balcony.

Potted bushes need to be stored properly. They are placed in a large wooden box, on the bottom of which styrofoam or any other insulation is placed. This will help preserve the root system. Experienced gardeners recommend storing plant pots in two boxes of different sizes, and filling the space between them with foam. The plants themselves are covered with sawdust.

In the cold season, do not forget about the irrigation of the fruit crop. As soon as the temperature rises to zero, containers with plants are taken out of the boxes. If possible, the strawberries are transferred to the house, where they spend the winter comfortably.

Garden strawberries overwintering in the open field are covered with straw or sawdust. You can also use a special covering material such as agrofiber. The film will not work, it can cause the development of fungus and other infections.

Tuscany is afraid of ticks. To protect the plantation from pests, the bushes need to be treated with a solution of karbofos. However, this drug should not be used during the fruiting period. The berries absorb harmful chemicals. Colloidal sulfur is also great.

Folk remedies demonstrate a good result. They are safe for the harvest.

Experienced experts advise using the following formulations.

• If you pour 300 g of onion husks with water and boil, you get an effective decoction.
• The second recipe is garlic tincture. To prepare the preparation, 2 heads of garlic (they are cut together with the husk) are poured into 6 liters of clean water. The composition should be infused for three days. After that, add half a bar of laundry soap, previously crushed on a grater, into the tincture.

Spraying strawberries should be done in the morning or evening. During the day, processing can be carried out only in cloudy weather.

The easiest way to breed Tuscany is by dividing. Choose only healthy and large bushes. The variety is not grown from seeds, as it loses its maternal qualities. Another option is with a mustache. They are rooted and, after the formation of the root system, is cut off from the mother bush.