Sweet fragrant strawberries are loved by children and adults. During the long winter months, people look forward to the summer when they can enjoy its taste. Why wait so long? You can grow strawberries in the winter in a greenhouse. Moreover, a profitable business will bring considerable income.
What is the benefit of the strawberry business?
This is how nature decreed that the mass ripening of this tasty and beloved berry falls on the beginning of summer. But, strawberries are grown and sold by many summer residents and farmers, so the competition between them is huge. However, at the end of the season, the berry is not found. Stores sell frozen strawberries. But it cannot be compared with a berry plucked from the garden.
An enterprising person can start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round and will not be disappointed in choosing a business. The main thing is to plant commercial varieties of berries that will be profitable. For reference: the consumption of strawberries by Russians is increasing from year to yearup to fifty percent a year. This means that growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round can be a good investment for the future. Of course, strawberries are demanding plants. However, with proper care, this crop gives good yields and does not require significant costs.
How to register a business?
If you are convinced that growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round begins to bring a good income, start registering your business. This business is classified as an individual form of entrepreneurship and has the category of a producer of agricultural products. A single tax is charged on this type of activity, not exceeding six percent. To grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round as a business, one registration is not enough. Need to stock up on a few certificates:
- Belonging to a certain variety of berries.
- Type of fertilizer with a brief annotation of the composition of the mixture.
- License to sell strawberries.
- Declaration of conformity of the GOST berry with information on the quality of the product and compliance with all required standards.
- Sanitary certificate.
Profitability of the berry business
This concept means the return on all costs. This is the ratio between the profit received as a result of the sale of the product and the cost. Moreover, the profitability of this business depends on the cost of all funds spent, plus a trade cape. If you first decided to start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round, a business planit is necessary to make taking into account all the pros and cons. It is better to turn to specialists for help.
The cost price includes all costs: the price of seedlings, fertilizers, wages for strawberry care workers, rent for premises and so on. The Dutch method of growing berries is less expensive, which means that the costs will be significantly reduced. If the business is not large enough, you can not hire employees, do it on your own. By saving on salaries, employees also save money. So, for example, the average cost per kilogram of strawberries in 2012 was one and a half dollars.
You can easily make a significant profit during the period when the berry season ends if you grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round. The photo presented to your attention reminds of a tasty and fragrant berry, especially in winter, when it is not easy to get strawberries. Therefore, you can put the desired price on the product, and thereby make a profit.
Strawberry sales
The entrepreneur has grown and harvested a good harvest of berries that meet all the requirements. There is a question about its sale. Some do it on their own, having organized several points of sale in advance. But this is not always beneficial. During the winter season, up to eighty percent of strawberries are sold by supermarkets. If you are growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round as a business, then long before harvest, look for future customers for yourproducts.
It should be taken into account that the stores have very high requirements, first of all, to the appearance of the berry: it must be clean, without leaves and twigs, the color is one-dimensional. If it is not possible to sell strawberries through the store, you can sell them in bulk to processors: producers of juices, jams and other semi-finished products.
Growing strawberries in bags
How to grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round in bags. Irrigation, lighting, and pollination are easier to do using Dutch technology. First you need to find and equip a room, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich depends on your needs. You can use the balcony if its area allows. A prerequisite is to maintain the temperature regime: during the day - twenty-five degrees, at night eighteen. You need to stock up on plastic bags and patience, as it is a troublesome business to grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round.
Longitudinal holes are made in polyethylene bags in a checkerboard pattern, only four rows. The length of the hole is eight centimeters, and the distance between them is twenty-four. In these holes, young strawberry bushes are planted. Bags, fifteen centimeters in diameter and up to two and a half meters high, are placed on the floor in one tier. If they are smaller or the height of the room allows, multi-tiered placement is allowed. 2-3 bags are placed per square meter of area, filled with a substrate from a mixture of peat and perlite.
Sow seedsdirectly into the bags is ineffective. It is better to buy seedlings or grow them yourself. Before landing, she must be in hibernation. To do this, use a freezer or a cold cellar. In this matter, the prospect is encouraging: after the harvest of the first year, you will have your own seedlings.
Future landings need to be provided with food. For this, an irrigation system should be built. Tubes for droppers are suitable, which lead to each bag: from below, from above and in the middle at a distance of 55 centimeters. The ends of the tubes are connected to a pipeline located above the bags, each of which requires two liters of water during the day.
Lighting plays an important role in growing strawberries. It should be adjusted so as to bring it as close to natural as possible. For 8-12 hours a day, the lamps must be on, and the rest of the time - off.
Strawberries in a greenhouse. Benefits
- Possibility of growing berries all year round.
- No dependence on weather conditions. It's no secret that rain and dampness reduce yields by 25 percent. A berry in a greenhouse is not affected by these phenomena.
- There is no need for additional land resources.
- Expenses associated with growing berries pay off in just one season.
- Greenhouse-grown strawberries are better accepted by supermarkets.
- Great demand for berries in winter makes it possible to make decent money.
- Crop care in a greenhouse is easier than in an open-air garden.
- Business Profitability Indicatorcan be closer to one hundred percent.
Disadvantages of growing strawberries in a greenhouse
If you decide to build a berry business, the question will definitely arise how to grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round for sale. Take your time and don't make hasty decisions. The fact is that here, as in any business, there are problems.
- First you need to solve the issue of heating. If it is not available due to limited funds, you can immediately forget about the idea of growing strawberries all year round.
- To grow crops in greenhouse conditions at the initial stage, funds will be required, and considerable ones. First you need to build a greenhouse with a system of artificial lighting, irrigation and pollination. Purchase all necessary equipment and planting material.
- The problem lies in the constant care of the plants. Not everyone can do it on their own. Sooner or later, the question of hiring auxiliary workers will arise. And these are additional costs. It may be cheaper for someone to grow strawberries in the open field. Everyone evaluates their own capabilities.
Types of greenhouses
- Film covered rooms. Such greenhouses for growing strawberries require a minimum of costs. Perhaps that is why they are available to novice gardeners. But, there is a huge minus: the film does not protect plants from frost in winter. The greenhouse cannot be properly heated. So in a harsh climate, using such greenhouses is very risky.
- Glass greenhouses are rather bulky structures that need a foundation. Butthey can be heated and the walls are transparent.
Polycarbonate greenhouses are advisable to build for organizing a serious business for many years, since such premises have a long service life, they are durable and light, although the most expensive
How to grow seedlings?
First you need to plant a plant, and then start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round. Business directly depends on the quality of planting material. His preparation has some peculiarities. Self-grown seedlings will reduce the cost of its purchase. There are many ways to get a plant for planting.
One of them is the use of young rosettes, for which in the fall, before the onset of frost, you need to carefully dig rooted young tendrils from the mother plantations. Freshly harvested seedlings with open roots should be stored in a basement or refrigerator, with an air temperature of 0-2 degrees. But, some experienced field farmers-entrepreneurs consider it unprofitable to allocate special areas for mother plantations. It brings losses.
Cassette seedlings
Based on the rich experience of Russian growers, a more suitable option is to use cassette seedlings if you start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round. The yield when planting this type of seedlings is much higher. The overgrown root system quickly takes root and fully providesbeneficial plant nutrition. It will take about one and a half months to get cassette seedlings.
To do this, young tendrils are separated from mother plants and placed for one hour in a cool room, 0-+1 degrees for cooling. Then they are planted in plastic containers with cells, after filling them with a nutritious earth mixture. After 2-3 days, the roots grow by 3-4 centimeters, and after 10 days the root system is fully formed.
In the first month, it is necessary to ensure that direct sunlight does not fall on the seedlings. Only after five weeks, young plants can be taken out into the sun. By this time, the cell is filled with roots, and it may well transfer the transplant to a permanent place of growth. Growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round should begin with the use of self-pollinated remontant varieties, such as Korona, Kimberly, Florence, Marmolada, Honey, Anannasovaya, Selva, Sakhalinskaya and others. Otherwise, you will have to manually pollinate each flower. Strawberry Festival Chamomile, Yunia Smaides is ideal if you are growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round in Siberia. These varieties are representative of the high yielding industrial type of this crop.
Berry business in a greenhouse
It is possible to successfully build an indoor strawberry business with sufficient funds. A year before planting in the greenhouse, it is necessary to start preparing planting material in the open field. The soil should be chosen slightly acidic, loamy or neutral. It should have enough humus. For reference: in order to occupy 1 hectare of greenhouse area with strawberry seedlings, you need to establish a mother plantation in the open field of 150 square meters.
Specialists and amateur gardeners know several ways in which you can get planting material. But, the most fruitful are seedlings from two-year-old plants. They are transplanted into heated greenhouses in autumn, in October-November according to the scheme of 20x30 centimeters. In dry weather, young plants should be watered.
Caring for greenhouse strawberries
When rapid flowering begins, the greenhouse needs regular ventilation. This reduces air humidity and associated plant diseases. At this time, top dressing is carried out using carbon dioxide. After its implementation, fruiting occurs earlier and yields increase.
Strawberries are demanding on moisture. But water should not fall on the plants, watering is carried out at the very root. In Western countries, the soil in the greenhouse is covered with a black film. It prevents the berry from touching the ground, weeds grow more slowly, and the ground retains heat better than a film of a different color.
The procedure of artificial pollination of strawberries is being carried out in the greenhouse. On small plantations this is done by hand 2-3 times a day. After a few days, pollination is repeated. If the greenhouse occupies huge areas, then during flowering, beehives are placed in it withbees.
Strawberries are harvested from mid-March to late April under artificial lighting, without it, berries are harvested at the end of March - mid-May.
