Gigantella Strawberry: Variety Description, Reviews

Another advantage of this plant is its unpretentiousness in caring for strawberries, and how to properly care for strawberry bushes will be discussed a little later.

How to properly care for strawberries

It's hard to find anyone who doesn't love the sweet, juicy fruits of strawberry bushes, as they are so bright and fragrant. This plant can also be a beautiful addition to a front garden. If planted around the perimeter, it can create a thicket of green shoots through which flowers will first emerge, and then berries will form in their place. When planting, gardeners undoubtedly want the sweetest and largest berries, and they also want the bushes to bear fruit abundantly. This is quite possible with proper care for this strawberry variety.

Although this variety produces the largest berries, these particular bushes will require the most attention. It's worth noting that this strawberry variety is commonly known as "Maxim." When planting this variety in your garden, you'll have to prepare for the bushes' constant whims, but once you've harvested large, delicious berries, you'll undoubtedly forget all about the time spent tending them.

This plant originated in Holland, where gardeners cultivated this variety of large, sweet fruits. Each berry can weigh up to 100 grams, which is where the strawberry bushes got their interesting name. According to the variety description (photo) and reviews (video), the "Gigantella" strawberry produces berries that are not only incredibly large but also have a rich, very sweet flavor and juiciness. The flesh of each fruit is quite dense, making it suitable for transporting the harvest to distant plants or storing the strawberries in boxes for a while.

If you look at gardener reviews on websites, you'll see that most are very positive about this type of strawberry bush, as it can be grown in absolutely any type of soil. Since the bushes can grow to a height of about fifty centimeters, the plant is completely resistant to large accumulations of moisture and is much less susceptible to various diseases than its counterparts. Gardeners consider the large bushes to be a disadvantage, making them difficult to place in a front yard or garden. It is recommended to plant no more than four strawberry plants per square meter. Also read about strawberry variety "Elizabeth 2".

According to the variety description (photo) and reviews (where to buy), the Gigantella strawberry is a rather heat-loving plant, so it shouldn't be grown outdoors where the bushes will be exposed to cold winds. This variety can be grown in a greenhouse, but it's important to provide the seedlings and bushes with constant and adequate light. If the plants don't get enough light, the berries will be large but taste too sour.

Proper care of plant bushes

In some cases, after a bush has fruited, gardeners may leave all the green leaves on the plants, and they also don't trim off any old or yellowed leaves. Gardeners explain this by saying they want to protect their plants from cold and freezing under snow. In some cases, this is a perfectly reasonable practice, as old foliage helps enrich the soil with minerals and nutrients. These leaves also attract earthworms, which in turn loosen the soil around the roots, where a regular hoe can't reach.

However, it's not uncommon to hear less-than-favorable reviews about this type of strawberry plant. This is because cutting off the foliage prevents the plant from producing flower stalks, something inexperienced gardeners are often unaware of. For this reason, it's crucial to remove all foliage remaining from the previous year, but this procedure can be easily performed even during fruiting. As the variety description (with photos) and reviews of the "Gigantella" strawberry suggest, this procedure will allow more light to reach the berries, speeding up their ripening process and making each fruit sweeter.

Is there a need for additional feeding, and how to prevent diseases?

It is necessary to carry out from time to time strawberry fertilizing Solutions and additives that will help increase the bushes' yield and speed up the ripening process. Furthermore, these bushes will need to be treated against various harmful insects and fungal diseases. Each of these treatments should be performed at least once a year, and if necessary, the feeding and treatment can be repeated up to four times throughout the year. Even without replanting, strawberries can bear fruit for at least eight years in the same location. Fertilizing will undoubtedly be necessary to ensure the bushes receive nutrients not only for growth but also for subsequent fruiting.

When spring arrives, strawberry bushes of the "Gigantella" or "Maxim" variety, according to the variety description and photos with reviews, should be treated with special solutions. Products such as Gumi or Fitosporin are best, and they can be purchased at any gardening store.

Apply only as directed in the included instructions. As soon as the first flowers appear on the bushes, add five drops of Fitoverm to each solution and then spray the plants with it to nourish them and improve fruit set. Once each bush stops producing fruit, the gardener will need to reapply the solutions to disinfect the soil and remove all bacteria.

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Additional fertilizers are also useful for this variety; to slightly improve the soil composition, it is necessary to use regular compost; for this, one bucket of the additive is used per square meter.

How to properly renew plantings and protect plants from the coming cold weather

"Maximka" is very sensitive to cold weather, so frost can completely destroy the plant if the bushes aren't prepared for winter. As soon as the first night frosts arrive, gardeners should cover the plants with double lutrasil. This material will help retain heat and prevent frost from destroying the strawberry bushes. Once the plants reach four years of age, it's time to replant each bush that has reached four years of age.

This procedure is recommended only during the warmer months. Ideally, mid-July is the ideal time for replanting. When replanting, be very careful with the roots of the shrubs. Damaging the root system can make it difficult for the plants to establish in their new location or even cause them to die.