Growing strawberries as a business is an excellent solution for entrepreneurs who understand agriculture. The juicy and aromatic berry is in high demand in retail stores and catering establishments; your own farm will fully pay for itself in just 2 years. The strawberry business is not too complicated, but when organizing it you will have to take into account many important details on which the success of the project depends.

• Technology for growing strawberries for sale
• How to start a strawberry growing business?
• Tips for growing strawberries
• Subtleties of implementation
• How much can you earn from growing strawberries?
• How much money do you need to start a business?
• Which equipment to choose
• Which OKVED code should I indicate for a strawberry growing business?
• What documents are needed
• Which tax system to choose

Technology for growing strawberries for sale

To achieve high profitability, it is better to combine open beds with greenhouses. This approach will help:

• save energy in the summer;
• extend the fruiting season from early spring until frost;
• in heated greenhouses, crops can be obtained all year round;
• the opportunity to experiment with varieties, selecting the most delicious and productive ones.

Industrial cultivation of berries has a number of features. To create open beds you need fairly large areas. To protect yourself from pests and simplify planting care, the beds can be made raised, and the space between the berry bushes and between the rows can be mulched with peat, sawdust or agrofibre. Growing strawberries in open ground makes it possible to get a good harvest; the berries have a particularly bright taste and delicate aroma. The beds have one drawback - they can be harvested no more than 1-2 months a year.

Greenhouses should be placed next to open beds. For successful cultivation of strawberries, structures made of cellular polycarbonate on a metal frame are suitable. The construction of such a structure is not cheap, but a permanent, permanent greenhouse will last for several years and will not require repairs.

Growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round is quite an expensive undertaking. The colder the region, the more you will have to spend on heating and heating the plantings. It is most profitable to grow berries in the middle zone. In summer, the greenhouse can operate without additional heating; in winter, you can save on electricity by using biofuel.

How to start a strawberry growing business?

To understand how to make money growing strawberries all year round, you need to study several business plans for similar productions. They indicate a complete list of upcoming expenses, as well as calculate future income and the overall profitability of the project. With proper operation, the enterprise will pay for itself in 2 years. The larger the production, the higher the profitability, but the initial and ongoing costs in this case also increase.

The easiest way to organize a strawberry business is on the territory of a former state farm, which has sufficient areas of fertile land. On this base you can arrange open plantations and greenhouses. Land is bought or leased, for this you can get a government subsidy or a preferential loan.

Register a legal entity. The most convenient way to run a strawberry business is on your own farm. This legal form allows you to significantly save on taxation and allows you to count on additional benefits and subsidies.

Build greenhouses. Designs from 100 to 250 sq. m. provide good profitability. m. You can start with 1 greenhouse, after a year the farm should be expanded. To grow strawberries all year round and make labor easier, the shelters are equipped with an automatic watering and ventilation system. Winter greenhouses require a reinforced cinder block foundation and a well-thought-out heating system. It is most profitable to combine electric or water boilers with biofuel from a mixture of rotted manure and straw. The mixture is laid out on the beds and covered with a layer of soil. Biofuel maintains the ideal temperature for 3-5 months and serves as additional nutrition for plants.

Choose the right strawberry variety. Hybrids of the latest generation of Dutch, Polish, and Russian selection are suitable for greenhouses. Consumers prefer large, juicy berries of bright red or red-pink color with a pronounced pleasant aroma. To increase profitability and reduce the number of defects, choose a strawberry variety with fairly dense berries that hold their shape well. These strawberries store well and can withstand transportation without problems.

At first glance, it seems that everyone loves strawberries and organizing such a business is a great idea. And this is true, because what can you build a profitable business on if not food. But, before doing any business, you need to find out all its features - pros, cons and known problems (as well as, of course, ways to solve them).

Perhaps you should start your journey at home (for example, in bags using the Dutch method) - and if the room is warm, you will also receive fruits all year round. Of course, growing strawberries at home will not be a million-dollar business, but rather an additional income or hobby. But you can try different methods, varieties, and then move on to the greenhouse.

Why do you need a strawberry business?

Usually the strawberry picking season is in early summer - competition is strong and it is difficult to enter the market. During the rest of the year, if you find garden strawberries anywhere, they cost fabulous money.

So why not try to harness your entrepreneurial flair and start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round? This is such a high profitability! But don't think it will be easy! Strawberries are a proud berry, and they need a lot of attention. And for growing all year round, you will need to create special conditions - but everything is possible if you pay attention to the issue (and not just read forums, blogs, social networks and watch videos about business ideas and motivation on the Internet).

Learn from the advice there, but choose only useful information. But information without practice is nothing!

Advantages and disadvantages of growing in a greenhouse

If you grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round, you can get the following competitive advantages:

• year-round fruitfulness of strawberries;
• high demand in the off-season;
• a large number of wholesale buyers (remember winter and supermarkets?);
• When grown in open ground, the likelihood of the crop rotting/shrinking/deteriorating is higher than in a hydroponic greenhouse.
• extremely high profitability – payback in one season.

However, there are also difficulties and disadvantages:

• the need for artificial pollination of strawberries;
• 7-8 times more investment compared to growing in open ground not all year round.
• “broiler” increase in daylight hours is a big expense.
• strawberries will be slightly different from those grown in the village.

Your experience in working with soil in general and berries in particular is also very important. If your experience is minimal, but you still want to do everything yourself, it’s better to look for information, watch a video on YouTube, look through our resource or any other forum - collect information. You shouldn't step on the old rusty rake of other people's mistakes, right?

Primary costs

Buying seedlings

Strawberries are plants that reproduce by “whiskers” - healthy, beautiful and fertile plants from “whiskers” of the 1st and 2nd orders are suitable for your seedlings. When choosing, you should pay attention to the development and tortuosity of the root system of the sprout. An important point is the choice of the variety(s) you intend to grow. The best varieties are Glima, Cambridge, Elsanta, Volya, Kama, Red Capulet, Vigee or anything else.

Carefully study the information about these (or others that you have chosen) varieties, read forums, blogs, ask friends who grow strawberries in their country house or village. It may even be worth doing a little market research - buying different varieties of strawberries and asking different people you know which ones they like best - this way you will get the best and adequate ratios of one variety to another for your greenhouse.

Greenhouse construction

If you are going to grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round, the kind you have probably seen many times in the countryside - it has a frame covered with plastic film - this is one of the cheapest options. Such greenhouses are scattered in abundance throughout the land and are used not only for strawberries, but also for many other plants. However, remember that the film is a poor thermal insulator - if it freezes, the crop may suffer.

There is also an option to make a glass greenhouse - this option is more expensive, but it can be heated.

There are also more modern greenhouses made from polycarbonate materials - the most expensive of greenhouses, but they last longer, are more reliable and have many other comparative advantages.

When starting a business, you don’t have to take into account the costs of workers - you can work independently, but carefully evaluate your own free time and qualifications.

Dutch growing method

It will help you save on growing strawberries during the off-season, i.e. in winter. The Dutch method can be applied even at home, and it will also generate significant income. This is a way to grow strawberries “in bags”. Yes, yes, don’t laugh, it’s true - strawberries are grown “in bags” - in this situation, the bag acts as a mini-greenhouse and, as experience shows, this is an effective method.

You will need large bags that are filled with perlite and peat moss. Make holes in them in a checkerboard pattern - like a checkered sheet, with a diameter of 70-80 mm. Also, the bags must have an irrigation system.

To better understand the system, you should watch a video on the Internet describing Dutch greenhouses and read a place for delayed communication on the Internet - the forum. There are a lot of videos on the Internet about growing strawberries and wild strawberries in hydroponics - also a worthy option, much cheaper compared to growing in open ground.

However, not every variety of strawberry can be grown in hydroponics - find out the characteristics of the chosen variety.

Strawberry care

At first, your seedlings can be kept almost at home, but not on an open balcony, of course. Keep the seedlings in peat soil (available at garden stores). If you take soil from the garden or in the nearest village, you should fertilize it additionally - watch for the presence of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium. Your young seedlings need to be watered with clean warm water right to the roots, while avoiding drops of water getting on the leaves and berries. It may be worth looking towards drip irrigation. Think about the temperature in your greenhouse, as it is cold outside for strawberries. It is worth maintaining the temperature around 19 degrees.

Don't forget about lighting, pollination and regular fertilizer additions.

Product marketing problems

In order for your business to generate maximum income, you need to apply the best practices from the network (video) and do not hesitate to ask advice from experts - after all, only the wise learn from the mistakes of others, without making their own - do not be afraid to go to the forum and ask someone who has already grew strawberries at home, whether in bags, in hydroponics, or just at your grandmother’s in the village - you will not lose anything, but you can save money (sometimes significant) on the mistakes of others - which will only increase the profitability of your business.

So, if we talk about sales, then people running blogs and forums on the strawberry business advise following three different paths:

• Winter - sales through large stores.
• Summer - sale at the market (hire a seller).
• All year round - sale of berries to processors (strawberries, raspberries, wild strawberries, etc. - their interest is usually wide and constant).

The best sellers and businessmen will tell you that business security lies in diversification - so try to expand the circle of your clients so as not to lose income due to a broken contract or any other force majeure circumstances. Remember that your profit is in growing strawberries all year round, continuously, because your income in summer will be less than in winter, this is normal. Competition is your engine in winter, but also your brake in summer - after all, strawberries are grown in every village (sometimes even in a greenhouse, but quite rarely).

Profitability + Video

Profitability is a general economic term that characterizes the relationship between profit and cost (production costs) of products. The essence of the profitability of growing strawberries in a greenhouse (in hydroponics, soil or “bags” - it doesn’t matter) is to work all year round.

If we take into account all prices, including the purchase of seedlings in the nearest village, where the best (or almost the best) prices, rent, labor costs, taxes, fertilizers and maintenance - the average cost per 1 kg was 150 cents in 2012 (now about twice as much). If you grow in hydroponics, the costs are lower than if you grow in open ground. Accordingly, if you grow in bags using the Dutch method, the costs are lower than in hydroponics and open soil.

Take into account all costs when calculating profitability, be sure to take into account the error of calculations - what if you didn’t take something into account, what if everything goes a little differently.

Among the various business ideas, not the least are those related to the cultivation of various vegetable and berry crops. For example, some, and others - strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers. Looking at people earning big money in the gardening industry, you involuntarily begin to think about creating your own business. Strawberries in a greenhouse all year round as a business are one of the most profitable ideas in the field of entrepreneurship related to gardening.

Everyone loves strawberries, especially children. At the same time, not only juicy and fresh berries are respected and loved, but also preparations from the fruits of this crop - preserves, jams can become an excellent culinary ingredient or a real table decoration in winter. And “their own” fresh berries in the cold months are completely unattainable for many - unless they defrost frozen ones, but that’s a completely different story. That is why fresh and aromatic strawberries have always been and will be in great demand in the market, especially in winter.

Strawberries in their own juice - a delicious treat for sale

In a typical summer cottage, the strawberry season usually begins in early or mid-summer. If you plant the bushes in a greenhouse, you can get another harvest of berries before the cold weather. But when the warm days are over, strawberries can only be found on store shelves. And, it is worth noting, sometimes for a very immodest price. That is why the strawberry business can rightfully be considered an excellent way to make money.

On a note! Profits from strawberries can be made all year round. In the summer, this is the sale of berries for preparing preparations, but in the winter, most likely, they will end up on the table fresh.

If you believe the statistics, then every year there are more and more strawberry lovers in Russia. The consumption rate of this berry is constantly increasing by about 30%. This is why the idea of ​​investing in strawberry farming is a pretty good one. Moreover, organizing such a business is not that expensive even for a novice businessman, especially if he is an avid gardener who is well acquainted with growing strawberries. Moreover, sometimes you only need to make a capital investment once.

On a note! Don't expect immediate profit from growing strawberries. First you need to work hard so that you can then enjoy the fruits of your labor.

However, it is important to remember that strawberries are a capricious plant; it is important for them to receive constant attention and proper care. Otherwise, there is a high risk of losing everything. But a plantation that is carefully looked after will repay you handsomely, giving you a large harvest.

The best way to grow strawberries for profit is to cultivate them in a greenhouse.

Advantages of strawberry business in a greenhouse:

• the opportunity to get a large harvest from a modest area - about 50 tons of berries can be collected from 1 hectare of soil;
• good demand for products;
• independence from weather conditions and climatic zones - the crop can be harvested throughout the year;
• minimal investment in an already built business;
• fairly quick payback;
• the opportunity to find a regular consumer and establish regular sales of goods.

Disadvantages of growing strawberries as a business:

• large capital investments at the initial stage;
• careful and careful care of plants is necessary, the correct pollination process and long daylight hours (or the organization of additional lighting) are especially important.

In order to organize a strawberry growing business, you will have to worry about preparing permits. Of course, you can cultivate this berry illegally, but then you are unlikely to have regular customers, and it will be difficult to expand your business, because you will not be able to legally open retail outlets. The easiest way to register an individual entrepreneurship at first. At the same time, since you will be engaged in agricultural activities, your taxation will be more lenient.

Video - Unified agricultural tax

On a note! You will also need official registration of an enterprise to take out loans from a bank or receive various subsidies and subsidies for small businesses - now similar programs operate almost throughout Russia.

To grow strawberries, you will also need a plot of land of at least 120 m2 on which you will install, which should be equipped with racks for growing berries, lighting fixtures (to at least slightly simplify the process of caring for the plantation). You may also need various gardening tools and labor - all this is important to take into account when creating a business plan and calculating profitability periods.

You can rent a plot of land or grow berries on your own (to begin with, in small quantities). But it is better to immediately tune in to capital production, since “everything that is done for a while remains forever.” This is our mentality.

It is also important to think about how to ensure a constant water supply for the plantation. There is no point in installing it far from pipelines or wells, since you will spend a lot of money on the supply of life-giving moisture.

You will also need equipment for storing the collected berries until they are sold. With an established sales system, it will be snapped up quickly, but until it is transferred to a store or restaurant, it needs to be stored somewhere.

You may also need, among other things, various fertilizers and additives for plants, and, of course, you must buy the plants themselves. You can grow strawberries from seeds yourself or purchase already grown seedlings and simply plant them on your plot. In the second case, fruiting will begin earlier, but the cost of purchasing planting material will be higher.

Profitability and sales

Experts say that growing strawberries pays off quickly. As a rule, it takes no more than one season for profitability to reach 100%. The thing is that there will always be demand for strawberries. In the summer, of course, it drops somewhat, but in the winter you will be able to easily sell all the products grown. And the costs of organizing a business, as we have already said, are high only at first - this is the purchase of a greenhouse and equipment, seedlings, renting a plot, etc.

In order for the strawberry growing business to be successful, it is important to establish connections through which the products will be sold. Sales can be established in three ways.

1. Sales to shops, supermarkets, restaurants. It is important to establish ongoing supply contracts with these institutions. However, it should be remembered that both restaurants and stores will set high demands on the quality of the berries - they should not only be tasty, but also attractive.
2. Sales through our own retail outlets. This is not always a successful and profitable option; there are often unsold goods left. But you can sell the berries at a higher price than in the first case. You will also have to spend money on commercial equipment, rent and salary to the seller.
3. Home delivery of berries. An option that can be organized in a large populated area. You can sell berries through websites or social networks. However, a good, explosive advertising campaign is very important.

On a note! In winter, you can make money on strawberries much faster than in summer, since it is during the cold period of the year that the demand for them increases.

Also, when you have a berry, you will have to obtain another series of documents in order to be able to sell the product. This is a declaration of conformity to GOST and a phytosanitary certificate. Rosselkhoznadzor specialists can tell you how to get them - there are a lot of nuances that only they can explain.

Greenhouse for strawberries

What should a greenhouse be like to grow strawberries all year round? To begin with, it is thoroughly built, equipped, and insulated.

It is best to build a greenhouse for strawberries from polycarbonate - this material retains heat much better than glass, but film is not at all suitable as a covering material in winter. The easiest way is to purchase a ready-made greenhouse, install it on the foundation and be sure to consider a heating system for it. It would be good if the structure also had a special vestibule for the winter period, so as not to let warm air out of the room.

Also, the ventilation system in the greenhouse should be thought out - the plants need fresh air, and besides, the strawberries will be hot in the summer.

Another important aspect is lighting. In the summer, the plants have enough light that will penetrate through the polycarbonate, but in the winter you will have to additionally highlight the berries.

On a note! Strawberries can be grown in garden beds, or they can be cultivated using the so-called Dutch technology - in bags. In the second case, you will need to arrange special shelving. By the way, they will perfectly help to use the space in the greenhouse more efficiently.

The greenhouse must be equipped with a drip irrigation system. The fact is that strawberries do not like chaotic moisture; they like slow and gentle watering, which will not allow water to get on the delicate leaves of the plant and the berries themselves. And this is just a drip.

Varieties

An important aspect in organizing a strawberry business is the choice of variety. This is also not such a simple matter.

To begin with, it is worth informing that strawberries for growing in a greenhouse are usually chosen:

• self-pollinating, which does not require the presence of pollinating insects;
• remontant, which is capable of blooming several times per season and bears fruit constantly.

On a note! Many gardeners consider remontant strawberries to be inferior in taste, but in fact this is not the case. These varieties also produce a tasty harvest.

Table. Strawberry varieties for growing in a greenhouse.

Name, photo	Description
	It bears fruit with very large and beautiful, quite dense and juicy berries, which can weigh 50 g, and sometimes even 125 g. The variety has a high yield - from one bush you can collect up to 5 kg of sweet berries per season. The disadvantage is the need to annually renew the bushes to avoid crushing the crop.
	Produces smaller (up to 40 g) berries with a unique taste. Sufficiently dense and juicy fruits appear very quickly - just 1.5 months after planting the seedlings in the soil, you can harvest the first harvest. From one bush you can collect up to 1.5 kg of berries.
	It produces small, but very tasty and aromatic berries. High-yielding variety (2 kg per bush). It begins to bloom immediately after rooting and therefore bears fruit early. Forms few whiskers.
	A variety that does not form a mustache and actively bears fruit. It produces aromatic and sweet berries weighing about 40 g. By the way, these are not even strawberries, but wild strawberries.

When choosing a variety, be sure to think about what conditions a particular species needs for normal development and growth, as well as fruiting. For the strawberry business, the best ones are those that do not react strongly to changes in daylight hours, constantly bloom and bear fruit abundantly, and produce very tasty and aromatic berries.

Growing strawberries

You can grow strawberries by seed or seedlings. The second one is simpler and more reliable, and you will get the harvest faster. Seedlings can be purchased at a specialized nursery. Buy the one that grew from a first or second order mustache. Having purchased seedlings, you need to plant them in a greenhouse. Berries can be grown using various technologies - traditionally in garden beds and in the Dutch way. Let's take a closer look at the traditional method.

Step 1. In the greenhouse, be sure to form the beds correctly. They are usually 1 m wide, with small passages between them. The best soil for strawberries is layers of crushed stone, sand and black soil (layer thickness 6, 10 and 8 cm, respectively).

Step 2. Fertilize the soil by adding a little mineral fertilizer (for example, Sulfoammophos) - approximately 10 g per m 2.

Step 3. Make holes for the strawberry seedlings in a checkerboard pattern, approximately 30 cm apart and 10 cm deep.

Children and adults love the sweet, aromatic strawberry. During the long winter months, people look forward to summer when they can enjoy its taste. Why wait so long? You can grow strawberries in a greenhouse in winter. Moreover, a profitable business will bring considerable income.

What is the benefit

Nature has decreed that the mass ripening of this tasty and beloved berry occurs at 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 cannot be found. Frozen strawberries are sold in stores. But it cannot be compared with a berry picked from the garden.

An enterprising person can start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round and will not be disappointed in their choice of business. The main thing is to plant commercial varieties of berries that will bring profit. For reference: the consumption of strawberries by Russians increases from year to year to fifty percent. This means that growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round can be a good investment for the future. Of course, strawberries are a demanding plant. However, with proper care, this crop produces 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 is starting to bring in good income, start registering your business. This business is classified as an individual form of entrepreneurship and has the category of producer of agricultural products. This is subject to a single tax not exceeding six percent. To grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round as a business, registration alone is not enough. You need to stock up on several certificates:

• The berry belongs to a specific variety.
• Type of fertilizer with a brief summary of the composition of the mixture.
• License to sell strawberries.
• Declaration of conformity of GOST berries indicating information about the quality of the product and compliance with all required standards.
• Sanitary certificate.

Profitability of the berry business

This concept means the recoupment of all costs. This is the ratio between the profit received as a result of the sale of a product and the cost. Moreover, the business depends on the cost of all funds spent, plus the trade markup. If you first decide to start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round, you need to draw up a business plan taking into account all the pros and cons. It is better to turn to specialists for help.

The cost includes all costs: the price of seedlings, fertilizers, wages for workers caring for strawberries, rent for premises, and so on. The Dutch method of growing berries requires less input, which means costs will be significantly reduced. If the business is not large enough, you don’t have to hire workers and do it yourself. By saving on employee salaries, money is also saved. For example, the average cost per kilogram of strawberries in 2012 was one and a half dollars.

You can easily make a significant profit 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 aromatic berry, especially in winter, when strawberries are not easy to get. Therefore, you can set the desired price for the product and make a profit from this.

Sales of strawberries

The entrepreneur grew and harvested a good harvest of berries that meet all the requirements. The question arises about its sale. Some people do this 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 grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round as a business, then long before harvest, start looking for future customers for your products.

It should be taken into account that stores place very high demands, first of all, on the appearance of the berry: it must be clean, without leaves and twigs, and the color must be one-dimensional. If you can’t sell strawberries through a 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 bags. Watering, lighting, and pollination are easier to carry out using Dutch technology. First you need to find and equip a room, the area of ​​which depends on your needs. You can use a balcony if its area allows. A prerequisite is to maintain the temperature: twenty-five degrees during the day, eighteen at night. You also need to be patient, since growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round is a troublesome task.

In polyethylene bags, longitudinal holes are made in a checkerboard pattern, four rows in total. The length of the hole is eight centimeters, and the distance between them is twenty-four. Young strawberry bushes are planted in these holes. The bags, with a diameter of fifteen centimeters and a height of up to two and a half meters, are placed on the floor in one tier. If they are smaller in size or the height of the room allows, multi-tier placement is allowed. Per square meter of area, place 2-3 bags filled with a substrate made from a mixture of peat and perlite.

Sowing seeds directly into bags is ineffective. It is better to buy seedlings or grow them yourself. She must hibernate before planting. To do this, use a freezer or a cold basement. In this matter, the prospect is encouraging: after the first year’s harvest, you will have your own seedlings.

Future plantings need to be provided with food. To do this, an irrigation system should be built. Tubes for droppers are suitable, which are connected to each bag: from below, 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 per day.

Lighting plays a big role in growing strawberries. It should be adjusted to be as close to natural as possible. The lamps should be on for 8-12 hours a day and off the rest of the time.

Strawberries in a greenhouse. Advantages

• 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. Berries in a greenhouse are not susceptible to these phenomena.
• There is no need for additional land resources.
• The costs associated with growing berries pay off in just one season.
• Strawberries grown in a greenhouse are better accepted for sale in supermarkets.
• The high demand for berries in winter makes it possible to earn decent money.
• It is easier to care for crops in a greenhouse than in an open-air garden.
• The business profitability indicator can be close to one hundred percent.

Disadvantages of growing strawberries in a greenhouse

If you decide to build a berry business, the question will definitely arise of how to grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round for sale. Take your time to answer and don't make hasty decisions. The fact is that here, as in any business, there are problems.

• First you need to solve the heating issue. If you don’t have it due to limited funds, you can immediately forget about the idea of ​​growing strawberries all year round.
• Growing a crop in greenhouse conditions at the initial stage will require funds, 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 is the constant care of the plants. Not everyone can do this on their own. Sooner or later the question of hiring auxiliary workers will arise. And these are additional costs. Perhaps for some it will be cheaper to grow strawberries in open ground. Everyone evaluates their own capabilities.

Types of greenhouses

• Premises with film covering. Such greenhouses for growing strawberries require minimal costs. This is probably why they are accessible to beginning gardeners. But there is a huge disadvantage: the film does not protect plants from frost in winter. The greenhouse cannot be heated properly. So, in harsh climates, using such greenhouses is very risky.
• Glass greenhouses are quite bulky structures that require a foundation. But they can be heated, and the walls are transparent.

• It is advisable to build polycarbonate greenhouses to organize a serious business for many years, since such premises have a long service life, they are durable and lightweight, although they are the most expensive.

How to grow planting material?

First you need to plant the plant, and then start growing strawberries in a greenhouse all year round. Business directly depends on the quality of planting material. Its preparation has some peculiarities. Self-grown seedlings will reduce the cost of purchasing them. You can get a plant for planting in different ways.

One of them is the use of young rosettes, for which in the fall, before the onset of frost, you need to carefully dig out the rooted young tendrils from the mother plantations. Freshly harvested seedlings with bare roots should be stored in the basement or refrigerator, with an air temperature of 0-+2 degrees. But, some experienced field growers-entrepreneurs consider it unprofitable to allocate special areas for a mother plantation. This brings losses.

Cassette seedlings

Based on the rich experience of Russian plant growers, a more suitable option is to use cassette seedlings if you are starting to grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round. The yield when planting this type of seedling is much greater. The overgrown root system quickly takes root and fully provides useful nutrition to the plants. It will take about one and a half months to get cassette seedlings.

To do this, young tendrils are separated from the 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, having previously filled them with a nutritious earthen 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 can the young plants be taken out into the sun. By this time, the cell is filled with roots, and it may well be possible to 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. Chamomile, Junia Smides is ideal if you grow strawberries in a greenhouse all year round in Siberia. These varieties are typical representatives of the high-yielding industrial type of this crop.

Berry business in a greenhouse

You can successfully build your business by growing strawberries indoors if you have enough funds for this. A year before planting in the greenhouse, it is necessary to begin preparing planting material in the open ground. The soil should be slightly acidic, loamy or neutral. There should be enough humus in it. For reference: to occupy 1 hectare of greenhouse area, you need to establish a mother plantation in open ground of 150 square meters.

Specialists and amateur gardeners know several ways to obtain planting material. But the most fruit-bearing ones are seedlings from two-year-old plants. They are transplanted in the fall, in October-November, according to a 20x30 centimeter scheme. 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, fertilizing is carried out using carbon dioxide. After its implementation, fruiting occurs earlier and productivity increases.

Strawberries require moisture. But water should not fall on the plants; watering is carried out right to the roots. In Western countries, the soil in the greenhouse is covered with a black film. It does not allow the berries to come into contact with the ground, weeds grow more slowly, and the ground retains heat better than a film of a different color.

The procedure for artificial pollination of strawberries is carried out in the greenhouse. On small plantations this is done manually 2-3 times a day. After a few days, pollination is repeated. If the greenhouse occupies a huge area, then hives with bees are placed in it during flowering.

The strawberry harvest is harvested from mid-March to the end of April; without it, the berries are harvested at the end of March - mid-May.

Personal farming is becoming more and more popular and is increasingly reaching the market level. Such a business brings in good money, and it is also full of options for running it. Today we will look at growing strawberries as a business: profitability, self-sufficiency, reviews from successful entrepreneurs and their recommendations on how to avoid various troubles. Let's begin.

What is this business?

The strawberry business has a low barrier to entry and we will dwell on this point in more detail later. In addition, growing produce at home is quite easy and does not require too much equipment. But there are also disadvantages.

The organization requires quite high costs for heating and water consumption, especially in winter. If you can’t set up enough heating in the winter, you won’t be able to grow berries suitable for sale. In addition, you will constantly have to care for the plants.

It is unlikely that the owner of such a production will allow strangers to be in his own home, so your time will be spent on caring for strawberries, and although growing strawberries is not difficult, it is time-consuming. Remember that the self-sufficiency of this business is really high; a season is enough to recoup the opening costs.

Where should you grow berries?

You can grow strawberries in a greenhouse or in open ground, and the choice here is quite easy.

The open ground option is quite constraining for the entrepreneur, since the berries will bear fruit only from May to June, while winter production is completely impossible. A greenhouse is more suitable, and here’s why:

1. Allows you to establish year-round production of berries.
2. Eliminates the influence of weather on yield.
3. Costs far less land.
4. Has a great interest in shops and supermarkets.
5. Provides the opportunity to receive huge profitability in the autumn-winter season.
6. Excellent payback in just one season.
7. Makes the fruit more aesthetically pleasing.

Undoubtedly, the advantages are good, but it would be wrong not to note the disadvantages of the greenhouse. The disadvantages are the following:

• The costs of opening a greenhouse nursery are really high compared to the costs of an open field nursery.
• The need to organize artificial pollination.
• The berries begin to acquire a less natural taste, reducing the natural aroma.
• Constant lighting of the earth is necessary, close to natural, which will cost money.

Analyze the disadvantages and advantages of different options and choose what your industrial strawberry cultivation will be like.

Choosing a variety

In the case of home production, entrepreneurship depends solely on how successfully you purchase seeds and how tasty your berries turn out. In addition, the variety of strawberry affects the success of its cultivation in certain conditions.

Due to the fact that the berry reproduces with “whiskers”, remember that for business it is worth purchasing plants that have grown from “whiskers” of the first and second order. It is important to monitor the development of the rosette, the strength of the roots and directly find out about the yield indicator.

Here are the best varieties of strawberries according to many entrepreneurs:

1. Alba - fairly small bushes give high yields. It is considered an early variety, has excellent disease resistance, has bright red cone-shaped berries, and this species does not lose color for a long time. Excellent transportability.
2. Darenka is a domestic variety that resists fungal diseases and is not afraid of pests. Reviews speak of the excellent taste of the fruits, and they are also very large and elastic.
3. Octave is perhaps the earliest variety among those presented, ideal for growing in greenhouses, but also suitable for open ground. Extremely productive and quite resistant to mechanical stress during transportation. It has the most pleasant aroma.
4. Sonata - this variety is distinguished by extremely juicy and tender fruits, sweet taste and pleasant aroma, therefore it is one of the best for sales in stores. It boasts good resistance to pests and tolerance to temperature changes.
5. Rusanovskaya is another greenhouse variety that allows you to harvest several times a year. It has a fairly pleasant round shape of the fruit, a red juicy color, and is perfectly stored for a long time.
6. Honey is one of the best options for making money, as it begins to ripen extremely early. It has fairly large bright berries in the shape of a cone, but the taste is sweet and sour for everyone. The berries have a delicate aroma, tolerate temperature fluctuations well, but are sensitive to soil nutrition.

In addition to these representatives, professionals note decent characteristics and predisposition to growing in nurseries in the following varieties:

• Elsanta;
• Will;
• Kama;
• Cambridge;
• Red Capulet.

Looking for a greenhouse

We continue to search for the necessary premises for breeding. Of course, you can buy a separate plot where the greenhouse will be maintained, but the necessary acres are now difficult and expensive to find, so it’s worth asking yourself the question of finding land at the very beginning. If the search for a site is completed, then it’s time to find out what kind of greenhouses should be installed for industrial cultivation.

They are sold in the following types:

1. Glass.
2. Polycarbonate.
3. Film-frame.

Greenhouses of the latter type are the most budget-friendly and affordable, therefore they are more often bought up by novice entrepreneurs, but this is wrong. The diaper usually does not help protect plants from banal frosts, not to mention really low temperatures.

A glass nursery is better suited in this case; besides, the walls allow for excellent heating of the area inside. But the downside is the need for a special foundation, for which some people have neither money nor enough space.

Polycarbonate greenhouses are the most expensive, but the most effective in this business. They do not require a special foundation, are durable and really do their job honestly. Strawberries grown in a polycarbonate greenhouse all year round will recoup the costs of the business within a season, so it is better not to skimp if possible.

Once you download it, you can use it to create your own.

How to grow fruits?

Your future business is based on growing strawberries, so you need to be sure that you will be able to grow the crop correctly. For cultivation in a greenhouse nursery, avid gardeners have established two main types of strawberry cultivation.

The first one is really simple and understandable even for a novice entrepreneur: you need to strew the soil with strawberries in special separate containers. It is the area of ​​the nursery that influences the number of containers and their arrangement: in a row, in a cascade, vertically. You just need to prepare the most convenient layout and not worry about the soil under the greenhouse.

There is also a second option, the most popular among people already experienced in this field, which helps grow strawberries on an industrial scale. It is called Dutch and it is assumed that strawberry or wild strawberry seedlings must be planted in special bags with soil two meters long.

The seedlings themselves are planted through separate holes eight centimeters in diameter. This method wins over the first in that it allows you to fill much more space with plants. You can hang the bags, lay them out on the balcony, place them in the garage - it is important that the plants receive a sufficient amount of lighting and nutrition, as well as protection from external influences.

Whatever option you choose to grow strawberries all year round, it is important to properly approach the care of the plant and timely procedures. Here are some main rules and recommendations:

• Seedlings must be planted strictly in prepared soil. The soil can be taken from the garden; purchased soil is only suitable mixed with garden soil.
• Also, before planting, it is worth treating the soil with a solution of potassium permanganate. It doesn’t hurt to add fertilizer to the food.
• The tubers themselves must be planted low at an average depth, so as not to expose the root system and give the plant full light.
• Even when watering plants with a watering can, you can flood the leaves and the fruits themselves, so watch this.
• For a real business, it is preferable to acquire a real irrigation system that supplies moisture directly to the roots of the bushes. It is quite rare that a nursery is sold with the support of such a system.
• Water for strawberries specifically must be warm, and it is important to water at least once a day.
• It is necessary to maintain the plant at a temperature no higher than 25 and no lower than 18 degrees Celsius all year round.

Your business idea is to independently grow strawberries for sale, because you are solely interested in the fact that the grown strawberries can be sold in stores or in the hands of other people. Be sure to follow the implementation of each point.

We are trying to sell the goods

Enough money was spent on the opening, so I want to recoup the costs as quickly as possible. Having grown your own strawberries, it is important to make them look marketable and pleasing to the eye.

Home business allows you to treat the fruits more carefully, so be sure to try not to overfill or unnecessarily rearrange the strawberries. The truly correct solution is to collect the berries in plastic one-kilogram containers and transport them to the place where the goods are sold.

Where to start selling your own products? There is a dependence on the season. During the summer, it is quite effective to sell homemade berries at the market. In some cities, you may even be able to find a free corner or space near other vendors, but it is important to make arrangements to trade at your chosen location.

Winter time opens up more chances to earn money by selling berries yourself and selling them in supermarkets. Your project has the right to enter into an agreement for the supply of products, fulfilling the requirements of the store. It is also possible to build connections with strawberry processors for the production of juices, yoghurts and other products.

Video: growing strawberries - how to get large berries?

How profitable is the strawberry business?

To begin with, it is worth making a mini-table with an approximate list of expenses and amounts that will be spent on opening and starting this business.

Remember that you will have to spend some money monthly on purchases, utilities and transport services, as well as other costs. It’s even easier to figure out income: getting 5 kilos of berries from one square meter, a total of 1,500 kilos is collected from three acres. On average, you can earn 500 rubles per kilo of strawberries. In a month, a sale can bring in about 750 thousand rubles!

Well, in winter, the price of berries increases significantly, so from paying monthly expenses on average for the year you will receive 240 thousand, which makes the strawberry business a leader in profitability. In addition, in the future it will be possible to expand plantations and recruit workers.

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