The strawberry bed is planted to specification, faithfully watered and weeded. It is exciting to see the first blooms of the June-bearers in early May in anticipation of those fresh luscious berries. Suddenly there is something wrong. The leaves don’t look quite right. The fruit doesn’t seem to be as big and luscious as was expected.
There are a few common problems, most can be treated with an easy fix. Identifying the problem may pose more difficult than the treatment in some cases. Either way, there is hope for a bountiful crop of sweet and juicy strawberries.
Wilting or dying plants. Typically from not getting enough water. Strawberries need one to two inches of water a week. Depending on humidity levels and wind drying out the bed, they may need more.
Holes in leaves or in fruit. Insects and birds will both cause this damage to the plant. Inexpensive netting can be placed over the bed to prevent birds from eating the fruit. There are a number of commercial and organic pesticides that can be used to control insects.
Red or yellow leaves. Yellowing leaves can be caused by too much water, high alkalinity or high salinity in the soil. Red leaves can be caused by nematodes if other symptoms such as small fruit with fewer fruit on the plant, wilting leaves and less runners being produced. Adjusting watering and soil testing will treat yellow leaves. Nematodes are a little trickier to fix. Most likely it would be more feasible to have the plants destroyed. If nematodes have been diagnosed positively, the strawberry bed will have to be moved to another location completely with new plants being planted.
Older leaf veins are brown while new leaves stay green and don’t wilt. Verticillium wilt is a fungus in the soil that will cause this. Don’t plant strawberries in a patch that has had tomatoes, potatoes, peppers or eggplant as these are plants that commonly harbor the fungus. Use disease free plants to begin with. There are also some disease resistant varieties.
Lots of big healthy leaves but little flowering. Over-fertilizing will cause the plants to grow big and healthy but will not help the flowering process.
Spots on leaves and stems. Excessive wind directly on the plants will cause spots on the leaves and stems of the plant. A barrier to protect the bed may be needed in very windy locations.
Fruit doesn’t turn red but stays pinkish-grey and is soft. The fruit is getting a sunburn. Plant the bed in a partially shaded area or use an umbrella or canopy to shade.
This is not an extensive list of problems with strawberry plants, but these are common problems that can occur in the strawberry bed. In some cases like nematodes and Verticillium wilt it would be a good idea to have the plants or the bed tested before destroying an entire bed. It could be something much simpler and less drastic like a soil deficiency that can be easily remedied. Taking care to make the plants happy will ensure a bountiful harvest of delicious strawberries.
Heather Grant - Heather lives on a small farm in the Midwest with her husband and three boys. She loves to spend time with her family and is found ...
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