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Mystery Strawberry Ailment and Advice

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Hi All,

I have been nurturing a crop of plants for two seasons now but a few of them wilted and died. I pulled them up but I am looking for advice on my remaining plants, which look healthy in some ways. Photos will be attached.

I am trying to diagnose any disease they have and work out if I should just discard them and start again, although that will mean no strawberries for two years as I pull off first season flowers! There is quite a bit of new growth but not sure if that is a lost cause or not.

My questions are:

Which disease is this? Is it Verticilium wilt or anthracnose crown rot? Or something else?

Can it be treated?

Shoudl I discard and start again?

Extra info is that my plants got an aphid infestation in the season which they coped with. I sprayed with garlic tea and ants seemed to enjoy the area which I assume meant that they were feeding from the aphids. I got strawberries that were fantastic tasting but not enough and some wilted and dried up. Plants are imageimageimageCambridge Favourite. Planted in terracotta pots (which I now know is a mistake).

Any help greatly appreciated!

BTW, bad root pic is from a plant that died completely. Others seem to be better.

Rob

Posts

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,884

    Have you checked for vine weevil Rob?

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • ClaringtonClarington Posts: 4,949

    As an aside; strawberry plants are only usually any good for three years and is recommended they are replaced after that. By pulling your first seasons flowers are you just denying yourself fruit for no good reason?

  • Rob45Rob45 Posts: 14

    Ladybird,

    There are no signs of weevils or grubs. No leaves have been eaten and I never saw any weevils so I ruled that out for now.

    Clarington,

    I know about the 3 year lifespan, I bought them as young plants last year and actually kept a few flowers and berries but removed most. All advice said to do that to promote crown strength for years 2 and 3 as yields will be higher overall.

    thanks for posting

  • Aster2Aster2 Posts: 629

    Rob, next time with new plants, I wouldn't bother removing the flowers and berries in the first year: the advice in my RHS allotmenteering book is that it's not necessary. After all, if you're only going to keep the plants for three years, there isn't much to be gained by not having any crop in one of the three seasons.

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117

    They look quite congested Rob. Is there a reason for having them in pots in the ground rather than directly in the ground itself?

    I get a bit of damage on mine as time goes on, which is normal, and I remove any dead or ropey looking leaves. This also helps sun and heat into the fruits themselves. Something that's been in short supply this year! 

    As with many plants - especially fruiting ones - good air flow is important. If the plants still seem viable, I'd space them out a bit and get them in the ground. If your ground's not brilliant, you can keep them in pots or troughs, but give them plenty of space. A potash feed to help with fruiting is useful earlier in the season. I give mine a bit of tomato food when they get going, but I don't coddle them too much either. Soft plants are more susceptible to pests and diseases.

    Mine are all in pots as I had nowhere for them to go when I moved here. They'll probably just stay in them. image

    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Rob45Rob45 Posts: 14

    Aster 2,

    Thanks, I actually stopped by a pick your own strawberry farm yesterday and their plants looked like first year seedlings too! Maybe I'll give up removing first year flowers next time. 

    Fairygirl,

    Good points, the whole story here is that I put them in 3 sized pots and made a tower, but it wasn't as successful as I hoped so I just took them apart and left them as potted plants. I might try putting them in the ground to see how it goes And feed them less next year.

    Rob

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