Splitting Strawberries

I've just noticed that some of my strawberries are splitting right at the top. Not fully open, just looks like the skin is stretched. The plant is in a container and kept out of the rain, and watered by myself when needed. It is only the nearly ripe ones.

Can anyone tell me what causes this, or even better, how to avoid it for the rest of them.I do not feed the plant.

And are they still edible? I presume they are.

Thanks.

Becks. xx

Is it splitting or have critters been having a lick or worse? I've got miniscule lizards - about 3" long - around the garden that not only move at the speed of light but love to suck on strawbs. Sometimes they even get their lilliputian teeth into them. Leaves a mark a bit like a split.

I've just tried to take a decent picture for you of the next one due to ripen. I've already taken the original two off to investigate. They were a bit worse, but when I put them on my kitchen counter, quite a few tiny, minute little bugs come off them. And I mean tiny, like a light brown/grey colour.

Here is the next one up...all pics the same berry.

I'm puzzled about the bugs, as they weren't on the first ripe one I had. It was perfect! Do you think I am overprotecting it my keeping it covered from rain, so it's not getting 'washed' so to speak? The only reason I do it, as when I researched about my variety, it said the fruit was very sensitive to rain damage, so have kept it protected.

Looks like mealybugs to me, a general problem with plants in greenhouses or houseplants. What are the leaves like?

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=201

Those pics on that site look slightly similar, but they were really too tiny (and fast) for me to look at properly. We're talking breadcrumb size. I just squished them. They seemed to come out of the leaf part, not off the actual berry.

The leaves are perfect Leggi, apart from a few had gone purpley colour, but I gave her a lovely haircut yesterday while I was doing my toms, getting rid of all the older leaves, as she was really getting bushy, but no sign of that waxy stuff as the article suggests, or sooty mould.

Well, I've took her out of her protected spot, and she is getting rained on now, as I type. So I still don't know.

It's not something I've had to deal with myself Becks, but I would have done exactly the same as you, move the plant out in to the garden and just keep an eye on it over the next few days. The strawberries will also benefit from a bit more light and hopefully it'll speed up ripening. Keep us updated.

Leigh

Well, she's just been drowned now by a sudden heavy downpour! LOL Poor love won't know what's hit her. She's used to being traipsed through the house being shunted from the back to the front garden to get more sun, and now her first proper shower! I do so get attatched to my plants.

Oh guys, this strawberry plant is worse than looking after a child!!

New problem, not sure if related to the original problem. Just checked her over, and one of her leaves is black at the tips and fuzzy, and some of the new shoots are coming up the same. Any ideas?? Please.

 There are no visible bugs.

Italophile/Leggi,

This is a picture I just took of one of those bugs. This fell off the strawberry pictured above when I shook it. Any ideas?