Strawberries turn brown and dry. Why do the berries of garden strawberries dry out? Strawberry bushes - description

Almost everyone loves it, both adults and children. Due to its early ripeness, it appears on store shelves or at country houses earlier than others; it is bought not only for a tasty snack, but also to obtain the vitamins and minerals that are so necessary in the spring. useful substances, weakened by winter period body.

But it often happens that strawberry bushes are affected by various infectious diseases and in the spring the harvest is significantly reduced. Today we will look at one of the quite common problems, which happens in strawberry fields and we’ll figure out why the leaves turn red.

Natural process

Reddening of the leaves of a berry bush can be a completely natural process. This situation often occurs in the autumn, when the amount of light received by the plant decreases and daylight hours are shortened.

If such a situation occurs, then no treatment is necessary; you can just mow down the reddened leaves, where new green leaves will appear in their place.

Causes of redness

There are quite a few reasons for the appearance of red leaves on strawberries; they can arise either due to improper care behind the plantation and under the influence of pathogenic microorganisms.

Very often the cause of the formation of red spots is an infection. Suspicious is the fact that the leaves do not turn red completely, but selectively and in spots.

There may be many small spots on one leaf, which over time acquire a brown tint and can lead to complete wilting of the foliage. When the fungal spores have spread sufficiently, they can be seen on the lower part of the strawberry leaf.

If a fungal disease occurs, only treatment with special means, because there is no hope that with the onset of cold weather the fungus will freeze out.
Its spores will easily overwinter in the ground, and with the onset of spring warmth they will grow with renewed vigor and will infect the plantation until they populate all the bushes.

The peak point for the growth of fungal infection is the period of ovary formation on the bushes, which is why there is a significant reduction in yield.

To combat fungal infections, it is recommended to use 1 liter of product per 10 square meters. meters. It is necessary to spray the bushes of the plant when the massive regrowth of new young leaves begins.

Also enough effective means counts . To prepare this remedy you need to use 12 g of the drug per 10 liters of water. Use the solution to spray plants during the period of active growth of young leaves.

Next, after the bush has faded, you need to make the solution again, but now use 6 g of the product per 10 liters of water and spray again.

Fertilizer shortage

There is a possibility of red spots appearing on the leaves due to a lack of nutrients, this problem is also called nitrogen starvation, so let’s look at what to do in such a situation to preserve the plant.
In order to normalize the condition of the plant and resume its normal nutrition, it is recommended to carry out a balanced set that will contain components.

You can prepare such a mixture yourself; to do this, take a third of a bucket of humus and a teaspoon of mineral fertilizer containing potassium in overwhelming quantities. The resulting mixture must be mixed well and the rest of the bucket filled with water.

The liquid will take 3 days to mature and you can start feeding the plant. To fertilize, pour a bucket of water room temperature and stir 1 liter of the prepared mixture into it.

It is necessary to be careful so that the liquid does not fall on the bushes. It is recommended to cut off those leaves that have changed color, where young and green leaves will appear in their place.

Thickened plantings

Another common cause of reddening of the foliage is the thickening of the planting of bushes, which occurs if the necessary regular care of the plant is not available.

In order for the plant to develop normally and bear fruit abundantly, it is necessary to provide it with proper care. To do this, in the spring, all dead parts of the plant should be removed. The area should also be cleared of the top layer. Dig up and loosen the row spacing.

We must not forget about it in the autumn period. Special attention required to be allocated between rows. The thickening of the planting occurs due to the active growth of bushes and it simply does not have enough free space.

To prevent this from happening, dig up the newly formed bushes and plant them in the right place. This way you will thin out the thickened areas and plant some new bushes, which will soon bring you an additional harvest.

Strawberries are a favorite summer berry for those with a sweet tooth. Caring for her open ground, as well as in greenhouse conditions, is simple. Gardeners may only encounter problems with yellowing and drying of strawberry leaves on the bush, but the problem of dry berries and gradual wilting of the bush is much less common. What is the reason for this phenomenon, and how to help your favorite berry, you can find out by reading our article.

Drying of strawberries on a bush can be caused by a number of reasons, including the following:

We have voiced only common possible problems, which can affect the development of the berry. Basically, they are activated if the plant has been weakened. For example, fungal infection may manifest itself due to problems with watering the plant or improper feeding, and it is possible that in combination with the lack of prevention.

How to cure strawberries if the berries dry on the bush?

What should a gardener do to save his crops? Let's start with disease prevention. When planting, strawberries must be processed insecticides. These preparations are poured into the hole, after which the main soil substrate is added. The drugs are effective in combating gray mold, as well as mole crickets, which can overwinter in the soil. In addition, they insecticides can serve as excellent protection against fusarium, verticillium and late blight, from which strawberries also begin to have health problems.

Drying of strawberries, which is also accompanied by rotting processes directly indicates the presence of a fungal infection that originated due to improper watering and poor ventilation (if we are talking about a greenhouse). Water the strawberries regularly, but the soil mixture must dry out (1-2 cm deep) before the soil moistening procedure is repeated. Planting strawberries on dense soil mixtures without loosening components is also not recommended.

Yellowing and drying of strawberries may indicate a lack of trace elements and minerals in the soil. In this case, you need to carry out emergency feeding of strawberries with nitrogen and magnesium fertilizers in dry form (magnesium sulfate is possible), but with subsequent watering of the area. Organic fertilizers can also help in this case, but you need to make sure that the berries are not infected with a fungal infection, otherwise this kind of intervention will cause a backlash.

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March 27, 2016, 10:56

1. STRAWBERRY ANTHracnose

If infected with anthracnose, you can completely lose the entire crop. The disease is dangerous because after infection of plants it can long time don't show yourself in any way.

The disease affects the entire plant. Small, oblong, depressed, red-brown, then black ulcers appear on the tendrils and in the upper part of the petioles of young unfolded leaves. Gray round spots with a diameter of up to 3 mm appear on the leaf blades. The spots are surrounded by a purple border. Merging, they cover a significant part of the surface, the leaf dies. Flowers and fruits become infected from affected leaves and tendrils. The flowers look scorched and die. The fungus penetrates the receptacle of the ovary through the stamens. The fruit calyxes become discolored. On unripe fruits, single or group, depressed, dark brown to black spots with a diameter of 1.5-3 mm appear. As they dry, they acquire a chocolate-brown hue. On ripe fruits, depressed, rounded bronze-brown spots with a distinct edge are observed, then blackening spots of hard dry rot. The achenes darken, the lesion spreads cone-shaped inside the berry to a depth of 1 cm and has the appearance of a “dent from the thumb.”

Spots form on the stems gray and ulcers, also surrounded by a purple border. As the disease progresses, these spots merge. Thus, the plant is covered with a uniform brownish tissue, which cracks by autumn. The fruit clusters dry out along with the berries. This leads to the death of shoots.

In the presence of moisture, the affected areas of the berries are covered with a scab of mucous sticky spores of salmon pink or yellow color. In dry weather, diseased berries shrink or mummify.

Anthracnose rot of strawberry horns leads to sudden wilting and death of plants. On the affected sections of the horns, reddish-brown, sometimes blackening stripes or pockets of dead tissue are observed.

Similar symptoms appear with late blight necrosis of horns. The roots of anthracnose roots turn brown and rot, as a result of which plant growth is inhibited and the leaves become chlorotic.

The pathogenic fungus can survive in the soil and on plant debris for up to 6-9 months. in temperate climates, but quickly dies in the tropics and subtropics. In addition to seedlings and other plant materials, the disease spreads on the hands of berry pickers, their clothes and shoes, tools, vehicles, wind-blown water spray, and insects. The disease is especially dangerous in greenhouses and film shelters, on highly fertile or overfertilized soils with nitrogen, and in dense, poorly ventilated plantings.

The best conditions for the development of anthracnose are excessive humidity in autumn and spring. The pathogen persists on the affected plants.

COMBAT MEASURES

The main thing in the fight against anthracnose is to use for planting guaranteed healthy seedlings grown in specialized regularly ventilated plantings. For mass therapy of seedlings before planting and disease prevention, you can use immersion of rosettes (for 30 minutes) in fungicide solutions. For prevention, all infected plant debris should be destroyed and only healthy seedlings should be used. When the first signs of plant disease appear, spray with anthracol, quadris and metaxyl.

2. WHITE SPOT

White leaf spot is one of the most common diseases of garden strawberries. Several types of fungi are known to infect specific strawberry varieties.

The fungus attacks the generative organs (peduncles, stalks, sepals, cuttings) and leaves. With varying distribution, white spot can cause damage from 12% of the crop to its complete loss.

The most typical manifestations of the disease are spots of varying sizes that are clearly visible on the surface of the leaf. Initially, the spots are brown, small and most often round. As they increase in size, usually up to 3-6 mm, they become more oval. The dead tissue in the center of the spot clears up and becomes gray-white color. A clearly visible red-brown outline remains around it. With severe damage, the spots can merge and cause the edges and even entire leaves to die, the flower stalks turn brown and bend to the ground.

Manifestations can be different and depend on the variety, type of pathogen and weather conditions, mainly temperature. During warm and humid weather, the spots are atypical; they remain rusty-brown in color, without a distinct frame. Severe damage to leaves leads to weakening of the plant, and in extreme cases even to its death. Typical manifestations of the disease in the form of light spots with a brown frame can also appear on the peduncle, on the flower itself, the tendrils and the ovary of the fruit. In conditions of high humidity during the flowering period, the plant sometimes becomes infected with the trunks, from which the fungus spreads to the developing seeds and the surrounding fruit tissue, thereby contributing to the appearance of dry, dead brown-black spots around the blackened affected seeds. Most often, one to several spots can be seen on the fruit. Affected fruits lose their marketable value.

The development of the disease is facilitated by rain, dew, watering, thickened planting, and the application of excess organic fertilizer.

COMBAT MEASURES.

On fruit-bearing plantations established from healthy seedlings, control with chemicals is unnecessary. If white spotting is detected, the plants are sprayed with Falcon, Euparen Multi, Switch and Bordeaux mixture. It is also recommended to collect and destroy affected leaves. On mother plantations, control with chemicals is mandatory throughout the growing season.

To prevent white spotting, plants are sprayed with Ordan in the fall, and with Falcon or Euparen when leaves grow in spring.

3. Powdery mildew

Powdery mildew affects leaf blades, leaf petioles, mustaches, and garden strawberries. Initially develops on the underside of the leaf blade. A delicate, inconspicuous white coating develops on the affected leaves on both sides. During the years of disease outbreaks, an abundant powdery coating forms, especially in the center of the bush rosette and on the tendrils. Diseased leaves stop growing, become leathery, rough, and the edges of the lobules curl inward. Later, brown necrosis or a brown “tan” on the underside appears on the affected areas of the leaves. Affected tendrils curl and have curly, chlorotic leaves.

Powdery mildew is hardly noticeable on buds, flowers and ovaries. However, during the flowering period of garden strawberries (strawberries), during their development, normal pollination and fertilization do not occur. The berries turn out to be underdeveloped and ugly, covered with a waxy coating, become dry, and acquire a mushroom smell and taste.

Powdery mildew requires moist, warm air to develop. Such conditions are created, first of all, in greenhouses, where it can cause greatest harm. In areas with humid summers, powdery mildew also develops in open ground throughout the season and greatly depletes the plants.

The fungus reproduces by spores, which are spread by air currents and with planting material. To start plantations, you need to use healthy seedlings. The disease is less likely to occur when grown on high beds, in hanging and vertical crops.

Control measures powdery mildew:
When grown in open ground in areas of severe disease damage, preventive spraying with the preparation quadris during the spring regrowth of leaves. If signs of disease damage appear, spray strawberries after picking the berries with foundationazol, switch, and bayleton.

4. BROWN LEAF SPOT

Brown leaf spot is a common disease that causes mass damage in the second half of the growing season, followed by the death of leaves, as a result of which the plants weaken and this affects the winter hardiness of plants and the next year's harvest.

Brown leaf spot affects leaves, petioles, vines, sepals, stalks and berries of garden strawberries. Spots on the leaves form in June-July. At first they are round and purple, then in the central part they become gray-brown. Along the edges of the spots, a purple border persists for a long time. Later, the spots quickly increase in size, spread along the veins, between the veins, or from the edges of the leaves to the center and acquire an angular shape. Along the veins and on the surface of the spots in wet weather at the end of summer, pycnidia of the fungus are formed, forming many conids protruding from the pycnidia with light mucous tendrils. On the lashes of the tendrils and petioles of the leaves, the spots are brown, softening, and later become necrotic, and constrictions appear. Necrosis occurs on the sepals.

The fungus overwinters on the affected leaves of garden strawberries, causing new infections in the spring.

Preventative measures for brown leaf spot:
To prevent the disease, autumn spraying of garden strawberry plantations with the drug Ordan is effective. To start plantations, you need to use healthy seedlings. Preventive spraying during the period of spring leaf regrowth with Falcon, Quadris, Metaxil, or Ridomil. When growing strawberries in a biennial or perennial crop, spray with the same preparations after picking the berries.

5. BROWN SPOT

Brown spot is a common disease of garden strawberries, leading to the death of up to 30-50% of the active leaf surface of the leaves, which greatly weakens the plants. The disease reaches its maximum development in the second half of summer, during the formation of flower buds, that is, the formation of next year’s harvest. It affects leaves, petioles, tendrils, and, less commonly, sepals. The spots on the leaves are purple, small at first, later enlarging, angular or irregular in shape. When the leaf tissues die, they become brown in color. On their surface, black, shiny convex dots are located in disarray - the conidial beds of the fungus.

On the tendrils and leaf petioles the spots are small, slightly depressed, rarely with noticeable sporulation. Spores are spread by raindrops and insects. Most favorable conditions for the development of the fungus are created at high air humidity, moderate temperature and the presence of droplet-liquid moisture. The disease reaches its greatest development in the spring and at the end of the growing season of garden strawberries. The fungus overwinters on the affected leaves, forms spores in the spring and causes a new infection of healthy young leaves.

Measures to combat brown spot:
To prevent the disease, autumn spraying of plantations with the drug Ordan is effective. To start plantations, you need to use healthy seedlings. The disease is less likely to occur when grown on high ridges, in hanging and vertical crops. Preventive spraying during the period of spring leaf regrowth with the preparations Falcon, Euparen, Metaxil, or Ridomil. When growing strawberries in a biennial or perennial crop, spray with the same preparations after picking the berries.

6. WHITE ROT

White rot affects leaves and berries. The affected leaves first lighten, then dry out, and rot in wet weather; diseased berries rot. The surface of diseased leaves and berries is covered with a white coating consisting of mycelium and sclerotia formed on it.

The mycelium is resistant to drying out. In the summer, it performs the function of fungus reproduction. Its pieces are carried by air and, falling into damp places, produce vegetative mycelium. The fungus overwinters in the soil on plant debris in the form of sclerotia, on which a white coating of mycelium forms in the spring.

The best conditions for the development of white rot are created in damp and cool weather, especially in thickened and weedy plantings.

To prevent the disease, it is necessary to use only healthy seedlings for planting. The disease, as a rule, affects plants in open ground, but less often occurs when growing garden strawberries (strawberries) in greenhouses, on black film or in hanging and vertical crops.

Measures to combat white rot:
When the first signs of plant disease appear, spray with Derosal

7. GRAY ROT

Gray rot is widespread. In some years with humid, warm weather, during the harvesting period, the disease can affect 30-60% of the berries. It develops especially quickly and en masse in dense, poorly ventilated areas, with long-term cultivation of garden strawberries (strawberries) in one place. Foci of infection are old leaves, weeds, and damaged berries.

It affects berries, leaves, buds, flowers, stalks, ovaries and entire inflorescences. Berries are most typically affected. Softened, brown, rapidly enlarging spots with a grayish fluffy coating of pathogen spores on the surface form on them. The affected berries gradually dry out and mummify. Large, vague, dark gray or brown spots appear on the leaves. In wet weather they appear gray coating conidial sporulation. The stalks and ovaries become ringed with brown, weeping spots and later dry out.

To start plantations, you need to use healthy seedlings.

Measures to combat gray mold:
The disease is less likely to occur when grown on high ridges, in hanging and vertical crops. Contact of fruits with dry film and good ventilation reduce infection of berries with gray rot even in rainy weather by up to 2-5%.

Preventive spraying of garden strawberries (strawberries) during the period of spring leaf growth with Switch, Euparen, Topsin M or Derosal. In a rainy year in open ground, repeat spraying with one of these preparations immediately after flowering. Fungal spores are easily spread by wind and raindrops. During the summer, up to 12 generations of spores are formed. Therefore, it is unacceptable to leave berries and other parts of plants affected by gray mold on the site.

There are no completely resistant strawberry varieties to gray rot. Therefore, it is most profitable to grow strawberries as an annual crop, planting a plantation in the summer and uprooting it after harvesting.

8. PHYTOPHOROSIS (LEASON) ROT

One of the most harmful diseases of strawberries. Late blight (leathery) rot leads to a reduction in berry yield by 15-20%, and in some regions in some years almost to complete loss harvest. Late blight (leathery) rot affects all above-ground plant organs: berries, buds, flowers, inflorescences, stem tips, growing points.

The fungus causes the greatest harm to berries. Brown, lilac-tinged, hard, leathery spots form on ripe berries. The affected pulp of garden strawberries (strawberries) becomes elastic and does not separate from the rest of the berry. Sick berries are bitter. Green fruits become covered with light brown spots with a darker center and a light border, and acquire a hard and bitter taste. All affected tissue is penetrated by the mycelium of the fungus, and summer (zoosporangia) and resting winter (oospores) spores are formed there. Gradually the berries dry out and become mummified.

Spots on affected buds, flowers and inflorescences have irregular shape and brown color. There is necrosis of the growth point through which the fungus penetrates into the top part stem. At the same time, the stem turns brown, the bases of the leaf petioles and the rosette of the bush die. The fungus can penetrate into the roots, but rarely. In humid weather, a thick white coating of fungus forms on all affected organs, especially on berries.

The development of late blight rot is facilitated by the presence of drip-liquid moisture. Therefore, outbreaks of late blight (leathery) rot on garden strawberries (strawberries) are observed after rains and heavy dew. The disease appears at the end of May on rosettes and inflorescences, in June it is detected on buds and flowers. Late blight rot reaches its maximum development at the end of June - July, when the berries are severely affected.

The fungus overwinters in the form of resting oospores on infected plant debris in the soil, as well as in living rosettes of bushes.

Measures to combat late blight (leather rot):
Use of healthy seedlings, compliance with crop rotation, annual crop of garden strawberries (strawberries), correct mode watering and fertilizers. Spraying garden strawberries (strawberries) with Metaxyl, Ridomil, Quadris before flowering.

9. ROOT ROT

Root rot is caused by different pathogens. First, sharply demarcated areas of young, still white roots turn black, then black ringing, fast-growing spots appear. The roots become brittle and dry constrictions are found on them. Such plants lose part of the viable root system, are suppressed, bear fruit poorly, form weak lateral shoots or have almost none. The lower part of the rhizome, part of the rosette and leaf petioles gradually turn brown. Dry brown rot forms, plants are easily removed from the soil and die.

The disease is common in individual plots with permanent strawberry crops, as well as when growing them after many years of cultivating potatoes or vegetable plants. Plants get sick of different ages, but more young. Rot appears throughout the growing season.

Measures to combat root rot:
Correct agricultural technology for growing strawberries is the most important measure to prevent the occurrence of disease. Strawberries should not be returned to the same place earlier than after 4-5 years. You cannot fertilize the soil with poorly prepared and unrotted composts from plant residues of potatoes, vegetables and weeds, where rhizoctonia sclerotia remain in the mass.

Preventive spraying with the drug Ordan in the fall. In spring, the use of Trichoderma through a drip irrigation system is effective.

10. Verticillium wilt

The disease can, if it occurs in the first year, cause wilting and death of 30-50% of plants by the second or third year. The mushroom strikes vascular system, root collar, bush rosette and roots of garden strawberries (strawberries). The diseased bush first “settles”, then radical lodging of the leaves begins. Small chlorotic leaves appear in the center of the bush, and the plant turns reddish-yellow. On a cut of a diseased rhizome, a brown ring of blood vessels is noticeable. In severely affected bushes, the vessels in the leaf petioles and tendrils also become stained.

The disease begins to manifest itself during the period of ovary growth.

The causative agent of verticillium wilt can live on many weeds and vegetable crops. They can also be a source of infection. The main source of infection is the soil, where the fungus remains viable for several years.

Measures to combat verticillium:
Correct crop rotation and selection of predecessors for strawberries, use of healthy seedlings. If signs of plant wilting appear, immediately laboratory analysis, and in case of confirmation of plant damage by verticillium - spraying the plantation with foundationazole, benorate preparations or using these preparations with irrigation water in a drip tube. In the early stages of the development of the disease, as well as for its prevention, the use of Trichoderma is effective.

11. Root blight(redness of the axial cylinder of the root)

Root blight (reddening of the axial cylinder of the root) affects the root system of garden strawberries (strawberries). It appears on the warm, dry days of May-June in the form of sudden wilting of the entire plant or its lower leaves. The disease is accompanied by redness of the axial cylinder of the root, which is most noticeable in initial stage diseases. Later, the lateral roots and small roots die off and only the larger ones remain, blackened in their lower part, similar to a “rat tail”.

The leaves of the roots of garden strawberry plants affected by late blight become bluish-reddish, and, starting with the older ones, wither. Young leaves of diseased plants become smaller. The pathogen survives in the soil as zoospores. Penetrating into the root hairs, zoospores give rise to mycelium, which, growing, fills the entire conductive tissue of the root. The mycelium is colorless, without partitions, intercellular. Develops in root wood.

Zoosporangia form on the surface of affected roots at high soil moisture and in water after rains and irrigation. Throughout the summer, they are formed in the core cylinder of the root, after the destruction of which the spores germinate into a sprout, giving rise to the primary zoosporangium.

The main source of infection is the infected planting material and soil.

Measures to combat root blight:
The use of healthy seedlings, compliance with crop rotation, annual strawberry crops, soil treatment with Trichoderma through a drip irrigation system, the correct watering and fertilizer regime are the main measures to prevent this disease. If an infection is detected, treat the garden strawberry plantation with Metaxyl, Ridomil, Quadris through a drip irrigation system.

12. Fusarium wilt

A very harmful disease of garden strawberries. It affects the above-ground part of the bush and the entire root system. When infected, the bush gradually changes color, withers and dries out. The ovary on the affected bush does not develop. A diseased plant stops growing and dies. In the most affected bushes, the leaves and tendrils turn brownish. The most favorable conditions for the development of the fungus occur in the summer, especially in hot weather. Sources of infection can be weeds and some vegetable crops, as well as soil in which the fungus remains viable for several years on plant debris.

Measures to combat fusarium wilt:
Correct crop rotation and selection of predecessors for strawberries, use of healthy seedlings.

If signs of plant wilting appear, immediate laboratory analysis is required, and if plant damage to verticillium is confirmed, spray the garden strawberry plantation with foundationazol, benorate preparations, or use these preparations with irrigation water in a drip tube. In the early stages of the development of the disease, as well as for its prevention, the use of Trichoderma is effective.

13. Black rot

It affects garden strawberries (strawberries). Berries affected by the disease turn brown, become watery, lose their smell, taste and are initially covered with a colorless, later darkening coating, which is the mycelium of the fungus on which sporangia are formed. The causative agent of the disease develops on any rotting material, forming dark-colored spherical zygospores in the affected plant tissues. The development of the disease is promoted heat and relative humidity above 85%.

Measures to combat black rot:
Growing strawberries in a cover crop, on high ridges, or in a vertical crop eliminates the need chemical protection from this disease.

Chemical methods of control - autumn spraying of garden strawberry plantations with the drug Ordan, in the spring, with active leaf regrowth - spraying with Euparen, Switch.

Strawberries with dried leaves look untidy, there are few berries from them, as they say, like from a goat's milk, and such a plant spreads diseases to healthy plants. When I find strawberry bushes with dried leaves, I immediately take measures, which I will tell you about.

There are several reasons for the appearance of dried leaves, these include diseases and the activity of pests, in general, everything is as usual, everyone strives to deprive the owner of the opportunity to taste the sweet berry. If strawberry leaves dry out, the reasons may be:

• Dry soil, together with infrequent watering, when the strawberries feel like they are in a desert and there is not enough moisture for the lower leaves, as a result, they dry out from dehydration;
• Damage to the root system by late blight, late blight wilt, this disease is not alien to strawberry plants. The base of the root turns reddish and the leaves dry out. The manifestations of the disease are very deceptive; they coincide in time with the natural death of autumn leaves;
• Ubiquitous pests - strawberry leaf beetle and whitefly feed on leaf sap and the leaf blade itself, which leads to drying out of the leaves. Pests overwinter in top layer soils begin their subversive activities from the very first days of spring;
• On acidic and damp soils, strawberries and rust attack, I recognize them by yellowish-brown spots - fungal spores. It usually affects the lower leaves, eventually causing them to dry out;
• Various spots that appear on the leaves brown spots, also lead to the death of leaves.

As you can see, the reasons are different; it is important to separate a plant that is sick and affected by pests from one that simply lacks moisture.

Sick strawberry plants are stunted in growth and have a small rosette with short leaf petioles. Often the center of the rosette of such plants is “clogged” with small leaves.

Of course, it is possible to cure diseased plants, but it is easier to prevent them from becoming infected with insects and diseases. I take some simple measures to ensure that my strawberries are not exposed to diseases, as they say, forewarned is forearmed, namely:

• I return the strawberry plantings to their original place no earlier than after 4-5 years;
• I plant strawberries in the beds that were occupied by onions and garlic; their digging coincides with the moment of planting the strawberries. Moreover, there is a difference of two weeks, during which fertilizers have time to dissolve and the soil to settle;
• Before planting, I water the beds with phytosporin and a dark-colored solution of potassium permanganate at intervals of a week;
• When purchasing, I carefully inspect the seedlings; before planting, I dip them in a potassium permanganate solution in a basin for half an hour;
• In spring and autumn I spray with pest repellents;
• In the fall I cut off old leaves and burn them;
• On the eve of autumn frosts, I loosen the soil in the garden bed so that the larvae and pupae of pests freeze;
• In the first two years, until the strawberry bushes in the garden close together, I place a clove of garlic between them; pests do not like its aroma.

How to help strawberries with dried leaves

If, despite all the precautions, the pests are faster and the diseases are rapid, I take a number of measures to stop the strawberry leaves from drying out, namely:

• I'm getting the watering back to normal. I moisten the strawberries once a week, using a watering can of liquid on four bushes in the hot weather. On light and dry soils, mulching, for example, with straw, is used to retain moisture;
• If a whitefly appears on a strawberry, I make homemade traps: I wrap sticks with yellow tape with the sticky side facing out and place them half a meter apart in the garden bed;
• For pests I use spraying after the snow melts and just before flowering, when the flower stalks have already advanced but have not blossomed, I treat them with Actellik, Actara or Karbofos, and alternate the preparations;
• I cut off the diseased leaves and pour a solution of potassium permanganate from a watering can directly over the leaves;
• Severely affected plants, when most of the rosette has dried out, I remove;
• If there is space between the strawberries, I sow mustard spot by spot, then mulch the soil with it. If there is no space in the garden bed, I bring mustard stems from another garden bed.

You can find out why holes form on strawberry leaves and who leaves them

Both children and adults love to eat strawberries, so the demand for this berry on the market is consistently high every year. But sometimes amateur gardeners complain that the berry harvests are not as good as before, that the strawberries have been attacked by some kind of disease from which there is no escape. Sometimes the cause of a bad or spoiled harvest is insects, whose destructive activity is not immediately apparent. We will talk about diseases and pests of berries and how to protect strawberries from them in this article.

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Strawberry bushes - description

Homemade strawberries are a herbaceous perennial garden plant, as popular in our gardens as raspberries, currants and gooseberries. A close relative of the strawberry is the wild strawberry. Strawberries, thanks to their unsurpassed taste, are cultivated in European, Northern and South America. The strawberry stem is erect, from 15 to 40 cm high, large trifoliate basal leaves of the strawberry, collected in a rosette, consist of ovate-rhombic leaves, wide-toothed along the edge, on short petioles. Both the stem and leaves of the strawberry are covered with glandular hairs. Large strawberry flowers with a diameter of up to 2.5 cm in quantities from 5 to 12 pieces make up a corymbose inflorescence.

What is commonly called a strawberry - a juicy red cone-shaped fruit - is actually an overgrown receptacle on which there are real strawberry fruits - small nuts. Garden strawberries have three times more chromosomes than wild or green strawberries, so they are not cross-pollinated with any other species. Strawberries are poorly transported and do not last long when fresh.

Strawberries are more likely than berries introduced into cultivation not so long ago, such as blueberries and blackberries, to be infected with fungal diseases and attacked by pests, but proper planting and care of strawberries ensures that these risks are kept to a minimum.

Strawberries are withering

If strawberry bushes quickly lose turgor and wither, the reason may be insufficient or infrequent watering. Most often this is noticeable during the period when strawberries grow green and after fruiting. Water your strawberries in the morning or evening and don’t skimp on the water. But if the strawberry does not lack moisture and nevertheless withers, this may be the result of damage to the root system - mole crickets or moles, making passages in the ground, undermine and gnaw the roots of the strawberry, and sometimes even push the bushes out of the ground. This is what causes strawberries to wilt.

We wrote about the fight against moles in an article devoted to apple tree diseases. In the fight against mole crickets, insecticides are used, placing them in the hole when planting strawberries. If you haven’t thought of doing this, dig trapping holes up to 50 cm deep in the area and fill them with not completely rotted horse manure, and sprinkle earth on top - mole crickets accumulate in this hole over the course of the season, intending to spend the winter in it. In late autumn, manure is used to fertilize the site, and the mole cricket is destroyed.

Strawberries that have contracted Fusarium, Phytospora or Verticillium wilt also wilt. The same symptoms attract attention when strawberry roots are affected by rot.

Strawberries are drying

Why do strawberries dry out? Sometimes drying is the next stage after wilting, the causes of which we described in the previous section, but more often strawberries dry out as a result of damage to fungal diseases: spotting, late blight or gray rot, verticillium wilt, powdery mildew. Carefully inspect the area with strawberries: if only a few bushes are affected, remove and burn them, but if the infection is more extensive, treat all plants in the area with fungicides.

There are times when strawberry greens look juicy and healthy, but the berries suddenly begin to dry out. This happens when the bushes are early stage Gray rot affects the formation of fruits - this is why strawberries dry out and do not rot. Make it a rule to spend spring and autumn processing strawberries from diseases and pests, and you don’t have to wonder why strawberries dry out and how to save strawberries from diseases.

Why do strawberries rot? There are various reasons for this. Strawberries rot when they are affected by rot - root, black or gray, caused by fungi and provoked by too high humidity. For information on how to deal with these diseases, see the appropriate section. Sometimes strawberry bushes suffer from cramped conditions and poor ventilation, and with high humidity this leads to rotting of the berries. Remove fruits affected by rot, and for preventive purposes, as soon as ovaries appear on the strawberries, mulch the strawberries over the area with sawdust so that the ripening fruits do not come into contact with the soil and do not rot.

Strawberries turn yellow

There is no clear answer to the question of why strawberries turn yellow, since there are always several reasons. Sometimes strawberry leaves turn yellow due to a lack of nitrogen and magnesium in the soil. If there is a lack of magnesium, add magnesium sulfate to the soil in dry form, followed by watering the area or in the form of a solution for several weeks in a row, since there is only 10% magnesium in this fertilizer. Dolomite flour is also a source of magnesium. If there is a lack of nitrogen, add nitrogen-containing mineral or organic fertilizers to the soil, and in the future, fertilize strawberries with nitrogen fertilizers every spring, and start doing this even before the strawberries begin to grow.

Strawberry leaves turn yellow, even to a lemon tint, in the case of strawberry disease with non-infectious chlorosis, when the roots sitting in unheated soil are not able to supply as much to the leaves nutrients, how much is required for the growing season. This reason can be eliminated by foliar fertilizing of strawberries with iron-containing preparations and watering the area with warm water.

Another reason for yellow leaves is viral disease xanthosis (mosaic, jaundice), spread through infected planting material or aphids. There is no cure for it, so in this case preventive measures are of particular importance - spring and autumn preventive treatment of the area with a one and a half percent solution of nitrafen or two to three percent Bordeaux mixture.

Strawberry leaves are turning red

If strawberry leaves turn completely red closer to autumn, then this is absolutely natural process, but if redness appears in the form of spots, then this is a sign of the fungal disease septoria, or white spotting. Sometimes this is how strawberries react to too acidic soil - add dolomite flour to the soil, and the problem will disappear.

Strawberries don't bloom

And there are several answers to the question “why strawberries don’t bloom.” If extreme heat lasts longer than two weeks, strawberry flowering is noticeably reduced. Strawberries may not bloom if you replanted them at the wrong time - rooting the bush takes time and effort, and there is no time for flowering. An overdose of strawberries with nitrogen fertilizers leads to the fact that they are intensively overgrown with green mass, but alas, to bloom! – doesn’t want to.

There is another reason: Strawberry varieties appeared with properties similar to weeds. The bushes of these weeds look strong and healthy, but do not bloom; in addition, by reproducing vegetatively, they choke and crowd out fruit-bearing bushes. If you notice that a bush is taking too long to bloom, ruthlessly remove it.

When reddish-brown spots form on the leaves, and then the strawberry leaves lighten and only the border around the spot remains red, you are dealing with septoria, which we will write about in more detail in another chapter. Brown-brown spots without a clear outline, in the early stages of the disease, similar to opaline marks - this is brown spotting. Read about how to deal with leaf spots in the next section.

All strawberry diseases can be divided into three groups:

• leaf spots;
• fruit rot;
• withering.

In this chapter we will introduce you to the first risk group. White spot, or septoria, appears as dark red spots that turn white in the center over time. Sometimes white spotting of strawberries and wild strawberries is called another disease - ramularia, the symptoms of which also look like white spots with a purple border, which merge with each other over time, and the whitish parts of the leaf crumble, and holes appear in their place. And, finally, brown spotting - the edges of the leaves affected by this disease seem to be scorched, then the “burns” spread over the entire leaf and leathery dark-colored pads are formed on the upper side of the plate - mycelium.

All these spots are of fungal origin, so the methods of dealing with them are identical. As preventative measure apply spring treatment of the area with phytosporin or other fungicide. As a treatment, strawberries are treated with copper oxychloride or one percent Bordeaux mixture during the period of leaf growth, before flowering and after picking the berries. A prerequisite is the processing of not only top side leaves, but also the bottom. Don't let the strawberries grow too much - the fungus spreads faster in dense plantings. Remove weeds and strawberry weed varieties from the site in a timely manner.

Gray rot on strawberries

This fungal disease can destroy up to 80% of the crop in one season. First, fast-growing dense light brown spots, covered with a fluffy coating, form on the berry, then the affected fruit and strawberry stalk dry out, and the leaves become covered with dark gray or brown spots without clear outlines.

Strawberries also suffer from black rot, which is very similar in symptoms to gray rot, but the strawberry leaves turn black rather than gray soon after spots appear on them.

The fight against gray rot, as well as black rot, begins with the spring preventative treatment of strawberries with a two to four percent solution of Bordeaux mixture. All parts of the plant affected by rot must be removed. If the plant is severely affected, remove it entirely. Do not use the plant residues of these plants to prepare fertilizers, but burn them so as not to spread the fungus throughout the garden. Maintain crop rotation, do not allow strawberry plantings to become overgrown, regularly pull out weeds, and before fruiting, mulch the soil in the area with sawdust or straw so that the ripe berries do not touch the ground. In the fall, carry out another preventative treatment of the area with strawberries with Bordeaux mixture.

Fusarium wilt of strawberries

Fusarium disease manifests itself as necrosis on the edges of the leaves, gradually covering the entire leaf blade and petioles, as a result of which the rosette falls apart, the leaves droop, and the bush dies in one and a half to two months.

Phytospora wilt, or redness of the axial cylinder, can be chronic or transient, but one way or another the bush lags behind in development, the leaves acquire a dirty gray tint and curl up in the shape of a bowl. The fibrous roots of strawberries are dying. The death of the bush occurs within 2-3 years.

The difference between verticillium wilt and fusarium or phytospora wilt is that the old leaves wither first, and only then the younger ones and the entire bush. Verticillium affects the root system, as can be seen from the petioles of the leaves - their base acquires a red-brown tint. Plants that receive nitrogen fertilizers in excess are most easily affected by Verticillium wilt.

In order to avoid these troubles, it is necessary to comply with agrotechnical requirements, in particular, observe crop rotation and not grow strawberries in areas where crops that are not resistant to wilting previously grew. Before planting, treat the strawberry roots with a solution of biological preparations such as agate 23k at a concentration of 7 g of the drug per 1 liter of water, and if signs of disease are detected, treat the strawberries through a drip irrigation system with preparations such as quadris, metaxyl, ridomil. Do not neglect preventive treatment of strawberries at the beginning of the growing season and when preparing the site for winter.

Protecting strawberries from birds

Not only strawberry diseases pose a threat to the harvest, but also other factors - unexpected weather changes, rodents, snails and slugs, insect pests of strawberries, as well as birds that fly into strawberry beds and peck at the largest juicy berries. There are many ways to scare birds away from strawberry beds. We offer you two proven and proven solutions to this problem:

• bird netting on strawberries: you need to drive pegs about a meter high around the perimeter of the area and here and there between the rows and throw a fine net over them;
• New Year's tinsel: drive meter-high pegs along the edges of the area, stretch twine between them along the perimeter of the area and often hang New Year's "rain" on it - the lightest breeze makes the Christmas tree rain sway and sparkle, and this scares away the birds.

Naked slugs – serious problem which is not easy to deal with. If left to chance, they can completely destroy a plot of strawberries in one season. But you can prevent the appearance of slugs: make a ditch around the area and fill it with lime, tobacco, ash or ground pepper - this is an insurmountable barrier for slugs crawling from outside. If you have noticed the appearance of gastropods, try to defeat them by using dry fertilizers - superphosphate or potassium salt, scattering them around the area at dusk (slugs are nocturnal). The drugs irritate the surface of the mollusks, and they begin to produce a large number of mucus in order to release the irritating substance along with it, so after 30-40 minutes you should scatter the fertilizer over the area again.

Drugs such as Thunderstorm or Meta radically eliminate slugs, but the slug dies only if the drug comes in contact directly with it. You can mulch the beds with a transparent film, under which the slugs die, unable to withstand the “steam room”.

Sometimes you can see pedicels on strawberry bushes without buds, and the mark on them looks as if someone had cut off the buds. This is how the strawberry-raspberry weevil damages strawberries - a grayish-black bug up to 3 mm long. The bugs overwinter under fallen leaves and between clods of earth, and in the spring their females lay eggs in the buds of strawberries, raspberries or wild strawberries, gnawing the stalk under the bud. One female can destroy up to 50 flowers, and more often the weevil for some reason damages male flowers on high pedicels. The weevil larva eats the bud from the inside, where it pupates, and in July a new generation of weevils hatches, devouring strawberry leaves and settling in the ground for the winter.

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