Q&A for How to Identify and Treat Strawberry Diseases

Besides birds, insects like slugs, snails, earwigs, and other aphids are known to attack strawberries.

No, it is not safe to eat any of the soft fruits if they have mold on them.

A typical cause of yellowing leaves is a lack of nitrogen in the soil. Try amending your soil or adding a fertilizer that contains nitrogen.

The mold on strawberries is a fungus called Botrytis Cinerea. Avoid eating any strawberries that are moldy.

Your strawberry plant probably has leaf blight or scorch. Improve air circulation around your plants by planting them an adequate distance apart. Also, be sure you are exposing them to enough sunlight and adequately watering them.

Powdery mildew (Podosphaera aphanis) infects the tissue of strawberry plants and despite the fact that it’s mildew, which we usually associate with wet conditions, this strawberry leaf coating is fostered by dry conditions with moderate humidity and temps between 60-80 F. (15-26 C.).

Get some ladybugs. There are some little bugs that are eating the leaves and ladybugs eat them.

If they were covered all winter, then all the remaining leaves will be dead or dying. Remove them where the stems connect to the root mass. Every spring, new leaves will grow.

It is one of two pathogens, either rhizopus or mucor. If rhizopus, then temperatures below 40 F should halt the progression of the issue. If mucor, then you can only prevent it, not get rid of it. Remove all dead foliage and spent berry material as this will provide the inoculum for it to spread. Avoid overhead watering and exposing berries to the wet ground or standing moisture. High humidity is also to be avoided and increased airflow can reduce the rate of spread as well. Fungicides like Captan, Pristine, and Switch can be effective in prevention as well.

It's packed with water and juices. Basically, it's swelling, and it can't grow anymore. Picture a balloon. The main part puffs up, but toward the end above the knot, it's stiff. It's the same concept.

They're not ripe or there's a problem with the growing conditions. Is your soil fresh, black, and ground? Is the plant being overheated? Is there little or no accessibility to the sun? If so, try and fix these conditions. If it still isn't good, cut a slit in the middle of the stems. There might be an infection or fungi growing in the plant. Also this gives it air.

It sounds as though you have a pest problem. Bring a few strawberries into your local garden shop and ask an associate to help you identify and treat the pest.

Try covering the soil in small fish-tank gravel (bright pink!). All the gnats will disappear. Water well and keep fertilizing according to your fertilizer's instructions.

Heavy watering can cause the strawberry plant to turn red but if worst comes to worst, just snip the red leaves off. And maybe try to let the strawberry plant dry out a bit; don't water it too much.

They are probably aphids or fruit flies. If they are aphids, then add some ladybugs to your plants, as ladybugs eat aphids. If they are fruit flies, then making a simple trap should work: Add 1 cup of apple cider vinegar with a couple drops of dish soap into a jar and leave uncovered next to your strawberries. Using insecticide would work too but this harms beneficial insects and should therefore be avoided if at all possible.

This is likely from two-spotted spider mites, a mite that is almost too small to be seen with the naked eye. With a magnifying glass you can easily see the spots. Inspect plants throughout the season and treat them before they multiply to the stage you have now, not when you find one or two, but when you find several on a plant. Treat with a miticide, or with predator mites. At the stage you have, with webbing on the underside of the leaves, it is likely that the plants will be severely stunted and the flavor, size, and quantity of the fruit will be inferior. Some miticides will kill only adults upon application; eggs will hatch and continue the cycle. Do a second spray 7 days later.