Planted strawberries near tomatoes and peppers.

[Susy]

Ok so I'm a newbie. I planted my everbearing strawberries between peppers and tomatoes. Never crossed my mind that that could be a problem. What should I do? Which plant(s) should I move, and when should I do it? It would probably be easiest to move the strawberry plant, but would the soil already be "contaminated"? Help!

[JONA878]

Hi Susy.
What is the great problem with your plantings?
Are the toms and pappers smothering your strawberry plants?
If that is the case then I guess that you will have problems with the strawberries being able to get enough light to ripen properly,
So you have to decide whether to leave them there for this year or transplant them to a new site.
I don't understand you word ' contaminated ' in this context. Contaminated in what way?
All these palnts can grow in close proximity to each other. It's just a question of giving them enough room for light and air movement.
As to moving them while in the growing season. if you have to move anything then I would suggest the strawberry plants.
The others would not transplant at all well in their growing period, and would need a much bigger root ball in the moving than the strawberry would.
On the other hand if you can be patient then I would leave the move until the end of the season and then the problem would not be there. Even though this may mean that you lose some fruit on the strawberries.

[rainbowgardener]

Agree with JONA. Also it sounds like you just planted the strawberries (and everything) this year. We don't expect to get strawberries the first year you plant the plant. It is usually advised to pluck the blossoms off of first year strawberry plants, so the plant can focus on establishing a good root system.

The biggest problem is that the tomato plants get so big they will likely be shading out the strawberries. But if your strawberry plants are surviving and not getting trampled when you pick tomatoes, then leave them.

In the fall when the tomato plants are done, cut the stems off at the base, don't pull them, so that you don't disturb the strawberries. Next year plant the tomatoes and peppers somewhere else.

[applestar]

I always end up with volunteer tomatoes growing in the strawberry patch from the compost I put on them in the fall and spring. I usually let one or two grow. The tomatoes don't start growing really big until the June strawberry harvest is over so they don't get in the way. I stake to a single stake and prune the lower leaves so the strawberries remain in the clear for the most part. Right now, I'm getting the midsummer flush of Tristar strawberries at the base of a tomato plant.

The toms grow very well with strawberries. Last year's volunteer was a Brandywine and this year's is a prolific unknown cherry tomato (possibly Sweet 100) that starts off with extremely pale skin but ripens red. It's very juicy and DD likes them so I'm glad to see it growing.

[Susy]

Thank you for your replies. The problem is not shading or lack of berries. It does already have berries (very yummy ones!) but I heard there's something called verticillium rot. That strawberries can't be planted near where tomatoes or peppers once grew in the last 3 years. Or is it ok if all the plants are still alive?

[JONA878]

Thank you for your replies. The problem is not shading or lack of berries. It does already have berries (very yummy ones!) but I heard there's something called verticillium rot. That strawberries can't be planted near where tomatoes or peppers once grew in the last 3 years. Or is it ok if all the plants are still alive?

Ah! I follow your train of thought Susy.
If your toms are growing well then they are not suffering from this problem.
Verticillium wilt can indeed be a serious problem in both these crops and peppers are also a host....but...if there is no sign of wilt by now in your plants I would guess that you are clear of it.
Strawberries are more suseptible in their maiden year and usually shake off the disease by year two and crop as normal.
The disease is soil born so it pays to keep the area around the plants clear of leaf debris.
There are two strains of Verticillium. The first V.albo-atrum is inhibited by temps above 25c.so a warm summer keeps it in check anyway.The other V.dahliae does need chemical control if you get an infection. as the pathogen survives in the soil for a considerable period of time.