Strawberry's wilting on me =/

[Demosouthpaw]

Hey guys, I recently re-potted these guys and trimmed back their roots a bit. The first few hours they were wilted and looking bad, then a couple of hours later they were beginning to come back. Well two days later (today) two of them are wilted and look tired lol. See pics below, its my first time growing fruit period. I have read a couple others posts, but I don't have a drainage problem the berrys have gotten ample water (not overwatering) every single day since they were re-potted. I grow indoors, so peak humidity is in the 65% and then when I get home and the a/c comes on it gets down to 40%. Peak high temps 80-85 degrees F Peak lows are 65-70 degrees F.

They get about 12-14hours of light daily.

[PunkRotten]

They look ok to me. Just keep their soil moist but not saturated. Give it a few more days and they should start looking better. The thing about strawberries is, as long as their crown stays alive, they could lose all their leaves and bounce back. Sometimes all a person receives is a crown with no leaves. The only thing that looks like a problem is your lighting. It needs to be lower or the lighting needs to be a stronger kind like T5 or something.

[Demosouthpaw]

They look ok to me. Just keep their soil moist but not saturated. Give it a few more days and they should start looking better. The thing about strawberries is, as long as their crown stays alive, they could lose all their leaves and bounce back. Sometimes all a person receives is a crown with no leaves. The only thing that looks like a problem is your lighting. It needs to be lower or the lighting needs to be a stronger kind like T5 or something.

Okay I'll post again on Friday with an update. The lights are about 1.5" from the plants. I guess the pic just makes it look off.

[rainbowgardener]

All your pictures the light looks so purple. You have said that's not the camera, it's the lights. Does the light look that way in real life? (I know, you are color blind; ask someone else .)

Are they aquarium lights? I'm thinking your wavelengths are wrong and that accounts for some of the problems you are having with everything. Notice no one else's pix of their seed starting operations look like that.

[imafan26]

I have never trimmed strawberry roots before. Is that a special technique? If I repot my strawberries, which is rare, and it looks like there is some fungus in the soil, I will rinse off the roots and dust or soak the roots in fungicide. It is important to be sure the crown is not buried.

[applestar]

I was struck by "the berrys have gotten ample water (not overwatering) every single day since they were re-potted."

Did you pre-moisten the potting mix when you repotted? Also, did you add sand or perlite for better drained mix?

Here's what I would try. Heft each of the pots and feel their weight. Now take one of them, place it in a deep container that will hold water to at least halfway up the side of the pot (slightly wider than the pots) and fill with filtered water, rain water, or de-chlorinated (water from tap left in open bucket for 24 hrs) water. Let the soil soak up and get saturated, then remove and allow to drain thoroughly. (Put the pot on top of something so it won't sit on draining water)

Heft and feel the weight of this pot. This is how the pot feels when "thoroughly watered"

Put it back under the lights, wait overnight and see how this plant does. It shouldn't need to be watered again for 3-4 days.

[imafan26]

I just realized how big your pots are. Strawberries rot easily so I keep them in pretty small pots, Four inch pots for singles or three to a six inch pot.

[Demosouthpaw]

I was struck by "the berrys have gotten ample water (not overwatering) every single day since they were re-potted."

Did you pre-moisten the potting mix when you repotted? Also, did you add sand or perlite for better drained mix?

Here's what I would try. Heft each of the pots and feel their weight. Now take one of them, place it in a deep container that will hold water to at least halfway up the side of the pot (slightly wider than the pots) and fill with filtered water, rain water, or de-chlorinated (water from tap left in open bucket for 24 hrs) water. Let the soil soak up and get saturated, then remove and allow to drain thoroughly. (Put the pot on top of something so it won't sit on draining water)

Heft and feel the weight of this pot. This is how the pot feels when "thoroughly watered"

Put it back under the lights, wait overnight and see how this plant does. It shouldn't need to be watered again for 3-4 days.

So last night I decided to water one pot till water came out the bottom. I noticed immediately the weight was different. The plants were not over watered but UNDER WATERED!! So as of now the strawberrys are looking great!

[ReptileAddiction]

You should water all they way through every time you water.

imafan-I have the opposite problem. I need to put mine in large pots because it is so hot that they dry out very fast.

[Demosouthpaw]

Alright guys, so I've taken all the input you have all provided and put it into action. My strawberry are looking OVER POWERED now I'm very happy with the result. Below are some pics of their progress =)

The stems now feel stiffer now flimsy like before.

WP_20140206_007.jpg (29.74 KiB) Viewed 1055 times

[applestar]

Oh yeah -- looking MUCH better!
Good job!

[PunkRotten]

Make sure to give them a little liquid fertilizer every now and then.

[oggy]

I was having the same problem with not only my strawberries but also my bell peppers! I grow indoors too and I wasn't giving them enough water. One good watering and almost within hours was there noticeable difference!

I wonder if it's harder to over water plants than it is to under water them. Right now, I give my plants a good watering once every week, but keep them misted (early morning and after the lights go off at night).

[rainbowgardener]

No, actually the reason why people here didn't pick up faster on the fact that you just weren't watering enough is that usually people write in with the opposite problem, wilted yellowing plants from over-watering/ waterlogging them. We all want to take good care of our plants, which often leads to too much watering. In my experience, plants die a lot easier from that. If your plants are under watered, as you discovered, water them and they perk right back up. If they are over-watered, they may just be goners.

[jal_ut]

http://www.soilandhealth.org/01aglibrar ... 7ch18.html

A plant grown in the ground has several cubic feet of soil, perhaps cubic yards, from which to pull water and nutrients. A plant in a pot has a handful. It is easy to see that you will have to water frequently to be successful. Yet there is the chance of overdoing it. To avoid this problem be sure to use a soil mix that will drain good, and have drains in the bottom of the pots. Never let the pots sit in a puddle of water either. Good Luck. One of those soil water meters is a good investment.