wisconsindead
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Mold on Strawberries - Help Identifying

Hey guys,

As I stated in another thread. My strawberry plants are doing really poorly. They were showing signs of iron/manganese/zinc deficiency. I had them tested and the plants were just fine in the zinc and iron category but low in manganese. So presumably that is the answer. Not all of the plants look bad, but around half or so do. Some look just terrible. Mostly yellow. Anyways, Now I am seeing some diseased fruit. Can anyone tell me what this is?
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JONA
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That looks like Botrytus ( grey mould).
Often caused by over crowding so that the fruit does not get good air movement around it and where the fruit is humid and damp.
It can also occur when the plants are subjected to cold wet weather.
As to manganese ...this can be a problem on high ph soils or on high organic soils. So liming can aggravate the problem.

wisconsindead
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Thanks JONA!

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applestar
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busygardener14 wrote:Yeah, I think it's botrytis. I would suggest you prune or stake your strawberries to give them more air.
.. :?:

How do you prune or stake strawberries?

wisconsindead
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Does anyone know how easy it is to get rid of this problem? Should I try spraying with neem oil? I think this might help, but obviously it is difficult to get all surfaces sprayed. I have recently...

Thinned the bed to increase airflow/reduce flowering
Changed my watering schedule to once a day and at 6 AM instead
Removed the majority of the diseased fruit and foliage

I am curious about whether or not I should expect to have diseased fruit as time goes on.

JONA
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Botrytis can be in the soil all the time...just waiting for the opportunity to attack.
Most common infection of strawberries is through the blossom, but as anyone who grows the fruit knows...it can hit at any time.
Control is by strict hygiene...clearing any infected fruit...old and decaying leaves...clearing all debris in the fall.
Plants in matted beds are more vulnerable as lack of air movement and cross infection makes the spread of the spores easier. So single row well spaced plants keep clearer normally.
Keeping the plants off the soil helps enormously...either plastic or fibre mats or even good fresh strawing just before blossom all helps to keep the plants clear of soil born spores.
Be aware though, that if you are susceptible to spring frosts...strawing up can make frost damage worse as it insulates the flowers from the warm soil.
If you can keep the plants dry by a rain cover...all the better!
Too high a nitrogen level can aggravate the problem. If your plants have excessive foliage...be aware and reduce feeds that contain high N.
Finally sprays.
Whatever chemicals you use ...be they organic or otherwise.....ring the changes regularly. Botrytis can build resistance very quickly, so try to avoid using just one material all the time.

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applestar
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I’m not so sure once a day watering is really needed? (And if you “changed” to once a day, how often were you watering before?)

In my garden, we typically experience (what I call - not necessarily meteorological) drought. If it rains once a week for more than 2 hours at a time, I’m pleasantly surprised. If it rains for much of the night or day, I actually might not have to water, but often I still do because the rain was just enough to rehydrate the dried up soil.

We always have county-mandated water restriction. Most of the time, if it “rains” it’s only a passing shower of 30 minutes or 1 hour and what fell from the sky was just a tease... a fake-out... and I’d better water on the alternate/odd numbered days I am allowed to water, until 8am or after 6pm.

Since I don’t have a system set up, I need to wait until light enough to see well (6am) and I get to water for 2 hours or divide into 1 hour for each location. In the evening, to allow foliage to dry a bit before sundown, I only water from 6pm until 7pm, 7:30pm at latest. But ideally, each area could use 2.5 hours of the oscillating or impact sprinkler watering to be thoroughly soaked.

All this to say, my plants typically have a full even-numbered day when they don’t get any water... more often several days of no water.

wisconsindead
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Thanks for your input guys.

The past few years I have not been watering regularly. I live 30 minutes from my garden, so I can't be there as often as I'd like. I purchased an irrigation system primarily to ensure germination but to keep things regular. And hopefully prevent tomato fruit cracking. I was watering every 12 hours for 30 min. By my calculation, this was around 1 inch per week as is often suggested. My plants are now showing a different type of nutrient deficiency I believe. All in all they are doing quite poorly. It is difficult to stomach.

JONA
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It pays to feed strawberry plants regularly during the cropping season. A good quality tom feed is ideal as it’s high in Potash.

imafan26
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I plant my strawberries in hanging baskets in sterilized potting media. The baskets dry out faster so they get good air circulation. I don't have a lot of problems with fungal disease, but I do have birds, slugs and snails which will raid the strawberries when it is ready to pick, so I have to move the basket around.

When I did have strawberries in the ground, I mulched them with dried grass clipping or straw. They need to be heavily mulched in summer or they burn up in the sun. The mulch under the strawberries help to keep them off the ground and prevent some of the dirt splashing up. It also helps to have well drained soil.

For any fungal disease, prevention is key. Good sanitation, not planting in problem soils, good air movement ,drip irrigation to avoid overhead watering, and a preventive fungal spray program for plants that are prone to fungal and bacterial infections when conditions are wet and humid.



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