Why do strawberries have hard leaves? How to make strawberries bloom and get a luxurious harvest

In the summer, you really want to enjoy the fragrant strawberries from your garden plot, but, alas, not all summer residents can boast of harvests.

Some gardeners complain about a problem with strawberries - the berries dry out, become brownish-yellow, and tasteless. And this is not the first year that this phenomenon has been observed.

What do the affected berries look like?

It can be assumed that strawberries are affected by a dangerous disease - late blight, or leathery fruit rot. Unripe fruits turn brown, acquire a brownish-yellow color, and become leathery. If the infection affects ripe fruits, then small creamy, purple-tinged watery zones first form on them, which later become dense, elastic, as if rubbery. The ripe berry becomes mummified and has a pungent odor and bitter taste. Leaves, rosettes with growing points, mustaches, flowers and peduncles may also be affected; these organs become brown, tissues die.

The causative agent of leather rot is a fungus that overwinters in the tissues of a perennial plant. It spreads with planting material, and symptoms of the disease may not appear on young plants. The disease actively develops in humid and warm conditions. Fungus spores spread with irrigation water (this is very dangerous when industrially growing strawberries), and during prolonged stagnation of moisture in the garden bed. They are also transported with natural water flows (rivers, streams). The pathogen enters plants through wounds in the rhizomes and rosettes of dug up seedlings.

Protection measures

Preventive measures are recommended in summer cottages. Sick plants should be destroyed, as over time they will die, but in the meantime they will serve as a source of infection. The plantation will have to be moved to another place; it is advisable to place the plants in an area with good drainage, without stagnant water, and plant them with large row spacing so as not to create excessive air humidity in the plantings. Strawberries should not be returned to their original site for 4-5 years. It should be borne in mind that the causative agent of leather rot affects many types of plants, including apple and pear trees, causing root rot, rot of the base of the stem, bark, fruits, and buds. We do not have fungicides approved for use against this disease on strawberries on private farms. There is information about the activity of biological preparations based on the fungus Trichoderma, which suppress the development of the pathogen. Green manure from the cabbage family will help improve the soil health; for example, there is evidence of the positive effect of sowing watercress.

Elena Gorbunova, Candidate of Biological Sciences

Strawberries are a favorite summer berry for those with a sweet tooth. Caring for it in 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 only voiced common possible problems that may affect the development of the berry. Basically, they are activated if the plant has been weakened. For example, a fungal infection can manifest itself due to problems with watering the plant or improper feeding, and it is possible that in combination with a 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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Strawberries are classified as heat-loving plants; they usually ripen by the end of May - beginning of June. This berry is not picky, but, like any other crop, it needs care. Every person who decides to grow this berry may encounter a problem when the strawberry fruits dry out and turn brown. The cause should be found as quickly as possible and eliminated in the most effective way.

Causes

What to do when, in anticipation of a good and tasty harvest, you end up with strawberries that have dried out before they have time to ripen? What could have caused the situation when the berries turned brown, acquired a brownish-yellow color, became leathery, mummified and bitter in taste? Most often, the fruits are hard and harden when the plant is weakened and exposed to environmental factors. Let's look at the most common causes of drying out.

Fungal diseases of strawberries

Often the plant is attacked by spotting, gray rot, powdery mildew, black rot of fruits, and late blight. The appearance of strawberry rot is the result of insufficient light and heat, poor care, and the spread of fungus from an infected bush to a healthy one. These diseases pose a huge danger, as they quickly spread not only to the berries, rendering them unfit for consumption, but also to the plant as a whole.

Ignoring treatment of infection is the reason why many summer residents lose their harvests.

Improper watering and lack of proper ventilation

First of all, after discovering the situation that the strawberry fruit ripens and immediately dries out, you need to check whether the plant receives enough moisture. The crop requires a large amount of liquid not only at the time when its fruits are filled, but also throughout the entire fruiting period. A lack of moisture can be noticed by assessing the appearance of the plant. Such strawberries will have dry and small fruits and foliage. Cracks in the soil and dryness indicate the need for watering.

Presence of pests

• Stem nematode. During a pest attack, growth retardation, thickening of foliage, wilting and curling, death of flowers and deformation of ovaries are observed. Those berries that have been formed stop growing and dry out.

• Earth mite. This pest begins to become active in early spring, when the plant is still weak. As a result, the crop becomes diseased, and the fruits are small and dry.

• Raspberry-strawberry weevil.

Lack of trace elements and minerals

This reason can be determined by yellowed and dried berries.

How to fix the problem?

If a fungal infection is found on a strawberry bush, it should be destroyed immediately. using effective drugs and methods:

• gray rot– “Switch” or “Chorus”;
• black root rot– digging up a plant with a root system and treating the soil with a disinfectant;
• black rot It is impossible to cure fruits with drugs; to eliminate it, diseased berries are picked and burned;
• late blight – correct preventive measures;
• powdery mildew– spraying foliage with mineral fertilizers, as well as treating with “Topaz” during flowering.

Do not forget about watering strawberries during hot and dry summers. An important point is that excess moisture should not be allowed either, since excessive moisture promotes the activation of various bacteria. Many of these microorganisms provoke the development of diseases, during which the berries become hard and unsuitable for consumption.

Emergency feeding of strawberries is what needs to be done if the soil is poor and has not been fertilized for a long time, and the harvest does not bring the desired result. Nitrogen and magnesium fertilizers will help save the situation; magnesium sulphide gives good results.

You should start feeding the soil only when you know for sure that the plantation is not infected with a fungal infection. If the plants are sick, then fertilizer can aggravate their situation.

Preventive actions

Kik knows that preventing a situation is much easier than correcting it. That’s why it’s better to fight diseases and pests that cause hardening and dark strawberries with the right preventive measures:

Don't forget that insufficiently nourished soil is the reason for the development of a weak plant. That is why it is necessary to apply fertilizers for preventive purposes. After harvesting, be sure to fertilize the soil, since all the nutrients present in it are used to ripen the berries. Ammonia fertilizer is ideal in this situation. It is worth carrying out the procedure in August, and if there were no fruits on the strawberries, then in the spring. Experienced summer residents and people who have been growing strawberries for many years give the following advice:

• before planting, dip the young seedling in hot and then cold water for fifteen minutes;
• immediately before planting, treat the plant with insecticides that will destroy not only the fungal infection in the soil, but also the pest larvae;
• Strawberries should be watered regularly, but in order not to over-moisten the soil, the soil should dry out a few centimeters before the next irrigation;
• Do not plant strawberries in a dense soil mixture;
• Do not be lazy with preventive treatment with Bordeaux mixture and carry it out regularly.

Judging by the reviews of those who like to grow strawberries, a biological preparation based on the fungus Trichoderma gives a good effect on soil health. It is able to suppress many types of pathogens of dangerous diseases.

Summer residents also recommend using green manure from the cabbage family. If a problem arises when a strawberry does not turn red and spoils before it has time to ripen, it is necessary to find the true reason that caused this situation, and only then begin to fight it. Don’t ignore proper care of your favorite plants.

To learn about the reasons and solutions to the problem when strawberries dry out and turn brown, see the following video.

Carefully inspect the drying strawberry bushes. Without access to water, the leaves of this crop very quickly lose turgor and wither. Therefore, the simplest reason may be insufficient soil moisture. This can be especially pronounced during the growth of green mass by bushes at the beginning of summer and after. Organize abundant watering of strawberry beds. If the weather is sunny, then watering should be done in the morning or evening.

Pests and diseases

The cause of leaf drying may be a consequence of damage to the root system of the strawberry bush. Check to see if the plant is holding well in the ground. A mole or, when making tunnels in the soil, sometimes severely gnaws off the roots and even pushes them out of the ground. If you have only one copy of this variety, then you can transplant the bush with a lump of earth to a new place and water it abundantly.

Also, drying and dying of leaves can be caused by a number of fungal diseases: spotting, gray and late blight rot, powdery mildew, verticillium wilt.

Inspect the strawberry leaves on the mother plantation (bushes older than 3 years) and the young runners. If only a few specimens are sick, then simply tear out and burn these bushes. For more extensive infestations, spray the plants with one of the approved fungicides.

Prevention is the key to success

To destroy diseases and prevent them, do not neglect complex treatments of both young and adult bushes. At the beginning of the season after the snow melts, clear the strawberry plantation of dry leaves and frozen plants. Burn all collected leaves. Spray with a 3% solution of Bordeaux mixture to combat fungal diseases. At the beginning of the flower brush extension phase, treat the bushes with soda ash and soap (colloidal sulfur) to prevent powdery mildew. After harvesting, mow down the entire above-ground part of the plants if the plantation is severely affected by diseases. Don’t forget to feed the plants well (with complex fertilizers) and water them. If the disease is localized, spray with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.

When planting a new strawberry plantation, choose varieties that are more resistant to fungal diseases. Do not place bushes on wet soils or in areas where strawberries were cultivated the previous year. Keep the soil under the plants free of weeds and moderately moist throughout the season. Remove tendrils on mother plants in a timely manner.

Remember, when the berries are ripening, strawberries should not be treated with chemicals. This can lead to the accumulation of harmful substances in the berries.

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Sources:

• Strawberry leaves turn yellow

Gardeners perceive the loss of harvest with frustration. And if it's strawberries... it's almost a tragedy. So much work, time, and effort was spent to please the “fluffy” fungus. Plants are powerless against gray rot in cold, damp summers. Gray rot can “swallow” up to 80% of the strawberry crop.

Gray rot- a fungus that affects the entire strawberry plant. Dark gray spots form on the leaves, peduncles and petioles become brown and rot. Weeping spots appear on the berries, they increase every day and cover the berries with gray fluff. The fluffy coating is fungal spores. Even with a light touch, spores fly around, spreading the pathogenic infection further. The berries become tasteless, flabby, and watery.

To reap a good harvest even in a rainy, damp summer, you need to take care of your favorite crop in advance.

• Plant strawberry varieties that are resistant to diseases, especially gray rot.
• Don't overcrowd your plantings.
• Plant strawberry bushes in well-lit and ventilated beds.
• In spring, remove and burn dry dead leaves.
• Do not apply excessive doses of organic matter and nitrogen fertilizers.
• Loosen the soil, keep the beds clean without parasite weeds.
• During budding, it is permissible to treat the plants with a fungicide (follow the instructions). Do not process strawberries during flowering.
• Dust the bushes and the soil around them with ash or fluffy lime (1 tbsp per bush). Do this when the ovaries appear.
• Use stands (they are available in stores) under the flower stalks so that the berries do not lie on the ground. You can mulch the soil in rows with straw, sawdust, pine needles, and peat.
• After harvesting, you can once again treat the berry plantation with a fungicide.

Everyone just talks about the benefits of living vitamins, which modern people lack so much. Now the very season has come when it is not only possible, but also necessary to recharge with them. For this purpose... the beautiful strawberry is invited to the stage!

Strawberries have blood purifying properties, and thanks to the presence of vitamin P, they strengthen the walls of blood vessels. There is more of it in those garden varieties whose berry color is richer and darker. They contain many organic acids, including salicylic acid, which is converted in our body into aspirin, but only in its natural form.

There is more folic acid in strawberries than in raspberries and grapes. The presence of iodine in its composition compensates for its deficiency in our food and drinking water. Strawberries have a calming effect on the liver and help it cleanse the body of toxins and waste.

Scientific medicine recommends eating strawberries for all ailments of the liver and biliary tract, as well as for diseases of the spleen. The berry is healthy, because it is rich in potassium, which is necessary for the normal functioning of the myocardium. Pour 1 tablespoon of dried strawberry leaves and berries into 1 liter of boiling water and keep in a water bath for 10 minutes. Leave for 45 minutes, strain. The decoction is effective during the rehabilitation period after a heart attack (take 100 ml half an hour before meals).

Strawberries contain salicylates, which thin the blood and reduce the risk of blood clots. So for hypertensive patients and people with angina pectoris, this berry is simply irreplaceable. Everyone's favorite berry also copes well with anemia, since it is also a storehouse of iron reserves, necessary for anemia. Strawberries supply the body with vitamin C, which stimulates the immune system, improves metabolism and converts fat into energy. In addition, "" is a powerful antioxidant.

A handful of strawberries before sex works no worse than a dozen oysters. British scientists call these berries "". The fact is that their small seed grains contain a lot of zinc and selenium, which promote sexual arousal. By influencing the level of testosterone in the blood, it helps women get ready for sex faster. True, the action lasts only about an hour. But for a memorable love date, 200 g of ripe berries is enough.

Strawberries are contraindicated if you are prone to allergies. This manifests itself as skin rashes, indigestion and even bronchial asthma. For stomach ulcers, berries make acidic gastric juice even more aggressive. This almost immediately affects your well-being with the appearance of pain in the stomach and a feeling of heaviness in the pit of your stomach.

Video on the topic

Strawberries are a very healthy and tasty berry crop. Many gardeners and gardeners try to grow it in their garden plots. But often they have to deal with various problems: pests and diseases.

One of the most common strawberry diseases is rot. It can be gray, late blight and root.

With gray rot, brown spots form on the berries, covered with a gray coating on top. It is spread by spores using the wind.

Late blight rot manifests itself in the form of brown spots with further coarsening of the berries and drying out. It spreads somewhat worse than gray rot.

Both of these diseases, in addition to the berries themselves, can affect both leaves and stems.

There is also root rot, which mainly affects the roots of strawberries. It forms on young roots, turning them from green to black. Then the plant dries out and dies.

To combat these diseases on strawberries, it is necessary, starting in early spring, to carry out preventive measures and choose the best growing option for your plot.

How to protect your strawberry crop from rotting

Any rot forms on strawberries, first of all, from the abundance of moisture. This can be caused by both heavy rainfall and improper watering. Strawberries do not really like strong soil moisture, so watering is not done very often. It depends on the amount of rain, soil moisture and other factors. Only during ripening can you slightly increase the amount of water poured onto the strawberry beds.

Also, low temperatures at night and during the day have a positive effect on the formation of rot. Therefore, on cold days it is better to cover the beds, for example, with agril. This will somewhat protect your crop from disease.

Rot forms on the berries when they are overgrown with weeds and poorly blown by the wind. Therefore, regularly remove weeds from your beds.

Often, many diseases appear in densely planted strawberry beds. It is correct to plant this berry crop in rows, at some distance from each other.

To protect strawberries from rotting, various materials are used, such as agrofibre, spunbond or black film. Small holes are made in them through which strawberry bushes are passed. Thus, this material is between the berries and the ground and protects them from excessive moisture.

In the same way, dry grass or sawdust is placed under the strawberry bushes. But they have a serious drawback: they themselves begin to rot over time and require regular replacement of the litter.

Well, the best option is dry pine broom. It is usually collected in forests in the fall or early spring before the buds open. Then they are scattered between the rows of strawberries. It protects berries from the formation of gray rot. In addition to pine needles, you can also add spruce cones - this is also a very good means of protecting crops in your garden plot.

It is better to make the beds themselves for planting strawberries high and can line the sides with boards or slate to prevent them from spilling.

Well, if you are not lazy and have a lot of free time, then you can make small canopies over the strawberry beds. This will protect the crop from heavy rainfall. It is better to make canopies up to 1.5 meters high for better ventilation and without side walls.

In addition to all this, it is necessary to regularly remove affected berries from the beds.

Fighting strawberry rotting with folk remedies

A very good remedy for all garden pests is an infusion of wormwood. Wormwood is poured with boiling water and left for a couple of days. Then filter and water the strawberry bushes. It has a very specific smell, so it is advisable to do this a couple of weeks before picking the berries.

For prevention purposes, add iodine to weekly watering (approximately 10-15 drops per bucket).

You can also sprinkle the beds with an infusion of mustard or horse sorrel.

In early spring or late autumn, it is possible to use chemicals, such as Horus. They spray beds with strawberries according to the instructions.

If you grow strawberries, think about preserving a tasty and abundant harvest.

Video on the topic

1. STRAWBERRY ANTHracnose

If infected with anthracnose, you can completely lose the entire crop. The disease is dangerous because after plant infection it may not manifest itself for a long time.

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.”

Gray spots and cankers form on the stems, 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 takes on a 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 primarily in greenhouses, where it can cause the 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.

Measures to combat 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. The most favorable conditions for the development of the fungus are created with 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 humid weather, a gray coating of conidial sporulation appears on them. 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 it leads to almost complete loss of the 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.

The spots on the affected buds, flowers and inflorescences are irregular in shape and brown in color. Necrosis of the growth point is observed, through which the fungus penetrates into the upper part of the 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):
The use of healthy seedlings, compliance with crop rotation, annual crops of garden strawberries (strawberries), the correct regime of watering and fertilizers. Spraying garden strawberries (strawberries) with Metaxyl, Ridomil, Quadris before flowering.

9. ROOT ROT

Root rot is caused by various 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 of different ages get sick, but mostly young ones. 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 fungus affects the vascular system, root collar, bush rosette and roots of garden 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, immediate laboratory analysis is required, and if plant damage to verticillium is confirmed, the plantation is sprayed with foundationazole, benorate preparations or the use of 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 the initial stage of the disease. 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 contaminated 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 by high temperature 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 for chemical protection against 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.