Strawberries are the best loved of all summer fruits. Their sweet red berries are irresistible. And, home-grown garden strawberries are a hundred times more delicious than commercial varieties.
The good news is that Strawberries are very quick to produce and are an excellent crop for the amateur.
Picture your strawberry bed blooming away. There you are, anticipating a healthy crop of sweet, juicy red berries, strawberry jam, strawberry pie, or strawberry shortcake.
But unseen in the soil, where your berries are growing, lurks the deadly fungus Botrytis cinerea – more commonly called: “grey rot.” And, you don’t know what it’ll do. And, If you don’t take steps to control it, you can ruin your crop.
Gray mold, also referred to as ash mold, affects almost every type of strawberry fruit. The most common sign of the disease is the presence of large quantities of dusty gray fungal growth on affected tissues.
To keep gray mold in check, or at least prevent it from getting worse, we offer the following strategies:
Space plants so the plants dry rapidly after rain and irrigation. Don’t water from overhead-drip irrigation is best. During the growing season, strawberry plants need about 1 inch of water per week.
Avoid applying so much water that the soil remains saturated (excessively wet) for long periods. Standing water is harmful, even for a day or two.
Pick your berries daily, especially during wet and warmer periods. Remove diseased berries and get rid of them, preferably somewhere else than the compost pile. And,
After harvest season, apply two to three pounds of 10-10-10 (or equivalent well-balanced fertilizer) per 100 square feet of row. Foliage should be dry when you apply the fertilizer.
Renovate your June-bearing strawberry patch two to four weeks after the last harvest. Ever-bearing plants don’t need to be renovated. To stimulate next year’s growth of June-bearers, remove the old leaves with a hedge clipper or mower after fruiting. And be careful not to damage the crown. Do not remove old leaves on day-neutrals or ever-bearers varieties.
Gray mold is caused by Botrytis cinerea. This is a fungus that winters over in old leaves, petioles, and mummified fruit. Infections generally remain symptomless until the fruit blossoms and matures. And then, progresses rapidly. ‘Benton,’ ‘Hood,’ ‘Rainier,’ ‘Shuksan,’ ‘Seascape,’ ‘Tristar’ and ‘Tribute’ are all susceptible, especially during cool and wet weather.
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Yours truly for a great garden with outstanding berries,veggies and flowers.
Polly-organic gardener
