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Question: My strawberry plants seem to wilt and wither away just before the berries ripen. The plants tend to die in patches. What can I do to save the rest of my plants?

Answer: You will be lucky to save many of your remaining plants. I would suggest starting a new bed in another location with new plants. My guess is that root rot or Verticillium wilt is to blame. To control these diseases:

1 – Buy certified, disease-free plants, which have also been heat-treated.
2 – Plant in well-drained soil which is light and has not grown strawberries or where wilt-susceptible plants (tomatoes, eggplant, pepper, potatoes, chrysanthemum, raspberries) have not been grown for four years or longer.
3 – Keep plants growing vigorously by proper fertilization.
4 – In northern areas, mulch properly (straw, wild hay, pine needles, etc.) to protect against winter injury and frost heaving.
5 – Follow your own state’s recommended strawberry-growing program regarding varieties, fertilization, mulching and pest control.

Question: I started a strawberry barrel and the instructions called for plenty of well-rotted manure. We added approximately three quarts of commercial sheep manure. Much sand was incorporated. The plants were watered very little because every time I felt the soil it was moist although the top was dry. The leaves all turned reddish and dryish and gradually all burned out. The soil did drop about four inches in the barrel. Could air have gotten to the roots or was the manure in contact with the roots responsible? I planted the same variety in my garden and they did nicely there. BP, Wisconsin.

Answer: In your strawberry barrel it would be better to use well rotted stable dressing. It is organic matter that you are trying to add rather than fertility. The sheep manure may have burned the roots. As you set the plants the soil must be settled in the barrel as you fill it. If the soil settled four inches in the barrel the plant roots had to break from the soil, from the plant, or the plant had to be pulled into the hole. When setting the plants and filling the barrel use lots of water, Flood each layer as you set the plants so that the soil will not settle when the task is completed. The soil settling was likely the cause of your failure.

Question: Many of my strawberry fruits are rotted at picking time. Mold growth covers many of the decaying berries. The plants show plenty of lush growth.

Answer: Strawberry fruit rots are a special problem when plants are dense and bushy and where fruits are resting on damp soil. The same fungi may also cause blasting of the flowers resulting in a poor fruit set. Control losses by avoiding use of high nitrogen fertilizers in the spring. Practice clean cultivation and keep plants thinned. Space plants as recommended for your area. If practical, apply a loose, dry mulch to keep the berries off the soil. Pick fruit as soon as ripe and refrigerate (about 40 degrees) immediately. Spray with captan at three to seven day intervals, starting when the first blossoms open and continuing through the harvest period. Drive the spray down into the center of the plants to ensure good fruit coverage. Use captan at the rate of three tablespoons per gallon of water. Captan is relatively safe, but wash fruits with water before freezing, cooking or eating.

Question When I lived in California my June-bearing strawberries always produced two crops. But here in Indiana for some reason produce only one crop. It can’t be the cold, for the second crop was normally produced before the freezing weather. What is the reason for this?

Answer Day length is the determining factor: June-hearing varieties set buds only on long days. If the expense is worth it to you, you can set a second crop in the fall by lighting the plants from one hour before sunset until 9 P.M. However, it’s cheaper and less bothersome to plant ever-bearing varieties.

Question: When should strawberries be planted?

Answer: In most areas spring planting is done as early as the soil can be worked. If the climate is mild, fall planting is recommended, and a fair crop can be expected the following spring. Set the plants with the roots spread out and the crowns slightly above the ground line. Pack the dirt firmly around the roots so that the crown is level with the ground. If planting is done in rows, place the plants one to two feet apart in rows two to four feet apart.

Question: Should more than one strawberry variety be planted?

Answer: The wise gardener will plant more than one kind and let taste and climate weed out the better from the best. Ideally the variety selection would include early, mid-season, late and ever-bearing strawberries.

Question: When and how much fertilizer should be applied to strawberries?

Answer: Prepare the soil for strawberries thoroughly, like you would for a new rose bed. Spade in lots of well rotted manure – probably twice as much as you’d like to pay for. A commercial fertilizer with an analysis of 10-10-10 (equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus and potash) is beneficial to keep the plants in good growth. Applied at the rate of one pound to 100 square feet, it should cause no burning. Pale-colored foliage indicates a need for nitrogen; dark green foliage an adequate supply. Too much leaf growth cuts down fruit production. If you test the soil, it would have a pH of 5 to 6.5.
The texture of the soil is not as important as its content of organic and mineral fertilizers. Dehydrated manures should be spaded into the soil five or ten days before planting to avoid burning the plants.

Question: Should the runners be kept cut from mother plants?

Answer: If runners are cut off before they root, the original plants will form “hills.” These plants produce the largest, finest berries, but usually the smallest quantity. If the runners are allowed to form and root down at random, a “matted” row results. This culture produces the largest quantity of berries, but also the smallest in size. The strongest two or three runners may be kept on each plant and rooted down in rows on each side of the mother plants. This culture produces an average amount of berries of intermediate size.

Question: Birds eat my strawberries as fast as they ripen. What can be done?

Answer: Mosquito netting can be spread over the beds, unless you can devise some better means of scaring the birds away.

Question: Must I put out new strawberry plants ever year?

Answer: Because the strawberry is actually a biennial, the mother plant should be destroyed as soon as it has finished fruiting. If you want to propagate your own plants, take the cut-off runners to a separate bed and grow them on for spring planting the next year. If the runners are rooted beside the mother plants, the old plants can be pulled out and the new ones left to produce next year’s fruit. However, it is best to completely redo the bed every two years – applying well rotted manure and spading deeply. If a straw mulch is applied each fall and allowed to decompose into the soil during the following season, this will tend to lessen the need of biannual refurbishing.

Question:Do strawberries need covering for the winter?

Answer: Strawberries do appreciate – and need – some kind of winter protection, especially where snow does not last through the winter. Mulch plants after several hard frosts and before temperatures have fallen below 20 degrees F. Straw, wheat straw, marsh hay and cranberry tops are excellent if applied three to four inches thick. Sawdust may also be used two to three inches thick, but since it takes nitrogen from the soil, it will be necessary to add a nitrogen fertilizer in the spring. Pine needles are also excellent because they do not mat. If you must depend on leaves, use a light covering, two or three inches, in order to avoid smothering the plants.