One of the main reasons for the low strawberry yield and its death are diseases. Strawberry diseases need to be able to distinguish and take action in time, otherwise the culture will quickly die. The most dangerous of them are rot, spotting, nematode and ticks. Let's consider some of them:
1. White rot affects leaves and fruits. Signs of damage is that the leaves first lighten and then dry. If the weather is damp, then they immediately begin to rot. As for the berries, they also rot. The property of this strawberry disease is that the surface of the affected areas is covered with a white coating, which consists of mycelium and sclerotia, gradually forming on it. In summer, thanks to mycelium, the infection multiplies, and it is very resistant to drying. Favorable conditions for the disease are created in wet and cold weather.
In order to damage the development of the disease, you need to lay seedlings only healthy. As a rule, infection occurs in open ground, much less often - in greenhouses or in suspended vertical crops. As soon as you notice the first signs of a developing disease, immediately spray the fruit with anti-rot medicine.
2. Gray rot has a high degree of spread. A feature of this disease of garden strawberries is that while maintaining warm weather with high humidity, up to 60% of berries can be affected. The most extensive lesions occur in those garden areas where air currents do not circulate well, and strawberries are grown for a long time in the same place. Infection occurs through old leaves, damaged berries and weeds. Among the signs of the development of the disease are called the formation of brown spots on berries, on which a gray fluffy coating is visible. They then dry up and disappear. The leaves are also covered with spotty blots of brown shade.
In order to reduce the risk of developing this strawberry disease, you need to grow it on high soil or in a suspended form. The fungus is carried by wind and droplets of moisture. It is strictly forbidden to leave infected fruits and leaves on the site, because in one summer season about 12 generations of spores are formed. It is best to grow annual crops, which include the summer laying of the plantation and its uprooting in autumn.
3. Berries are mainly susceptible to black rot, while they lose their smell, acquire a brown hue and water content. Sporangia form on their surface. The causative agent of the disease exists in each affected area, in particular, in the tissues of the fetus. This disease develops actively at high temperatures and high humidity (85%).
Among the measures to combat this disease, strawberries are called the need to grow crops in high beds. Such methods help protect her from the use of chemicals.
4. Strawberries, whose diseases spread very quickly, can be susceptible to late blight, which is considered the most dangerous disease with a high degree of harm. A consequence of its development is a decrease in productivity to 15%, although sometimes it is almost completely absent. The organs of the lesion are all the aerial parts of the plant (berry, foliage, growth points and inflorescences). Of course, the fungus does the most harm directly to strawberry berries, on which hard leathery spots form, and the flesh becomes very elastic, therefore it is poorly separated. The taste is getting bitter. The stem becomes brown, the rosette of the bush dies. Sometimes the fungus can get to the root.
The development of this disease is facilitated by the entry of moisture in droplet form, which is why its active development begins after severe dew or rain. To protect the future crop, it is necessary to use only healthy seedlings, proper watering and a fertilizer system.