Radek Tesár 22. 5. 2025 clock 3 minutes video
Strawberries are among the most popular fruits of our gardens, but their cultivation is not always without worries. When slugs, drought or mold appear, there may be two after the crop.
Sweet, fragrant and juicy. Who would resist home strawberries? But there is a lot of work and patience behind every bowl of freshly torn fruits. Strawberries are one of the more sensitive plants and easily become the target of various garden disasters. Whether it is insatiable slugs, persistent diseases or the vagaries of the weather, one small mistake or overlook can mean that you will only be disappointed instead of harvesting. Let’s see what all can hurt your crop and how to prevent it.
YouTube video on how to protect your strawberries from fungal infections can be found on the PLA4MBOBERS channel:
How to protect strawberries
When the strawberries appear holes or mysteriously disappear the whole fruits, slugs, birds or almonds are to blame. Slugs like to enjoy ripening strawberries, especially at night, when you do not even notice them. The birds will take the strawberries from below, so you will ever find it when you tear them off. Regular collection, protective nets and especially mulching will help, with straw or wood wool. This not only makes it difficult to access, but also keeps the fruits clean and dry.
Another big scarecrow is the gray mold, professionally botrytis. It attacks mainly strawberries in cold and humid weather and you can recognize it by the gray coating on the fruits that begin to soften and rot. Prevention is crucial. Remove rotten or overripe strawberries regularly, ventilate the flower bed and do not water too late in the evening. An excellent helper is also a mulch, which prevents direct contact of fruits to the ground.
However, strawberries are also sensitive to poor growing conditions. For example, too deep planting can cause rotting the inside of the plant and drought leads to the wilting and stamring of the fruits. The balance is therefore important. Plants should be planted so that the heart, the center of the plant, is neither below nor above the soil surface, and the flower bed should be well permeable. Regular but moderate watering is crucial. The strawberries hate neither drought nor waterlogging. And as far as nutrition is concerned, it will not hurt to fertilize compost or natural fertilizer once a season.
Healthy strawberries with a little prevention
Strawberries may not be a completely carefree crops, but with a little care it will return it richly. If you avoid the most common disasters such as slugs, molds or waterlogging, and you will follow simple rules such as regular mulching, correct spacing between plants and timely removal of infested leaves, you can look forward to beautiful and tasty harvest. Do not forget to harvest strawberries regularly, because the more you pluck the fruits, the more the plant will create. And if you take care of your beds really well, it will reward you not only with sweet fruit, but also by looking at a healthy and beneficial garden where it will be a pleasure to spend time.
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