Help me identify what is affecting my strawberry plants

ArthurDent004 · June 12, 2013

I'm growing strawberries indoors but two of my plants have leaves that are turning reddish brown starting for the edges and moving inward. From my reading I'm leaning toward Leaf Scorch but I'm open to other diagnoses and treatment plans.

June 12, 2013

Why are you growing them indoors? You surely won't have much luck- they need sunshine and fresh circulation air- too low humidity inside, too- put them outside and they will be OK

ArthurDent004 · June 12, 2013

The only outdoor area available to me is my balcony and it receives only fours hours of dappled sunshine. Are you saying they will do better on my balcony than my indoor grow area? It features a 200 watt LED grow light that's on for 12 hours a day, a humidity that is maintained between 50 and 60 percent, a fan providing air circulation, and a temperature that is maintained at 80 degrees. Two additional benefits to indoor growing are no insects and no weeds.

RayR · June 12, 2013

Before you go assuming it's a pathogen, first look into what nutrient deficiencies look like with strawberry plants.

What Does Nitrogen Deficiency Really Look Like in Strawberry?

STRAWBERRIES – Plant Nutrition Notes

ArthurDent004 · June 13, 2013

I was wondering about that. I have other strawberry plants are a deep green, while the plants in my photo are a much lighter shade of green. The strange thing is I'm using the same fertilizer on each plant. I think I'll pick up some blood meal for a nitrogen pick-me-up.

RayR · June 14, 2013

I had the same experience messing around with Alpine strawberries indoors this past winter. One plant would be dark green and another would be a lighter shade even though they were treated the same way, I also got the same vibrant coloring of some leaves too. Strawberries are a tricky plant to grow indoors under lights and I think growing them in a limited volume of soil in small pots like I was added to the show of nutrient deficiencies.
Oh, and watch out carefully for spider mites and aphids, I had them too.

June 14, 2013

You are absolutely right, Ray- spider mites & aphids are a problem indoors--I wonder where they come from??

BarbJ · June 14, 2013

They blow in on the breeze when you open the door.

Sorry I don't have any tips, just wanted to say I feel for you. The first time I grew strawberries I had no idea what I was doing, was new to gardening. I grabbed some bare root ones (Quinalt) at the local big box store, stuck them in the ground about a foot apart in all directions in a bed about 10x10', mulched them with, guess what, straw(!) and just watered them every few days. Don't think I even fertilized them. ( I had heavy, but gritty clay soil) and had huge heath plants and ton so berries. I had them bed for about 5 years until they petered out.

Since then I know more but have had bad luck with them. I grow in pots now like you for various reasons. I've tried to give them what all the info says to, but I have that same coloration on the leaves and more than half the flowers don't make berries and the ones that do are small and bitter. They get lots of sun and are well watered.

I'm hoping you get some good answers, I'll be very interested in this thread. Good Luck!

ArthurDent004 · June 14, 2013

This is very much an experiment for me. They are growing in 5 gallon homemade SWCs. I need to fertilize all three SWCs. I bought some Miracle-Gro 3 lb Organic Choice Blood Meal from Lowes yesterday. I was thinking I could mix it with water and pour it down my fill pipe but the instructions say to sprinkle it around the plants, work into the soil, and then water. I was thinking I'd make a trench, pour it in, and then water.

The only bugs I'm seeing so far are black gnats (fungus gnats?). I put out a homemade trap using apple cider vinegar but it doesn't seem to be catching anything. I saw that someone had used the sticky yellow fly traps. Any other options I should look into?

RayR · June 14, 2013

They look pretty good.
What are you fertilizing them with?
Blood Meal is fine but it is more slow release, like all organic matter the microbes need to break it down, so it definitely needs to be mixed in the soil.
Did you inoculate with mycorrhizae and any other beneficial microorganisms?

ArthurDent004 · June 14, 2013

I put in a fertilizer strip using Miracle Gro Shake n Feed for Tomatoes, Fruits, and Vegetables. Before I put in the strip I mixed a batch of liquid nutes using General Hydroponics Flora Duo, CalMagic, and Myco Madness as a soil drench after putting the bare root plants in place. I think I need to mix up another batch to use as a soak after I put down the blood meal.

I was reading what others have used. One said a general purpose fertilizer should be used during the veg growth phase. You would change to a bloom mix when you see flowers. Another person added both bone and blood meal to the general purpose fertilizer. I was in Ace Hardware earlier in the week and saw some fertilizer that specifically said "Not to be used in container gardening". I found this fertilizer online. It's look very interesting.

Jack's Classic Acid Special - http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Jac...d-Special.html

From their website "Jack's Classic® Acid Special 17-6-6 is very effective in reducing the soil pH, which keeps iron and other trace elements available to the plant."

I think I mixed too much lime in my soil mix and my PH is higher than I want it to be. I was wondering if this plant food would help. I looked for solutions online but most said once you've potted your plant you can't do anything to adjust your soil mix without harming it. Your only option is to repot in new mix.

BarbJ · June 15, 2013

A simple fix for fungus gnats is a half inch layer of fine sand on the soil surface. It keeps the adults from being able to lay eggs, and keeps the pupa from emerging from the soil. You may need to add more after a few times watering.

RayR · June 15, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArthurDent004

I put in a fertilizer strip using Miracle Gro Shake n Feed for Tomatoes, Fruits, and Vegetables. Before I put in the strip I mixed a batch of liquid nutes using General Hydroponics Flora Duo, CalMagic, and Myco Madness as a soil drench after putting the bare root plants in place. I think I need to mix up another batch to use as a soak after I put down the blood meal.

I was reading what others have used. One said a general purpose fertilizer should be used during the veg growth phase. You would change to a bloom mix when you see flowers. Another person added both bone and blood meal to the general purpose fertilizer. I was in Ace Hardware earlier in the week and saw some fertilizer that specifically said "Not to be used in container gardening". I found this fertilizer online. It's look very interesting.

Jack's Classic Acid Special - http://www.jrpeters.com/Products/Jac...d-Special.html

From their website "Jack's Classic® Acid Special 17-6-6 is very effective in reducing the soil pH, which keeps iron and other trace elements available to the plant."

I think I mixed too much lime in my soil mix and my PH is higher than I want it to be. I was wondering if this plant food would help. I looked for solutions online but most said once you've potted your plant you can't do anything to adjust your soil mix without harming it. Your only option is to repot in new mix.

Strawberry plants like a slightly acidic PH but you need to know what the PH of your soil water is before you try changing it, guessing won't do. I wouldn't be messing with chemical salt fertilizers with a high sulfur content made for garden beds. If you drive the PH too low you're really going to have nutrient deficiency issues.
If it was me and I was using synthetic ferts, I would have just stayed with the GH Flora Duo and CalMagic Too much salty fertilizers will defeat the purpose of the Myco Madness, it will inhibit if not kill the microorganisms.
If your plants are looking happy and growing, don't rock the boat.

ArthurDent004 · June 16, 2013

My soil PH appears to be 7.0 and I tested the PH of the liquid in the overflow bottle. It was 7.3. I've been adjusting the PH of my soil drench to 5.8 to compensate for the high PH. The variety of strawberries I planted is Everseet. I think three plants in one 5 gallon SWC may have been overkill.

I'll have to do something about the gnats. I thought I had only a few but many more flew around while I was applying the Blood Meal and drench.

ArthurDent004 · June 26, 2013

My strawberries have really perked up with the application of Blood meal. I also got some Raid Fly Strips and put one up over my first strawberry bucket and one by the window near my seed germination spot. The former is now covered with gnats, especially near the strawberry plant and the latter has collected some also. I think it would have more if it hung closer to the germination station.

June 14, 2013	#8
BarbJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: California, USA Posts: 154	They blow in on the breeze when you open the door. Sorry I don't have any tips, just wanted to say I feel for you. The first time I grew strawberries I had no idea what I was doing, was new to gardening. I grabbed some bare root ones (Quinalt) at the local big box store, stuck them in the ground about a foot apart in all directions in a bed about 10x10', mulched them with, guess what, straw(!) and just watered them every few days. Don't think I even fertilized them. ( I had heavy, but gritty clay soil) and had huge heath plants and ton so berries. I had them bed for about 5 years until they petered out. Since then I know more but have had bad luck with them. I grow in pots now like you for various reasons. I've tried to give them what all the info says to, but I have that same coloration on the leaves and more than half the flowers don't make berries and the ones that do are small and bitter. They get lots of sun and are well watered. I'm hoping you get some good answers, I'll be very interested in this thread. Good Luck! Last edited by BarbJ; June 14, 2013 at 12:05 PM.

June 12, 2013	#2
JoParrott Guest Posts: n/a	Why are you growing them indoors? You surely won't have much luck- they need sunshine and fresh circulation air- too low humidity inside, too- put them outside and they will be OK

June 12, 2013	#3
ArthurDent004 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Cordova, TN Posts: 148	The only outdoor area available to me is my balcony and it receives only fours hours of dappled sunshine. Are you saying they will do better on my balcony than my indoor grow area? It features a 200 watt LED grow light that's on for 12 hours a day, a humidity that is maintained between 50 and 60 percent, a fan providing air circulation, and a temperature that is maintained at 80 degrees. Two additional benefits to indoor growing are no insects and no weeds.

June 12, 2013	#4
RayR Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Cheektowaga, NY Posts: 2,465	Before you go assuming it's a pathogen, first look into what nutrient deficiencies look like with strawberry plants. What Does Nitrogen Deficiency Really Look Like in Strawberry? STRAWBERRIES – Plant Nutrition Notes

June 13, 2013	#5
ArthurDent004 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Cordova, TN Posts: 148	I was wondering about that. I have other strawberry plants are a deep green, while the plants in my photo are a much lighter shade of green. The strange thing is I'm using the same fertilizer on each plant. I think I'll pick up some blood meal for a nitrogen pick-me-up.

June 15, 2013	#12
BarbJ Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: California, USA Posts: 154	A simple fix for fungus gnats is a half inch layer of fine sand on the soil surface. It keeps the adults from being able to lay eggs, and keeps the pupa from emerging from the soil. You may need to add more after a few times watering.

June 16, 2013	#14
ArthurDent004 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Cordova, TN Posts: 148	My soil PH appears to be 7.0 and I tested the PH of the liquid in the overflow bottle. It was 7.3. I've been adjusting the PH of my soil drench to 5.8 to compensate for the high PH. The variety of strawberries I planted is Everseet. I think three plants in one 5 gallon SWC may have been overkill. I'll have to do something about the gnats. I thought I had only a few but many more flew around while I was applying the Blood Meal and drench.

June 26, 2013	#15
ArthurDent004 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Cordova, TN Posts: 148	My strawberries have really perked up with the application of Blood meal. I also got some Raid Fly Strips and put one up over my first strawberry bucket and one by the window near my seed germination spot. The former is now covered with gnats, especially near the strawberry plant and the latter has collected some also. I think it would have more if it hung closer to the germination station.