It is rare that a gardener does not have his own plot with strawberries. After all, this first in the season berry is very tasty and useful for adults and children. Growing bushes requires tireless work, but the whole family can stock up for the summer season with vitamins for future use.
Like any plant, strawberries suffer from diseases and are pestered by various pests, which means that the fight against them must be planned, otherwise there will be no harvest.
Change of place of disembarkation
The most basic thing that any gardener should know is that the diseases of strawberries will be pursued much less if every 4-5 years they change their place of growth. After all, every year the earth becomes more and more infected with all sorts of fungal diseases, and it is almost impossible to fight them in the soil.
In addition, it is necessary to take as a rule the root to cut off the foliage from the fertilized bushes and burn it, since it has a lot of harmful pathogens that fall into the soil and in the new season again cause the disease of plants.
How to deal with pests on strawberries?
To protect strawberries from pests, chemical preparations and folk remedies are also used, although the latter are still preferable, since very little time passes between the moment of the disease and the consumption of fruits.
Ants
Very much fell in love with strawberry plantations black and red ants. In addition, that by their moves they spoil the root system, they also spoil (eat) the berries, making them unfit for consumption. To prevent this situation from occurring in the early spring, millet or lime must be scattered at the site of planting of strawberries - insects do not tolerate them and migrate to another place.
Slugs
Of all the pests that eat strawberries, various slugs are the most frequent guests. Just a night they are able to spoil a lot of berries, despite the fact that they move slowly. The most effective weapon against them will be the tracks, edging strawberry plantations, about 2 cm wide, from ash, lime or sugar. These newcomers can not contact with such substances and literally melt away from contact with them.
Medvedka
Another insect, which conducts subversive activities on the roots of strawberries - is a bear . On the surface, it is almost impossible to catch it, nor can it be caught. But to arrange for her traps in the form of a poison buried in a hole is quite real. If you do not poison the colony of these insects, they will damage the roots of the plants and they will not yield the crop and simply perish.
Preparing for the next season, you can bury a shallow bucket of fresh manure, where in the fall all the wolves crawl to survive the winter warmth. As soon as the first frosts hit, the trap is unearthed, seeking the death of the entire herd of bears.
In addition to these insects, the plant is affected by the strawberry nematode, weevil, strawberry mite. To combat them, chemicals are used - a solution of manganese, colloidal sulfur, carbofos.
Treatment of strawberries from disease
Besides pests, strawberry bushes and diseases suffer. The most famous of them are gray rot, leaf spot, late blight, fusariosis, verticillium wilt. In this case, both the ground parts of the plant - leaves, flowers, fruits, and the root system suffer.
Gray rot
This fungal disease is perfectly saved by thinning the plantations in order to better circulate the air and to process the bushes with phytopreparations such as Fitosporin. Especially vigilant you need to be in a rainy summer when, due to high humidity, spores develop at a tremendous rate.
Sheet spotting
Red or white specks on the leaves are quite harmless, but without struggling with them for the next season one can not see the harvest. The disease is insidious, the pathogen hibernates in infected foliage and soil and the next year can hit the entire plantation. The plants are treated with Zirkon biopreparation, Bordeaux mixture or Fistosporin. This should be done as soon as the specks have been detected, and also for prevention in the beginning and the middle of the next season. Foliage after fruiting is removed and burned.
Phytophthorosis, fusariosis
From these diseases, plantings should be treated regularly with a Bordeaux mixture or preparations such as Topaz, Azocene. In addition, preventive measures are very important: planting bushes at a sick distance, regular inspection for infection and removal of affected leaves and fruits. It helps very well against fungal lesions mulching plantings with sawdust, crushed bark and straw.
Not everyone knows that the disposal should not only leaves, but also the affected fruit, in no case storing them in compost. If you follow all the recommendations, then even on a small plot you can grow a rich harvest of fragrant berries.