Treating strawberries in autumn against pests and diseases

Strawberry

When growing strawberries, gardeners must exercise special care and attention, as this crop is often attacked by insect pests and suffers from various diseases. These pests are typically controlled after the berries are harvested or in the spring. However, it is much more effective to treat strawberry plantations in the fall. During this period, potent and effective pesticides can be safely used without risk of damaging the harvest.

Processing strawberries in autumn

By performing preventative treatments on strawberry plants against pests and diseases in the fall, experienced gardeners can increase their yields. To ensure healthy plants, it's important to complete all planned measures and carry them out on time. But first, some preparatory work is necessary.

Removing dried leaves

Strawberry leaves are the only organ responsible for photosynthesis. They grow continuously, with new leaves replacing old, dying ones. The most active growth of green mass occurs in spring and fall. In summer, high temperatures slow growth. In winter, frosts halt this process. During this period, older leaves become susceptible to fungal diseases, while younger leaves are often attacked by pests.

To prevent the spread of diseases and partially free strawberries from pests, after picking berries The green mass is mown down. This should not be done too early, when the nutrients have not yet migrated from the leaf blades to the stems. Late pruning results in poor flower bud formation.

Important!

The correct time to cut the leaves is in the second half of August after they have grown back.

Transplantation and destruction

Strawberries are transplanted to a new location as needed. With proper care, the plants typically grow well and produce a bountiful harvest in the same location for six years. The rosette is then dug up and moved to a new location.

If plants are heavily infested with infectious diseases or pests, extreme measures are taken and the strawberry plantings are completely destroyed. The bushes are dug up and burned, and the soil is treated with copper and lime preparations to disinfect. Additionally, the area is left unplanted for a year. Then, green manure is grown there for several years.

Preventive measures

To avoid the hassle of treating diseases and exterminating pests, it's essential to take timely preventative measures against infestations. To do this, take the following steps after cutting the leaves:

choose the right place for growing strawberries, taking into account what plants previously grew in this area;
Only completely healthy planting material is used for growing;
Fertilizers are applied on time and in the required quantity;
periodically weed out the weeds;
loosen the soil;
To simplify care, strawberries are grown in beds up to 50 cm wide.

Timing of autumn processing

Before treating strawberries for pests and diseases in the fall, all berries are harvested. The timing of treatment varies depending on the variety. If strawberries bear fruit in the summer, spraying is done in September. remontant varieties This treatment is carried out in late autumn, just before the cold weather sets in. The bushes are then covered with lutrasil or pine branches to prevent them from freezing in the winter.

Pest control

Strawberries are among those plants that are highly attractive to insect pests. Therefore, considerable effort is required to obtain a high-quality harvest. The earlier you begin control, the more successful it will be. And with proper agricultural practices, the risk of infestation is minimized.

Whitefly

The whitefly is a tiny butterfly, up to 1.5 mm in size. It has two pairs of whitish wings covered in a waxy coating. This insect lives on the undersides of leaves, sucking their sap. Adults also lay eggs there, which later hatch into larvae. These larvae also feed on plant sap.

To combat whiteflies, use a solution of "Aktara." First, dissolve 4 g of the product in 1 liter of water heated to 25 degrees Celsius. Then, pour 250 g of the concentrate into the tank of a backpack sprayer and fill the container 1/4 full with water. After thoroughly mixing the solution, spray the strawberries in the fall.

An alternative option is the drug "Intravir." One tablet is dissolved in 1 liter of water. The concentrated solution is then diluted with 9 liters of clean water.

Ticks

Strawberry mites are virtually impossible to spot on plants, as they are only 0.2 mm long and have a translucent body with a yellowish or brown tint. Their infestation results in dwarfed bushes. To control them, use a 0.3% solution of Karbofos. To prepare it, dissolve 30 g of the substance in 10 liters of water.

Weevil

Weevils look like small, black bugs with an elongated body up to 2 mm long and bulging eyes. They lay their eggs in unopened flowers, from which the larvae then emerge and consume the center of the bud. They can be detected by punctures in the leaves. The insects suck the juice from the leaves. To control weevils, strawberry bushes are sprayed with Aktara, Iskra-bio, or Intavir.

Important!

Weevils cause the greatest damage to strawberries during dry periods.

Nematode

To detect nematodes, strawberry bushes are inspected in early September. At this time, small, colorless worms up to 1 mm long often appear on the foliage. They are very difficult to detect, so attention should be paid to changes in the plant itself. Signs of nematode presence include swellings on the stems and leaf blades, and curvature and shortening of the petioles.

It's impossible to kill nematodes with chemicals or traditional methods. Infected plants are dug up and burned. The soil is disinfected with lime. Plants should not be grown in this area for a year. Strawberries should also be banned from being planted for several years.

Strawberry weevil and strawberry leaf roller

The strawberry weevil is a relatively large black beetle, up to 1 cm long. This active insect feeds on strawberry seeds and eats away the surrounding flesh, giving the berries an unsightly appearance.

Strawberry leaf roller caterpillars can be identified by the transparent webs they create around plant leaves. They prefer to feed on the green parts of strawberry plants and sometimes the berries.

To kill these pests, treat the crop in the fall with a hot solution of potassium permanganate. An infusion of onion peels is also effective. To prepare it, soak 200 g of onion peels in 10 liters of heated water and let it steep for 5 days, then spray the bushes.

Treating berries with garlic infusion in the fall helps against pests and diseases. To do this, chop 200 g of the vegetable and soak it in 10 liters of water for 3 hours, then apply the infusion to the plants.

Other pests

Brown beetles up to 4 mm long are strawberry leaf beetles. They settle on the leaves of strawberry bushes and devour them. Aphids also nest there. Strawberry processingControl of these pests is limited to spraying with an aqueous iodine solution, or with Nitrofen or Nurell-D.

Slugs and snails that eat strawberries are removed by hand and then destroyed. They can be repelled by placing metaldehyde granules near the plants.

Fighting diseases

A universal method for eliminating many strawberry diseases is treatment with copper sulfate. To do this, prepare a solution by mixing 10 liters of water and 3 grams of blue crystals. Spray the plants with this solution and then cover them to protect them from winter frosts.

Treating crops in the fall against pests and diseases with a soapy solution of the same copper preparation also helps. It's prepared by combining 3 liters of boiled, cooled water, 5 g of the solution, and 200 g of grated laundry soap. Mix thoroughly, pour the solution into a spray bottle, and apply it to the crops.

Gray rot

This disease is characterized by the appearance of a grayish fuzz on the berries. This causes them to rot and become covered with gray mold emanating from the spores. Gray mold can be controlled with Fito-Plus or Fitosporin. These products are diluted and used according to the package instructions. A solution of 1 liter of water and 1 teaspoon of Bordeaux mixture, sprayed on the plants, also helps.

Powdery mildew

This disease manifests itself as a thin, web-like coating on the surface of the leaves. The leaves become covered with rusty spots, become deformed, and curl upward. The berries become covered with a whitish coating with a moldy odor and then dry out.

The drug "Sulfarid" helps combat this disease. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of this solution in 10 liters of clean water and apply it to the infected plants.

White, brown and russet spot

When infected with brown spot or cladosporiosis, the plant becomes covered with round, brick-red spots. The spots initially appear along the edges of the leaf blades. They then expand and become covered with dark mycelial pads. This disease is caused by excessive moisture, weeds, or dense plantings.

White spot, or ramularia, can be recognized by small, round, brown spots with white dots. They cover the stems and leaves.

Important!

The most dangerous disease is brown spot, which appears as brown spots with a dark border. These spots are usually concentrated on the main vein of the leaf and its margins.

You can get rid of these diseases by watering the bushes in early autumn with a solution of Fitosporin. Zircon also works well. Copper oxychloride is effective against all types of spotting. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of the solution in a bucket of warm water and apply it to the plants.

Black root rot and viruses

In plants infected with black root rot, the lower leaves first turn brown, then dry out and die. Affected plants emerge from the soil without any effort. Closer inspection of the root system reveals cracking of the main taproot. Young roots in these plants die.

Viral infections manifest themselves in various ways. In the spring, leaves become curled, and in the fall, their edges turn yellow. In the summer, a mosaic virus is rampant, causing yellow spots to appear on the leaves.

Important!

Currently, there is no treatment for such diseases. Therefore, plants infected with black rot and viruses are destroyed.

Late blight

This disease is caused by frequent rainfall and high temperatures. Late blight appears as small gray-brown spots on the surface of the leaves. The fruit becomes deformed, loses flavor, and eventually dries up completely, covered in brown spots. To combat this disease, after harvesting, the berries are sprayed with Switch, Euparen, or Topaz.

Verticillium wilt

This is a fungal disease that causes reduced yield and gradual death of the plant. Infection occurs through the root system, where the mycelium penetrates. This causes the roots to dry out and growth to slow. The leaves then turn reddish-yellow and droop. Control involves the destruction of infected plants.

Chlorosis

This disease is caused by a deficiency of certain elements. The exact nutrient a plant is missing can be determined by its appearance. With an iron deficiency, the foliage takes on a whitish or yellow tint, but the veins retain their natural color. In this case, the bushes should be watered with ferrous sulfate in the fall.

Conclusion

Autumn preventative treatment of strawberry plantations is more effective than spring treatments. Such treatments significantly reduce damage from fungal diseases and protect against pest attacks throughout the growing season.