(!) Help the strawberry plant is sick -- what am I doing wrong??! (pixs inside)

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
I already pulled off one dead leaf section, this one turned like this mostly overnight -- what am I doing wrong?? I've always had a brown thumb, especially with container plants. I always managed to kill at least one plant while mom was on vacation, so...help!

I am watering it every other day, like I have since day one.

The tree out front leafed out so the porch no longer gets direct sun, so I've tried to remember to stick it someplace where it gets sun, for at least 1/2 the day or more. A few weeks back I added some worm castings to the top soil. The soil looks a bit messy because the plant was out front when the gardener and his blower came by.

What's am I doing wrong and what can I do to fix it???

Help me Obi-One Eat-At, you're my only hope!!!

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy163/4ebay_bucket/Garden/IMG_2621_zps92d52145.jpg

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy163/4ebay_bucket/Garden/IMG_2622_zps7acfdbe0.jpg

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy163/4ebay_bucket/Garden/IMG_2623_zps24ec095c.jpg

 
I didn't touch it!!! I swear...hand on "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".

Mom, cheezz did it! I saw her!!

 
I do believe that watering every other day is too much water. Professional strawberry growers

around here dig trenches and water the trenches keeping the water off the plant. Do you have a drip system to your pot? Check with your local neighborhood nursery about it. If you water too much, the plant cannot get oxygen and it drowns. The soil needs to dry out for a bit of time.

Here is a statment from a grower who also does pots:

"Strawberries have very temperamental roots. They need water, but they don't want to stand it. Drainage is very important...I have 3 inches of stone at the bottom of my planter. If you have it planted in the ground, a good layer of gravel under the bed is good. If it's in a pot, you need a drainage outlet for the excess water...gravel or clay fragments are good".

 
Sometimes it takes a perfectly healthy plant time to get sick

strawberries do not like wet roots, they need well drained soil. Make sure the hole in your pot is draining properly. If you can carefully transplat the strawberry plant into another pot with rich soil, put about three inches of gravel for the bottom layer, maybe you can save it. I would still check with a nursery person....I am not a master gardner, just what I have learned from experience. smileys/wink.gif

 
Joe? What say you? You are my Obi-One of the garden. smileys/smile.gif

I do have a hole in the bottom, but I don't give it nearly that big of a drink when I water. Just enough to keep the soil mostly damp at all times if I dig my finger below the surface.

 
The gnats would indicate too much water to me too. If it's not getting as much sun it might be

staying soggy. I would move it to a permanently sunnier location, since that seems to be the main variable that has changed recently.

 
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