Strawberries look dried out on the plants - help!

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glendalekid Tuscaloosa, AL(Zone 7b) Jun 10, 2007

I have Eversweet strawberry plants. There are many developing berries, but some of the ripe or nearly ripe ones look dried -- otherwise they appear normal -- kind of as if they were being freeze-dried on the plants. The temps here have been over 90 for the past two weeks. Do I need shade cloth of some kind for them? More water?

Thanks,
Karen

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CricketsGarden Nauvoo, AL(Zone 7a) Jun 11, 2007

MOre water

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blmlb Orange Park, FL Jun 11, 2007

Kid,
I'm also growing eversweet. I've seen a little of the same problem you describe. My best guess is that it might be a little sunscald/heat. The only ones of mine that have suffered are the ones that have been exposed to direct sun, as well as laying on hot ground all day. Most of mine have been pretty well protected by the plant leaves. Plus, I have layed down a layer of cypress mulch around the bases of the plants. Keeps the ground cooler and the berries cleaner.
There also seems to be a little trade-off. The ones that are protected from the sun seem to ripen more slowly than the ones in direct sun.
I'm not sure that shade cloth would be the answer either. It has been my experience that the less sun the plants receive, the smaller the berries.
I've also noticed that if a plant has too many berries all trying to grow at the same time, that it might not be an ideal situation for the plant.
Pretty much, though, I'm just guessing about all the above. I'm still learning as I go.

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blmlb Orange Park, FL Jun 11, 2007

And, of course, as cricket mentioned, it might just be as simple as watering.

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glendalekid Tuscaloosa, AL(Zone 7b) Jun 11, 2007

Thanks for your input. Since I'm watering thoroughly every morning (except the day we finally got rain), I hesitated to water more, but maybe I should. I'll try that. I have some straw that I'll put down under them, too. That will also help retain the moisture.

Too many berries may be part of the problem. I did notice that they are growing in bunches -- 4-8 -- on the plants. Never having grown strawberries before, it just didn't occur to me that the plants could have too many berries. I'll try thinning them.

I looked up all the diseases, fungi, etc. for strawberry plants, but nothing looked anything like this. As I said, they look dessicated, almost freeze dried.

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