It is easier to prevent than to cure – treating strawberries in the fall from pests and diseases
In what month, and what preparations are strawberries treated in the fall from pests and diseases? I have several already quite old beds, in the spring I thinned them out, because they were already very thick and gave little berries. But I didn’t get much of the harvest from them. The strawberries got sick with something, they gave little fruit, and even those small and kind of rotten were. And on the bushes that were not affected by the disease, the berries were eaten by insects. I decided not to wait until spring and spray, but I don’t know what.
The most popular summer berry has always been and will be strawberry. An amazing aroma, sweet pulp and the ability, thanks to modern hybrids, to harvest until the fall, make the crop desirable in every area. One of the important measures and the key to abundant and stable fruiting is the processing of strawberries in the fall from pests and diseases. Various fungi can nullify all the work of gardeners and even completely destroy strawberry beds. In addition, strawberries are loved not only by adults and children, but also by all kinds of insects. Living in close proximity to bushes, they are the first to find ripe sweet berries. And if they do not completely eat them, then they pretty much spoil them. Therefore, it is better to protect the plantings in a timely manner than to treat them for a long time from diseases and get rid of the uninvited owners of the beds..
Processing strawberries in the fall from pests and diseases – when can you start
Traditionally, the end of fruiting is a signal that strawberry beds can already be prepared for wintering. However, here it is necessary to take into account not only climatic conditions, but also the varietal affiliation of the culture. If ordinary strawberries give up their last berries in the second half of summer, then remontant varieties bear fruit until the very frost. Therefore, for the first, processing can be carried out starting in August. And the latter can be sprayed only in October-November..
One of the advantages of the autumn processing of plantings is that you can safely use chemicals. They will not harm the strawberries themselves if you prepare the solution correctly, because they are already without berries. And the effectiveness of chemistry is always an order of magnitude higher than that of folk remedies, which is important for the fight against diseases..
How to treat strawberries for diseases
In the fall, they carry out not only therapeutic, but also preventive treatment, spraying the beds with special fungicide preparations. Depending on which disease has affected the culture or there is a high risk of its manifestation, the following drugs are used:
- gray rot – Fitosporin, Horus;
- powdery mildew – Fundazol, Topaz, copper sulfate;
- anthracnose – Quadris, Ridomil Gold;
- various types of spots – a solution of Bordeaux liquid or copper sulfate;
- black rot – Ordan;
- late blight – Fundazol, at least two treatments, including the soil under the bushes;
- chlorosis – ferrous sulfate solution.
Fungicides are useless against viral diseases, and it will not be possible to cope with them. Viruses quickly infect all plantings, so it is easier to prevent them than to cure them. To avoid mosaics, mottling and other viruses, it is necessary to thin out the beds so that they do not thicken, and regularly remove weeds..
What products can be used for treatment against pests
If insects are bred on strawberries, then it must be eliminated from them. Otherwise, after overwintering, the larvae of pests in even greater numbers in the spring with renewed vigor will begin to annoy both the gardener and the plants..
On a small scale, folk remedies will help. This is spraying bushes and row spacings with infusions of onions, garlic, tobacco, red pepper – in general, with the fact that it has a pungent odor. Insects do not like such aromas and quickly leave the strawberry plantation..
But when they have already managed to firmly settle and even multiply, it is better to use chemical insecticides:
- Karbofos – against weevils and leafworms;
- Actellic or Confidor – against whitefly;
- ferrous sulfate solution – against nematodes;
- superphosphate – against snails and slugs.
