Vegetables: Help! 90% of my strawberries are rotting before ripening

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patterntracy Hyde Park, MA June 25, 2009 03:51 PM	I have a strawberry pyramid, and this is my first year picking. The season started off great--I started picking on June 11th, and every few days was picking a couple of quarts. I didn't mulch the plants, which I'm now thinking I should have. We have only had about 4-5 days of sun so far this month, rain 3-4 days each week, and we're just coming off of a solid week of rain--a one day respite before the rain comes back tomorrow. I picked the other day during a brief pause in the rain (it had shifted to drizzle), and I'd say I was losing 20% of the strawberries to rot; I just picked today, and it's up to more like 80-90% (although maybe since it's not currently raining, I spent more time clearing the beds of berries that were clearly never going to ripen). Is there anything I can do/should have done? Is it due to the unbelievably wet/cold season we've been having? Do I need to worry about diseases setting in that will affect the berries next year?
jjconcepts Milford, CT (Zone 6a) June 25, 2009 04:17 PM	same weather in ct, I put plastic over two boards with milk crates that helped keep the rain out until snails and slugs came. now i cover it only during the rain and uncover it when it's over and I am getting to eat some berries.. it's just too wet. if a slug eats the top, you will know because they rot from the inside out. The slugs seem to like only the tops. they seemed to stop coming since I covered the berries. as far as rot, we should be getting a few days of sun, try pulling out any mulch you have, let it dry out some if the berry is rotting from the outside in it's too wet. hope that helps a little -joe-.
patterntracy Hyde Park, MA June 26, 2009 02:04 PM	Thanks, Joe. This is so frustrating I could almost cry, but it helps to know there's probably not much I could have done to prevent it. I don't think I've lost a single berry to slugs, they're all rotting from the outside. I think I'm going to try covering them during future rains, also, as long as air can circulate. I've been wondering if mulching the heck out of them would have helped, so that the berry stems would be held upright, but that would take a ton of mulch. Which would then take forever to dry out. I guess I should just be hoping that this horrible weather will change (most of my plants are weeks behind), and that next year will be better.
jjconcepts Milford, CT (Zone 6a) June 26, 2009 03:18 PM	I've never seen beds sooo wet - mulching was a disaster - i did try it on a small bed - every berry touching the ground wet to rot, the chickens were loving it! Actually air it out, mine are starting to get better, I am not covering them anymore - I think the monsoons are over but still no sun. my plants are either way behind, or too leggy and leafless right now. My okra is 9 feet tall with hardly a leaf and starting to blossom? i don't know.. the good news is that lillies are starting to pop open, it's almost over.. I expect the late summer and fall strawberries to be outstanding! you should have lots of shoots by now, get them covered with soil for the fall berries. -joe- ps.. do you know anything about broccoli?
patterntracy Hyde Park, MA June 26, 2009 04:28 PM	I hope you're right about the weather, but I'm not getting my hopes up--it looks like we'll be getting thunderstorms here today, and at least some showers for the next 4 days or so. I'm tired of feeling mildewed. Also, I think the 2 varieties of berries I put in were both June bearing, so no fall berries for me. I wasn't thinking about insurance against biblical weather patterns! But what should I do with the new shoots? I've heard about starting to let the "mother" plants go, and keeping the "babies", but with all the shoots that these things put out, how are you supposed to be able to keep straight which is which? Should I just let last year's shoots stay put and get established, and cut off all this year's shoots? Sorry, I've never grown broccoli. Maybe one of these years.
jjconcepts Milford, CT (Zone 6a) June 26, 2009 04:49 PM	I just let everything do what it likes, I don't cut anything - just move the shoots where there are open spaces and move soil to hold it in place, when everything is flowering, you can find the 'mothers' they slow down and stop. if they don't produce, pull them - there will be four more to replace them. Try nourse farms in deerfield MA, they have a website. quite possibly the best people I have ever worked with. I called them they set me up with the perfect and best tasting berries. berries all spring through september - amazing. the down and up sides are there are always a handfull ripe in my garden, i like that - always a snack, but rarely enough to make a pie. still, berries all summer. Call them - prices are good - if you can take a trip over there you'll find it's incredibly worth getting a good set of berries to do what you like and when. you can taste them before you buy the plant!!! -joe-.
LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b) June 26, 2009 04:54 PM	June bearers need to be severely thinned after bearing. Yes, keep the babies and pull the mothers, but keep them spaced out. Crowding the plants increases the chance of rot. You don't say what kind of rot it is, but here http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1302/ is an article on botrytis mold, which is one of the most common kinds. Now that you know there is mold in your bed, you should treat it with fungicide and clear out all the moldy dead plant material, which includes the old mulch. Treat the plants with fungicide next year at bloom time - this is when the rot gets started. Drainage is essential for strawberries, but those pyramids usually provide good drainage. A light straw mulch is good for strawberries - it keeps the berries off the ground and out of contact with the mold.
jjconcepts Milford, CT (Zone 6a) June 26, 2009 04:58 PM	will the thinning get better production? mine are pretty tight, 4-6 berries when they blossom.
LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b) June 26, 2009 06:00 PM	It should, if the plants are healthy. Too crowded, and they are competing for resources. It's just a matter of time before they are too crowded.
dividedsky Indianapolis, IN (Zone 5b) June 26, 2009 07:34 PM	tracy: Sorry to hear you're having trouble with the rain, too. Grrrr! I know it's frustrating. jj: The slugs eat the leafy tops or the tops of the fruit? My brother's berries had chunks eaten out of the tops of the fruit. Suspected slugs. But we thought slugs ate mostly foliage, not fruit. Could've been rabbits taking a bite here and there, maybe. Lois, what do you think of the idea of dried pine needles for mulching strawberries? The pH is probably a little higher than they prefer. So if the pine needles happen to lower it, that would be fine. And he has plenty of pine needles.
jjconcepts Milford, CT (Zone 6a) June 26, 2009 08:20 PM	they were getting the leafy tops. ... oh, it rained again, 19 days in a row. almost 5 inches this month. 21 out of the last 26 days.. how is it going in Mass? are you still soaking in it?
LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b) June 26, 2009 08:43 PM	I know they're good for mulching blueberries - wish I had some.
patterntracy Hyde Park, MA June 27, 2009 12:55 PM	Wow, thanks for the link, Ltilton! Sadly, yes, that's exactly what I've got; we've had about the same weather as CT, about 21 days or more of rain this month, with more expected every day for the next 4 or so, so maybe it was inevitable. JJ, I actually ordered my plants from Nourse Farms, and couldn't have been happier with the plants themselves. I'll ride out the rest of the season as best I can, then I'll cut back all the plants and regroup from there. Maybe with that, and some better luck with weather, next year will be better. Thanks, everyone, for your help.
LTilton Glen Ellyn, IL (Zone 5b) June 27, 2009 01:28 PM	Everyone praises Nourse Farms as the best source. My own Junebearers have lost vitality, and I'm planning to rip them out and order new plants from Nourse.
cando1 Ozone, AR (Zone 6a) June 27, 2009 09:12 PM	Thanks for the strawberry source. I may order some for next year. We're having drought here in the Ozarks.

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