Poorly strawberries?

[delsupserve]

Nearly all of my strawberries have come down with i think a fungal deseas. They were healthy till about four weeks ago then one by one the leaves started to curl and brown blotches appeared on the underide and felt like parchment. The fruits turn red but they dont go soft, the red fruits seemed to be laced with a white thread on the surface some fruits are mishapen. I have sprayed the plants with Bayer fruit and veg fungal control and cut out the worst affected leaves. All advice gratefuuly received. Rgards Mick.

[Hillwalker]

Hi Mick,

I'm afraid it's powdery mildew, which the Bayer product won't get rid off. My advice would be to remove all the affected fruit as well as the worst affected leaves. Then, as soon as you can, try one of the treatments here: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...dew_59331.html

[delsupserve]

Thanks for the prompt reply Hillwalker. I had a look at the link and i shall be trying one of those receipes in the morning. Now i know what it is i looked on google for other cures and one sugested a garlic based spray of which i made some three week ago for contoling whitefly (they dont like the smell) Does this fungus get into the plant or is it only surface damage? I have pegged some runners from infected plants would it be advisable to bin them because at the moment they look healthy. Regards Mick

[Hillwalker]

Two, hopefully useful links for you Mick:

Powdery Mildew Life Cycle - Powdery Mildew - The fungal threads grow on the plant's surface, not inside the tissue.

GreenCure - What is GreenCure? - Having been plagued by this horrible disease over the years, I've tried many different treatments. The two I've had the best results with are simpsoned milk and GreenCure. My preference is GreenCure - It kills the disease on contact, coats the leaf well and lasts a reasonable time between sprays. There are several diy recipes based on the active ingredient, potassium bicarbonate, which use various wetting and sticking agents. Because it's these two ingredients that are difficult to get right, I chose to buy the researched and formulated, ready-made product. As there is no distributor in the UK yet, the price with postage is more than I'd like (c.£18 inc P&P), but it does go a long way and is very effective. All the plants I've sprayed have had the disease checked immediately and are looking healthy again.

Whatever you try, do it as soon as you can. Don't bin the runners, they'll be fine once successfully treated.