Ok so I've had a dozen strawberry plants in my patch for a year and a half. I bought them in spring of 2009 and they survived the abnormally harsh winter we had this year in central Texas. I did exactly like i was suppose to and didnt let them fruit or make runners last year and this year they produced beautiful fruit. Its been an abnormally mild summer (for central Texas that is) we have not had that many days get into the 100's, but even before we actually reached those temps, my patch started to die off. I thought it might have been soil erosion, so i added soil to the 3 tiny plants i had left, and they died too. So now i have no strawberry plants for next year. Can anyone tell me why they might have died?
My strawberries died :((
- Thread starter hilow4322
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vfem
Garden Addicted
That soil you added... where did you get it? Have you tested the soil's ph? Did you do any fertlizing? Sounds like they may have been over cared for...
ETA. -
ETA. -
journey11
Garden Master
Pest, or more likely disease, given that it got all of them. Contact your county ag. extension agency and see what strawberry diseases are common in your area. They can probably diagnose it for you if you have a specimen to show them. For some diseases you will have to select a new site to re-plant. Or you might be able to pick a resistant variety for next year. Sorry you lost all that time invested! That's a bummer.
ETA: !
ETA:
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vfem
Garden Addicted
I think it would help if you had pictures. We're very good at trying to diagnois here I think. 
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks for your replies. I dont have any pics because they are all dead and gone now, and as for the soil i added garden soil, but i didnt check the ph. I had a 7x2 foot area and like a said they did good in the soil last year and this spring. I got many compliments from my grandmother (which is saying alot) then the crop stopped blooming and did ok for about 3 weeks then just started keeling over. I did have a problem with pill bugs and Put some pest killer down. could that have done it? I had used it before and never had a problem. I also put some miracle grow down. They slowly started dieing so i started wattering them more. Then i went from a 12 plants to 3. Then i added more soil, and that was a no go. They just died. Im going to start over come spring. Im gonna go ahead and start some seeds this fall and have them grow indoors over the winter. Hopefully they will do better. thanks for you input.
bills
Deeply Rooted
Strawberry's do get diseased, and are probably even more susceptible when having had a tough winter to deal with.
There are some disease reisitant varietys out there, so perhaps check for that on your new plants. A loose layer of straw can help protect them over a harsh winter, so keep that in mind for your new plants. Pull the straw off as soon as the weather warms up. I use some of it around the base of the plants at that point to help stop them from drying out, as well it gives the berrys a clean surface to lie on..
I never worried about cutting off runners the first few years of the plant, and allowed it to fruit the first year as well. Perhaps contrary to popular growing methods, but I have now a very large healthy strawberry patch. I gathered 3-4 pounds a day this past growing season. My freezer is packed with them..lol
The patch is starting to get overly large bow, so I will "trim" the runners on either side of it, to keep it contained. I do notice that the older original plants (now 3 growing seasons), are producing much smaller berrys. I will up-root those ones this spring, and stuff some of the trimmed runners in their place.
Good luck with your new plants..
There are some disease reisitant varietys out there, so perhaps check for that on your new plants. A loose layer of straw can help protect them over a harsh winter, so keep that in mind for your new plants. Pull the straw off as soon as the weather warms up. I use some of it around the base of the plants at that point to help stop them from drying out, as well it gives the berrys a clean surface to lie on..
I never worried about cutting off runners the first few years of the plant, and allowed it to fruit the first year as well. Perhaps contrary to popular growing methods, but I have now a very large healthy strawberry patch. I gathered 3-4 pounds a day this past growing season. My freezer is packed with them..lol
The patch is starting to get overly large bow, so I will "trim" the runners on either side of it, to keep it contained. I do notice that the older original plants (now 3 growing seasons), are producing much smaller berrys. I will up-root those ones this spring, and stuff some of the trimmed runners in their place.
Good luck with your new plants..
