My strawberries developed red spots this summer. We had a wet and cool summer and my plants had become very crowded. Could this of caused the red spots? I've just transplanted some of these plants in a bed that I made by piling composted horse manure high over my previous bed. I transplanted plants that had no spots or not many and I noticed that the runners that had gotten out of the bed and onto bare soil had no spots. Does anyone know about the red spots and will the strawberries be ok next year?
strawberries
Might be Strawberry Leaf Scorch:
http://ipm.illinois.edu/diseases/series700/rpd702/index.html
i get some blight every year and the plants do fine.. I rarely if ever lose any, never a young one.. but i am not sure what you have.. the blight leaf gets red or purple spots than the leaf turns brown to the tips and I believe is bacterial.. I think scorched spots just turns white and is a fungus - i have no experience there as i only had it once years ago.
I don't know if the diseases winter over....
grab some corn flakes and enjoy! Strawberries in my experience are very resilient - I am still waiting for my last harvest. blooms everywhere. You probably have all your straw on them by now and bowls of berries... mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
-joe-
I don't know anything about diseases of strawberries, I only know that our plants put out hundreds of runners and I have to keep transplanting the "daughters"
I've noticed "wild strawberries" keep coming up in unexpected places, so I assume this is a good area for strawberries.
It amazes me how the daughters can grow in the hard clay just as easily as those in the soft- soil of the raised bed. They produce just as many berries, too!
"It amazes me how the daughters can grow in the hard clay just as easily as those in the soft- soil of the raised bed. They produce just as many berries, too!"
I think there's a big lesson in that statement. Nobody likes to garden in that sticky when wet, rock hard when dry, ugly clay. The first thing we want to do is amend it. My first garden was in N GA and I hated it. But in spite of its shortcomings, it is generally fertile and the plants don't seem to mind it as much as we do.
twiggybuds - Yes, one thing that clay soil has going for it - it's very nutritious. Once I have my whole garden "done" - I'm going to experiment in other areas planting seeds or transplants directly in the clay (I'll fluff it a bit first) to compare the two areas.
I hope I don't find out that I have put in three seasons of hard work for nothing LOL
just don't try root crops.. tomatoes don't do as well... corn doesn't care much.. and potatoes were marginally better... I have heavy clay..I ammended 3 out of 6 so I am 1/2 clay and 1/2 compst/peat/clay.. mostly perennial crops and corn in the clay.. berries
the strawbweeries (standard) love the clay much more.. and yes vermonter... your berries may look a little funny after the first few frosts - just as long as some fertilizer and straw get under there before a hard freeze and snow. alpine strawberries are growing better in a compost/clay soil.
jjconcepts -
Quoting:
1/2 clay and 1/2 compst/peat/clay..
I'm slowly getting to have beds that are the same as yours: half 'n half - only using coconut coir in place of the peat.
Do you add dolomite lime to your clay?
I havn't added anything other than some composted straw from my small coop. I am looking into some ammendments and may get
Gypsum, blood and bone just to make it easier to work with and get some food in there ( i used gypsum some time ago for the horseradish - worked okay, but you'll need alot). I have some loose beds and a few fairly hard beds that I may loosen up. I grow the eggplants, berries, and cucumbers in the hard clay. This has worked for over 15 years, but I would like to loosen it up for onions to plant under the eggplants and carrots under the cukes.
The coconut may be a much better choice.. If you don't get enough compost in with the peat it can be a bear to get to absorb water the first season or two.- or until the enough detritus is tilled in...
I live by the beach and considered sand, but the sharp edges of the beach sand may not be good for the roots.
This year I yanked a few out of my garden and put them in baskets!
They were in snady soild witl woodchips! Sent ouf a nice lot of runners. After the baskets went for a while I transplanted them and their runners to a tire bed. In the tire bed they are in straingh horsemanure! LOL! They love it!
I just covered them up lightly with the wood chips for fall now since we had a very hard frost and they are still well and good!
As for the spots, dont know! I will have to watch for irregulars!
They seem to prefer a part shade to fairly sunny here.
jjconcepts
Quoting:
The coconut may be a much better choice.. If you don't get enough compost in with the peat it can be a bear to get to absorb water the first season or two
You're right about peat not absorbing water very well. I also don't like it because it breaks down fairly quickly, whereas coir lasts. Right now, the only place I use peat is around my blueberry bushes, and then only because they like an acid rich soil.
I just planted a strawberry topsy turvy with strawberries, waiting for another delivery to plant another two. I am using coconut coir. Another dg'r took it to UF to be tested and check the ph. They said for tomatoes and strawberries...the coir with a litter perlite...perfect.
I have never used something likea topsy turvy...but darned if I dont think its going to work like charm. I have to grow my berries inside the screened encloser, or the squirrels leave nothing. Growing vertically was my only hope, and these turvys hold way more coir and are stronger than my mind had given them credit for. I would love to hear if anyone else has used one....any hints.
gardenglory, do show us a photo! We are just dying to see!
My big tractor tires are working great and oh how they are loving the straight horsemanure! Since I planted they have taken off like gangbusters. The woodchips on top help to mulch and they seem to like that too!
This message was edited Oct 30, 2009 7:53 AM
heres a pic!
Blossombuddy,
Love the tire idea! How many did you plant in that area?
I really did not count, but its loaded pretty good. I loaded it heavy becasue come spring I intend to thin it out and put the thinners in hanging baskets. If I had to guess their is well over 50 and I caught one blooming yesterday! LOL! Too funny.. hey strawberry, its DECEMBER, ZONE 5 yer out of whack!
It beats the heck out of kneeling... nice to recycle something not wanted too. Make sure you drill holes in it anywah even though the bottom is actually open. it sits up and can still go septic even filled with the dirt! and make it ppourus.. that is why we used the horsemanure compost.. and they love it!
Blossombuddy -
Quoting:
I caught one blooming yesterday
Our strawberries are still blooming and fruiting - the birds/bugs are loving them! There are too few for us to bother picking them for ourselves.
Well, its 12/1, I am running around in short sleeves and thats a June bearer in that tire! Right about now snow usually comes! Heck, I have dandilions popping up everywhere too. Guess winter is coming in on the late run. Not that I mind!
Did have frost again last night, but they are hardened to it. Been having frost for a couple months.
I'm expecting to be able to enjoy strawberries next spring. Last week I planted Sweet Charlie's in 2 gallon pots. They came bareroot and looked dead except for a tiny green nub at the crown. Now they've already got leaves. Only 1 light frost here so far, on Thanksgiving night, and it didn't even stop the peppers. Last year everything got wiped out on the 18th. Just goes to show the wisdom of planting a fall garden, sometimes it really pays to push my luck.
Over the past couple of weeks or so, the broccoli and collards have experienced frost. I just wait until the sun comes up and thaws them out - then I pick some for dinner!
My peppers didn't have a chance to see whether or not they would survive a frost, I pulled them up just as soon as the weatherman gave the bad news.
I know how you feel Honeybee. I put the piggies in the garden when I figured everything was about done but the weather has been good! I'm wishing now that I dug up some of the peppers and put them in the south-facing garden.
Thanks Blossombuddy! We have two or three tires about the place so I'll have to roll them out! Wait till DH sees!! lol!
Here's a pic of my lil rototillers(sorry couldn't help it!)!! They are rooting up really well.
I'm so jealous of your rotos. That's the old fashioned way to prep a garden. Will you leave them there all winter?
10/10 I brought my sweet bell peppers into the house! Had about 9 good size plants in large pots all spring and summer. They took a hard hit with ice! But good for us we were up before the sun got them and was able to hose them down and save them.. Been underlights now in my laundry room ever since. Couple of weeks ago had a nice lil basket o peppers! Now they are bare of fruit. The trunks are getting woody and starting to branch out! I am wondering how long they are going to live! LOL!! They have to be 8 to 9 months old!
Cute rotos there...they look so wonderfully clean unlike some people keeping them. I like seeing animals well cared for. Aint good to have a critter mired foot deep in manure for years and Lord knows I know some yahoos who do it. Cruel if ya ask me! Pigs like to be clean.
Another nice thing about piggies - their manure can be used immediately, no need to compost it.
Blossombuddy - as far as I know, peppers are perennials, so they should grow indefinitely.
Aaah thats what I though and thats what they mean by a pepper tree! So ok! Well I just put some pelleted fertilizer to them. I do not know what I am gonna do with them when they get too tall... hmmmm, wonder just how tall that might be!
Blossom if they get too big between now and when they can go back outside, you only have to trim them back to a manageable size. Having those mature roots in the spring is what's important. They'll take off running and you'll get well ahead of new seedlings.
Well, Im really excited on that! If they make it through the winter I wil be the first to have peppers!
Im concerned on the artificial light with them.. but so far so good, been indoors almost 2 months now!
Well, heres the 2010 pepper link!
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1060074/
This message was edited Dec 2, 2009 4:21 PM
We're going to leave them there until the end of Feb. Then we are moving them to another garden area that they can work(play in their book!!) in until April/May. Then off to their summertime pen where they get over-sized veggies from the garden!
I know what you mean about keeping pigs in a wet muddy area. Pigs do like to be clean. We always keep them in a good-sized area and they've always been happy! I've seen pigs kept in small pens where the poor things are up to their knees in muck. I feel bad for them.
I just read a thread mentioning Spanish Spice Hybrid Peppers; they look like something I'd like to try this up-coming year. Only one vender mentioned in Garden Watchdog though...
saanansandy, I'm a complete dufus when it comes to that Garden Watchdog! What is the vendor for Spanish Spice Hybrid Pepper? I have good luck looking up the vendor but never good luck with looking up a plant. Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I always get a huge list to look through.
PS. are we on the strawberry or pepper thread? Also, I liked the photo of the piggies! Don't think I want them in my strawberry patch, though =))!
Strawberry thread! LOL!
Pepper link scroll a few posts up!
sorry :-)
LOL! No problem. Stay on I am sure theire will be more strawberry yaking coming up! It was just time for a commercial! A pepper commercial! LOL!
Merry Christmas!
LOL!
Yes, I'm sorry as well =)! I got confused as am dividing my attention between Dave's and work (naughty me). Then the piggies sent me round the bend! They are very cute! You can always distract me with animal photos. I usually don't wory about where a thread is going, but after I posted I started to. At any rate I now can find and grow that cool sounding pepper!
LOL! Everyones doing it, they are on several threads and forget where they are so no big deal! Makes us wanna get about to other places and stay where we are all at the same time! Only on the Internet can you do that! Sometime you just done kow what the conversation is talking about too! So, are the piggies getting sweaters for Christmas! LOL!
Red sweaters would look cute. How do pigs keep warm? They don't have much hair. I think I remember hearing that's why they have the thick fat layer but it never has worked for me.
Wait until you hit menopause,, the power surges will fix that!
LOL!
When it gets 45 you will be happy as a piggy in a red sweater when yer running around in short sleeves!