Strawberry woes

Biblu

Hello there,

last year I lost a pot of strawberries, and thought it might be disease related somehow so I threw out all of the soil and replanted some more (I think these were off shoots from the diseased ones but don’t remember). 

This year again I seem to have a problem as they’re not growing and when I dug them up to take a look they have ‘rusty’ roots. I tried to google ‘rusty roots’ but couldn’t find photos that looked like mine. 

There are some widgity/maggot type things in the soil - not sure if that’s relevant. 

Any ideas?

do you think these can be rescued or should I throw them all out? I have some other off shoots that look healthier so I don’t mind throwing these out - otherwise I’m close to giving up on strawberries!

Biblu

Did some more googling... are these the larvae of vine weevill?

Pete.8

My guess would be vine weevil grubs that have eaten the roots
Some photos here-
https://www.google.com/search?q=vine+weevil+larvae+picture&sxsrf=ALeKk02UnSAeqXcWoMUgBb2AUcKAJzHJaA:1584887411683&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiksLrZpa7oAhXYiVwKHXXZAGQQ_AUoAXoECA8QAw&biw=1920&bih=1057

I've not had to deal with them, but I'm sure others can advise
Good luck

Ema.mcconnell

Hello, i found we had thw same problem yesterday. Can i ask how have you resolved this? I looked and they have taken my strawberry and 5 other plants which were in pots close by. I am so stressed that they will take my acer too. 

Biblu

I sifted through my strawberry pots (last years runners were potted individually) and removed all the ones I could find. It was a bit more difficult in the big strawberry pot and I must have missed some but some of the strawberries in there do look like they’re recovering. 

Obviously that’s not a permanent solution but I found some ‘Nemasys’ from googling online - it’s supposed to be a more natural killer, I think, so ok for edibles like strawberries. 

I hope it works because in the past year we’ve lost strawberries, raspberries (3), Tayberry and blueberry bush. 

Biblu

Just wanted to say thank you to @Pete.8 - I purchased the Nemasys and gave the strawberry’s and tayberry a good sprinkle. Both have taken on a new lease of life! One or two still died but it saved all the rest and we’ve even got some strawberries coming!

So if anyone else has this problem - I can recommend the Nemasys product! Bit expensive but worked a treat!

thank you again Pete!

Pete.8

Very pleased to have helped @Biblu - all looking good and hope you have some tasty strawberries soon.

Fairygirl

They don't normally bother Acers @Ema.mcconnell
I don't find nematodes much use here - it's too long before the ground warms up, and by then they've already moved in. I did use them a couple of years ago, in early autumn, but I can't say it made a huge difference. 
The only other alternative is to hunt them down and kill them. The grubs are slightly easier in that you can gently pull a plant, and if it starts moving away too easily, you can take it out. If there are grubs there, you can chuck them out for the birds.

Anything in pots is more vulnerable, although I've never had them in strawberries.
Glad you got a solution @Biblu