Insects and other pests strawberries plant
Tarnished plant bugs
Cause deformed or "nubbin" strawberries with a concentration of seeds at the tip of the fruit. Nymphs puncture individual seeds and inject a toxin so that the fleshy part of the strawberries plant stops developing where the seed was injured. Damaged seeds are hollow and turn a strawberries-brown color. Plant bugs are often in alfalfa; to prevent the bugs from feeding on strawberries, avoid mowing alfalfa when strawberries plant are in bloom.
Leafrollers
Small worms are roll the leaves together and feed on the leaves. They must be controlled if they become numerous.
Mites
Tiny, spiderlike creatures are typically found on the underside of leaves strawberries plant. Mites tend to be the most damaging during hot, dry periods, when they suck plant juices from the leaves.
Strawberries plant weevils or clippers
Puncture fruit buds with their snouts to feed on immature pollen. Later, females deposit an egg inside a floral bud and girdle the petiole of the bud so that it falls to the ground or is left hanging by a small bit of tissue.
Slugs
Eat holes in ripe fruit and are worse during rainy weather or near rotting foliage. Shiny slime trails are evidence of slugs.
Nematodes
Nematodes are found in the soil and are too small to be seen with the naked eye. Most nematodes feed on roots strawberries plant. Symptoms of nematode damage include galls on the roots or stubby, stunted roots. To avoid a buildup of nematodes, rotate plantings to a different site when establishing new beds.
"Nubbins" or "button strawberries" may be caused by feeding tarnished plant bugs, heavy infestations of cyclamen mites, frost injury, nutrient deficiencies (boron, calcium), inadequate pollination, abnormally high temperatures that make pollen nonviable, or by the application of 2,4-D from Aug. 1 to Nov. 1, when fruit buds are differentiating.
Strawberries plant diseases (2)
