Do You Cut Off the Bad Parts of a Strawberry Plant?

Botrytis Fruit Rot

• The fungus Botrytis cinerea causes the development of Botrytis fruit rot and gray mold of strawberries. The fungus lives in the soil and on plant parts, and the fungus can live in any part of the plant. Remove any plant debris and pick and remove infected berries from the growing area. Also remove any frost-damaged immature fruits and dying leaves. The Clemson Cooperative Extension cautions that a key step to control of the disease is that you remove dying leaves in late winter, before you mulch the plants.

Leaf Diseases

• With strawberry leaf diseases such as leaf spot, leaf scorch and leaf blight, fungal infections hide in dead plant material and infected plants. According to the Clemson Cooperative Extension, even a small number of infected plants can spread an infection to damage or destroy an entire planting. Remove infected leaves, diseased plants and all strawberry plant debris from the garden after harvest. Burn infected plant material.

Anthracnose

• The fungal disease anthracnose can infect crowns, leaves, stolons, petioles and fruits of strawberries. Remove any affected fruits and plant parts. Remove diseased plant material not just from the plant, but from the growing area. Additionally, the Virginia Cooperative Extension recommends removing any plants within a 5- to 10-foot radius of an infected plant. The extension notes that removal of infected berries can reduce disease pressure, but the pathogen remains in plant tissues.

Leather Rot

• With the fruit disease leather rot, caused by soil-borne Phytophthora cactorum, you should remove and discard infected berries. Watch for the telltale leathery consistency on the flesh of harvested berries and reddish-brown or purple discoloration of the fruit as signs of infection, notes the Iowa State University Extension.

June Yellows

• The exact cause of June yellows has not been determined. Leaf distortion and variegation in strawberry plants are two of the main symptoms, and cool weather seems to be a trigger for symptoms. The disease is considered unpredictable and progressive. Affected plants should be removed and destroyed.