How to Protect Strawberries

Weeds and Pests

• 1

  Place black plastic around strawberry plants as a mulch and protection against weeds. Black plastic will also help keep the soil warm and will deter slugs, which like to hide in organic mulches, such as leaves or wood chips.

• 2

  Dig a hole every couple of feet around the strawberry patch sized to fit the mason jars and deep enough so that about 1 inch of the jars remains above ground level. Insert the jars into the holes and fill them three-fourths full with beer. The beer will attract strawberry pests and lure them into the jars where they drown.

• 3

  Sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the base of the strawberry plants. The micro-particles in the diatomaceous earth cut the skins of strawberry pests like slugs and caterpillars and cause them to dehydrate and die. The diatomaceous earth becomes ineffectual when wet, so reapply after rain or watering.

• 4

  Apply Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) bacteria to the strawberry patch for larger pest infestations. Bt works on a range of common garden pests, like cabbage worms or cutworms without harming beneficial insects like lady beetles that feed on other garden pests.

Winterizing

• 5

  Remove the last of the strawberry berries or flowers in late fall and pinch off any new runners, and old or dead leaves.

• 6

  Spread 3 inches of straw over the top of the strawberry plants.

• 7

  Form the stakes into a "tee-pee" shape around the strawberry plants, using the mallet to drive the stakes into the ground. Use around four stakes per plant.

• 8

  Wrap the window plastic around the tee-pee and use the staple gun to secure it in place.

Disease

• 9

  Clean up leaf litter and garden material regularly from around strawberry plants. While they need adequate watering to fruit well, excess moisture in their surrounds can encourage mildew and mold, and keeping the garden beds clean is the first part of protecting them from disease.

• 10

  Remove any affected plant from the garden bed to prevent diseases spreading through the strawberry patch.

• 11

  Apply a fungicide to the strawberries if necessary, to help cure diseases like black spot, crown rot, leaf spot or leaf blight. Use fungicide and any chemical controls sparingly, and only as directed.