Plant guide:🍓 Strawberries
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⚠ Critical🩺
Roots
Red Stele Root Rot on Strawberries
Commonly affects: Fragaria × ananassa (Strawberry)
Plants wilt and appear stunted, with a bluish-green cast to the foliage before wilting; roots show a reddish core (stele) when cut lengthwise.
Potential Causes
- 1Phytophthora fragariae fungus, thriving in cold, waterlogged soil, especially in heavy clay
- 2Poor drainage keeping the root zone saturated during cool, wet periods
- 3Continuous strawberry planting in infected soil
Solution Steps
- 1Improve drainage significantly, planting on raised beds or mounds in heavy soil
- 2Remove and destroy affected plants — there is no cure once established
- 3Choose red-stele-resistant varieties, especially in regions with heavy or poorly-draining soil
- 4Rotate out of strawberry production in severely infected beds for several years
Prevention Tip
Red stele is fundamentally a drainage disease — raised bed planting in heavy soil prevents the cold, waterlogged conditions it needs.
