If you notice reddish-brown spots without defined edges on the leaves of your garden strawberries, the plants are likely infected with brown spotting. Additionally, you may observe dark, shiny pads on the upper side of the leaves – these are fungal bodies where spores form and infect other plants. Over time, the infected leaves dry out. Brown spotting also affects the petioles, runners, and flower stalks, where the spots are small and slightly sunken.

Brown spotting develops in two stages: it appears in early spring and again in the fall. The fungus overwinters inside the leaves. The first signs of the disease are visible in early spring, but the disease does not progress in warm and dry conditions during the summer. However, in autumn, the fungi on garden strawberries become active again, with symptoms most noticeable at the end of summer and the beginning of fall.

Why is it dangerous?

It may seem that brown spotting only affects the leaves, but in fact, it affects the entire plant, drastically reducing the yield of your berry patch. The disease begins developing at the same time as the formation of flower buds. If the leaves are severely affected in the fall, the plant struggles to survive the winter, which also impacts the next year’s harvest.

How to combat it:

• Clear the strawberry bed of old and dried leaves to eliminate the infection that overwinters on them.
• Treat with Immunocytophyt (2 tablets per 3 liters of water) early in the spring. Zircon is also suitable (3 ml per 3 liters of water).
• Apply phosphorus-potassium fertilizers to soils that are oversaturated with nitrogen. These fertilizers should be applied before the berries flower and after the harvest.
• If the strawberries are heavily infected, the leaves should be cut and burned. Leave the petioles about 2 cm above the crowns. Afterward, treat the mowed strawberries with hot water (around 70°C).
• In August, spray the strawberries with a copper sulfate solution (100 g per 10 liters of water) or treat with Bordeaux mixture (also 100 g per 10 liters of water).
• Fitosporin-M has proven effective against spotting (15 ml per 10 liters of water). However, treatments need to be performed three times.