How to treat strawberry powdery mildew

1. Symptoms of the disease

Powdery mildew of strawberry mainly harms its leaves, petioles, flowers, pedicels and fruits, and usually does not harm the stems. In the early stages of the disease, thin white mycelium will grow on the back of the leaves. Over time, the leaves will curl upward and have white spots of varying sizes. As the disease progresses, the white spots will expand to cover the entire leaf, after which the leaf edges will shrivel and burn. When the flower buds are infected, they cannot open; when the fruits are infected, they cannot swell and they will lose their luster.

2. Causes

This disease is caused by a fungus called Monocystis ovariae, and is mainly related to temperature and humidity. As a low-temperature and high-humidity disease, the temperature at which it occurs is usually between 15-25°C and the humidity is above 90%. Continuous rainy weather usually causes the disease in late autumn or early spring. If the disease can be exposed to sunlight for a long time, it is not easy to get sick.

3. Treatment Methods

When strawberries are found to be diseased, the diseased leaves and fruits should be picked off immediately and buried or burned to eliminate the pathogens and prevent recurrence of infection. In addition, azole drugs can be used for prevention and control, but be sure to control the dosage. If the dosage is too large, it will easily inhibit the growth and development of strawberries.

4. How to prevent

The means of treating powdery mildew are relatively limited, and prevention is the main method. First of all, we should choose varieties with strong disease resistance to reduce the possibility of plant disease. Secondly, we must control the amount of nitrogen fertilizer and apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, which can also improve disease resistance. In addition to fertilizing, you should also pay attention to watering. If the environmental humidity is too high, limit the amount of water and increase ventilation to reduce the possibility of fungal growth. Pay attention to pruning at ordinary times and remove old and diseased leaves in time.