Thursday 10 November 2016

Strawberry seedlings dying

The seedlings have been transplanted and after many weeks, they have started to turn brown and dying. I'm not sure what is the root cause of this.

I have examined the soil and see that there are many white dots on the surface of the soil. But looking closely, the white dots are moving and I suspect they are infested by some insects. I was thinking of aphids as they are white. The seedlings may not be strong enough to withstand this infestation.

I have quarrantined these seedlings away from the other strawberry plants (mature ones). The infested ones are on the left side of the balcony which are receving most sunlight (the left side is the east). The strawberry seedlings on the right side are doing well. Is it possible that the sunlight is too strong for the seedlings to handle? I'm not sure and maybe it is just a coincident.

The strawberry plants on the right side of the balcony (receving the west sun) are throwing out many runners. I want to propagate more strawberry and to experiment on the different type of soil (to weed out the infestation). The new type of soil that I using now is a mixed soil with volcanic sand. It is quite fine.

Currently, I have ten runners growing in the new soil and I will cut them away from the parent plants after three weeks. I will update more when I have the information. Stay tuned!

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