Plant Doctor Archive

Misshapen strawberries

THIS year I grew strawberries in the glasshouse in a balanced strawberry/ tomato mix plus some blood and bone. But a lot of the fruit are misshapen. Can you tell me the cause?

THESE fruit look as if they have been subject to stress during development. The main cause is probably lack of water, restricting fruit development, followed by a growth spurt when water was available. The temperature in a glasshouse can rise surprisingly high in a very short time when the sun comes out, causing rapid water loss through transpiration from the plant as well as evaporation from the soil. So more regular watering should help, but it might also pay to try to improve ventilation or apply a light coating of shade paint or shade cloth to keep the greenhouse cooler.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH.