15 Things Your Strawberry Leaves Are Telling You

How to Become a Strawberry Plant Whisperer or What Are My Strawberry Plant’s Leaves Telling Me?

Are your strawberry plants talking to you? Yes! Strawberry leaves can tell you a lot about the health of the plants and how many berries you are likely to get from them.

Often when we search the internet to learn what different colors on strawberry leaves mean, it seems we have to already know what the problem is. Here you can find the leaf signs and their meanings, not the other way around.

Undersides of leaves

Watery lesions on the back of strawberry leaves are a result of angular leaf spot caused by the bacteria Xanthomonas fragariae. The bacteria is hiding in your plant’s vascular system and oozing out of these lesions. It spreads in wet or humid conditions and enters wounds or natural openings on nearby plants.

If you notice an infected plant at this stage, separate it from healthy plants in dry conditions. You can try treating the plant with an antibiotic called validamycin. For home growers, the best solution is to remove the plant at the end of the season and let the bacteria left in the soil die over winter. Angular leaf spot alone doesn’t have too much impact on berry production.

Photo by Michael A. Ellis as found on Ohioline.edu

White fluffy patches

White fluffy patches on leaves are powdery mildew. Powdery mildew attacks young leaves, flowers, and fruit. Spray your plants once a week with a mixture of 1 part milk to 2 parts water. The milk kills the fungus while nourishing the plant, and won’t harm beneficial bugs.

Powdery mildew will survive in the soil over winter so consider treating the whole bed with potassium bicarbonate to prevent future problems.

Red

Old leaves

Is it the end of the season? Are temperatures dropping a little early? Red strawberry leaves could simply be showing you that the season is changing. They should come back in spring green and happy. If not, check into these other possibilities.

Red-orange field with small purple spots

If your strawberry leaves are turning bright red-orange and have small solid purple spots, they have leaf scorch. Eventually, the edges will turn brown and dry, appearing scorched. Remove the infected leaves and weeds to increase airflow.

Yellow

Overwatering

Strawberry plants need about 1 inch of water a day. If your strawberry leaves are turning yellow, check the moisture just below the surface of the soil. If the soil is very wet just before watering, skip watering until the soil is only damp just below the surface.

Keep checking the soil around your plants to determine when to water again. The yellow leaves will return to green as the moisture level balances out.

Green veins on yellow background

If the leaves turn a uniform yellow-green but the leaves remain dark green, often the problem is an iron deficiency. This is more common in hydroponic gardens. Try a foliar fertilizer.

Yellow edges, green centers, no browning

This pattern of yellowing on young leaves may be the result of magnesium or manganese deficiency.

Small and yellow

Small yellowish leaves indicate a possible nitrogen deficiency. Use a soil test kit to make sure and address any other nutrient needs at the same time. Some leaves may also begin to turn purple.

Translucent lesions that appear yellow when held up to the light

This speckling is caused by angular leaf spot caused by the bacteria Xanthomonas fragariae. The bacteria hiding in your plant’s vascular system oozed out of lesions on the back of the leaves and may have now dried into a white powder. It spreads in wet or humid conditions and enters wounds or natural openings on nearby plants.

If you notice an infected plant at this stage, separate it from healthy plants in dry conditions. You can try treating the plant with an antibiotic called validamycin. For home growers, the best solution is to remove the plant at the end of the season and let the bacteria left in the soil die over winter. Angular leaf spot alone doesn’t have too much impact on berry production.

Photo by Michael A. Ellis as found on Ohioline.edu

Purple or Black

Irregular purple-black splotches on top of leaves

These splotches are older lesions caused by the angular leaf spot bacteria Xanthomonas fragariae. At this stage, it can resemble leaf scorch but that disease is caused by a fungus.

If you notice an infected plant at this stage, separate it from healthy plants in dry conditions. You can try treating the plant with an antibiotic called validamycin. For home growers, the best solution is to remove the plant at the end of the season and let the bacteria left in the soil die over winter. Angular leaf spot alone doesn’t have too much impact on berry production.

Photo by Michael A. Ellis as found on Ohioline.edu

Dark purple to reddish spots with light-colored centers

Dark purple to reddish spots with white, tan, or gray centers on young tender leaves are a sign of strawberry leaf spot.

Solid dark purple spots

Leaves that have small, solid dark purple spots without light-colored centers are in the early stages of a leaf scorch infection. If left to spread, the leaves will turn red-orange and eventually develop brown scorched edges.

This is a fungal disease. Remove the affected leaves and increase airflow between plants.

Purple leaves in addition to yellow leaves

This combination indicates a possible nitrogen deficiency. Use a soil test kit to make sure nitrogen is the only missing nutrient and address any other nutrient needs at the same time.

Brown or Tan

Brown Leaf Tips

Burned leaf tips may indicate a boron deficiency. Try foliar feeding but be careful not over-apply to prevent boron toxicity.

Brown Edges

Brown edges that look like a fringe may be the result of a calcium deficiency.

Brown edges with red field and purple spots

This is advanced leaf scorch. Remove affected leaves if possible to increase airflow. Clean up the strawberry bed at the end of the growing season since the fungus can overwinter on fallen leaves. Start new plants to replace severely infected older plants next year.

Gray to tan blotches

Gray to tan blotches on older leaves show your strawberry plants have leaf blotch. The fruit produced by plants with leaf blotch will be edible but ugly. There is no treatment for leaf blotch but you can prevent it by planting through plastic sheeting. The barrier prevents the fungus in the soil from splashing up onto the above-ground portions of the plant where it causes cosmetic damage.