What's happened to my strawberry plants?!

[LemonFrosting]

Posted yesterday in another thread but no reply.
I'm wondering why are my strawberry plants looking so awful and brown?! I thought maybe not enough water but the soil is damp. The smaller plant this morning is now even browner! It looks dead to be honest.

Are you overwatering?

I can see loads of green leaves and 2 brown ones. Take the two brown ones off and leave the others.

If that is older compost, then the nutrients may well have depleted so give them a weekly feed of tomato feed whilst they are flowering and fruiting.

I thought could it be I'm over watering as it's been so hot these last few days I've given them extra water. I've been feeding once a week with tomato feed, is that enough once a week?
I won't water today and see what happens. I'll take those brown leaves off thank you! The smaller plant this morning (those pics were from uesterday) is nearly all brown now!

I would guess overwatering.

Is there drainage in those pots? Can the water seep out the bottom?

If you're using the dreaded peat free compost, it may well be overwatering. I saved a couple of nearly-drowned-by-mistake dahlias by taking the pot off completely and just leaving the soggy compost rootball to support itself for 24 hours. Without the plastic pot round them, they dried out nicely.

I've been using peat free compost for about 18 years. Underwatering is more of a issue than overwatering as it holds on to less water.

Did you water them when it was hit an sunny? I've always been told to water early morning or late afternoon - after the hottest part of the day - to avoid burning plants.

There's loads of drainage holes in the bottom of the pot and I was td to line the pot with stones to help with drainage.

Yes it's peat free! When I was at the garden centre I overheard a man moaning about peat free, I thought it was better for the environment though which is why I bought it.

I'm very new to gardening!!

When I was at the garden centre I overheard a man moaning about peat free, I thought it was better for the environment though which is why I bought it.
You did right. It may be better for the environment in the future but, unfortunately, it doesn't mean that it's better for gardeners in the here and now. The horticultural industry needs to do some innovating!

Peat free is best for the environment, but is very mixed quality and the term covers a lot of diffeent types with different properties. Always feel the soil before watering - you'll get to know whether you have a type that is prone to drying out or to sogginess.

And putting stones in the bottom of pots is common advice - but actually makes drainage worse, not better.

Oh no, I didn't realise stones at the bottom is bad!!! What do you advise, just plenty of drainage holes?

Lots of drainage holes, and some small gravel or perlite actually mixed into the compost rather than as a layer underneath.

Thank you for this, going forward I will mix the gravel in.

Told by who?

Cos it's tosh!

Family gardeners. Stretching generations back. I was told it could scorch the leaves if done during particularly hot, high sun periods.

Really sceptical about how stones can make drainage 'worse' - happy to learn if there's some science on this?

Complete and utter tosh. As is stones in the bottom of pots being bad. And peat free compost is known for not holding water, the only good thing peat had was its ability to hold onto water.

Honestly.

There was an excellent article posted on one of the other gardening threads recently explaining it, which I can't now find, but this
www.bhg.com/rocks-for-drainage-in-pots-7487029
explains the basics of why a 'drainage' layer in the bottom of a pot actually raises rayher tha lowers the water table inside the pot.

Found it: deepgreenpermaculture.com/2020/10/06/how-to-improve-drainage-in-plant-pots-the-proper-way-to-do-it/?amp=1

Interesting read! Thank you for this

Yes that's a good thing.

Not if it causes root rot.

@BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn Thanks for finding this and posting it again.

I'd love to be able to find one that explains why this myth about not watering during the day in case it scorches the leaves could be debunked once and for all. 500 million years of evolution (and the sun coming out after rain) would have been a bit of a waste otherwise!

https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/2021/12/18/does-watering-plants-on-a-hot-sunny-day-scorch-their-leaves/?amp=1