Strawberry plants are a widely grown hybrid species from the genus Fragaria. These are collectively known as strawberries which are cultivated worldwide because of the fruit growing on them. These plants have unique characteristics which are their color, aroma, texture, and taste. The best thing about the plants is how easy they are to grow in your garden. As long as you understand the requirements for these plants, they can be kept healthy for a long time without any issues.
Though, there are still some problems that can be found with strawberries. Recently people have been complaining that their strawberry leaves are getting eaten by something. If you are wondering the same thing then going through this article should help you in finding some reasons behind the problem. This is because we will be providing you with a list of insects that might be eating the leaves on your strawberry plants. Additionally, we will provide you with several methods that can be used to deal with the problems.
Strawberry Leaves Eaten By These Creatures
- Slugs
Slugs or also known as land slugs are the common name given to shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusk. The word slug is often used to refer to any of these insects. You should note that these are found roaming around in gardens looking for shelter. The slugs usually look for plants that have high nutrients in them so that they can keep themselves healthy.
Another attraction for these bugs can be the sweet aroma which is why they can be found roaming around strawberry plants. The main problem with this is that the slugs can attack and eat the strawberries as well. This ruins the harvest which is why taking precautions is important. One easy way to keep these slugs away from your plants is by removing them manually every morning. This can also help in avoiding infestations.
- Tarnished Plant Bugs
Tarnished plant bugs are another type of bug that is known as plant feeding bugs. These have a sharp mouth that infests plants and sucks the juice out of them. This can harm the strawberries and cause tons of problems that people complain about. You should note that this can become a serious issue as the insects keep spreading inside the plant.
This is why taking steps to prevent this issue as soon as possible can be important. This includes using pesticides or special chemicals that are made to keep the insects away. There are tons of products that can be used but making sure that these are reliable is essential. This is because some products can also damage the plants instead of removing the insects from them.
- Spittlebugs
Spittlebugs or also known as froghoppers are small insects that travel in groups. These can be found roaming around on the leaves of different plants. The main issue with them is that they can easily travel from plant to plant by jumping across them. Additionally, these are so tiny that most people cannot even tell if their garden has been infested.
The only sign that can be noticed is that your leaves will have small bite marks on them. This is also visible after the infestation has spread all around the plants. Removing the pests can be quite easy as using a strong stream of water can help in throwing them off. Aside from this, you should always replace the soil around your strawberry plants after a few months as this might have some eggs lying around in it.
- Strawberry Sap Beetles
Finally, strawberry sap beetles are small oval insects that are one-eighth of an inch. These have a dark color on them and are covered with spots of yellow and orange shades. The main issue with these insects is that they damage strawberries. However, this will only happen once the insects have grown into adult size.
Dealing with strawberry sap beetles as soon as possible is also necessary as these will infest your entire garden over time. When it comes to avoiding insects, people can harvest strawberries quickly. This helps in ensuring that the bugs stay away from your garden. Aside from this, cleaning the ground after the fruit has fallen can also help out a lot. If none of these steps work, then people can pour pesticides into their gardens to fix the problem.