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Saving Strawberries from Insects in Alpharetta, GA

Posted by Christine Crandall on May 24, 2020 6:13:23 PM

One of the sweetest things that gardens can produce each spring and summer is strawberries. Picking red, sweet morsels from your strawberry garden reminds each of us of happy days during childhood. Strawberry pies, shortcake, and ice cream are ten times better when they’re made from fresh-picked berries. That is why it is important to save your strawberries from insects. 

Nothing is worse than having a strawberry garden with plenty of strawberries but finding each of them half-eaten when they’re ripe. Ants and slugs are typical culprits, but mites, aphids, and many other insects are happy to indulge. 

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Saving Strawberries from Insects in Alpharetta, GA

    1. Get them off the ground. The first thing you should do if you are planning to find some healthy, complete strawberries is to get them off of the ground. This includes staking or using a trellis to keep them up and away from critters. You can make your own stakes and use wire to tie up your plants. You can also buy small stakes with hooks to hold up the plant. Lastly, many garden stores sell small strawberry trellises. These wrap around the strawberry and provide a sort of deck for the berries to rest upon. 
    2. Diatomaceous earth. If you’ve never heard of it, get ready to be amazed. It looks like a simple, white, flour. However, it is actually made up of fossilized diatoms. These fossilized diatoms are essentially ground up fossilized shells of diatoms, so it is very abrasive. If you surround your plant with it, it is a snail deterrent because the abrasiveness is uncomfortable. For insects with exoskeletons, it is abrasive enough to compromise the exoskeleton. The insect will then dehydrate and die. Diatomaceous earth comes in a food-grade option with many claimed health benefits when ingested by humans. This makes it the perfect remedy for removing bugs from fruit. However, it isn’t a quick remedy. 
    3. Organic sprays. Lastly, there are many organic sprays on the market that will safely deter bugs from your berries. Using organic, safe insecticides ensures that you get rid of bugs without adding any toxic chemicals to our water sources. 

Many gardeners simply deal with the loss of their strawberries due to insects, but you don’t have to. Especially if you have a small strawberry garden, each berry means that much more. Instead of sacrificing berries to pests, try these three remedies and save your strawberries.

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