Are My Strawberries Dying?

Question

Hello! I am very new to gardening. I live in an apartment and decided to plant some flowers as well as strawberries on my balcony. I planted my strawberries in Ealing containers and did 3 strawberry plants per container. I’ve had them in there for about 2 weeks and they look horrible. When I got them from the nursery they looked healthy. My balcony gets full sun most of the day and it hasn’t been raining here too much so I’ve been watering them regularly. When j first got them, I was watering everyday but then j read only water every 2 days to avoid over watering so that is what I’ve been doing for the last 5 days. I have taken off the dead leaves but they still just look dead. I’m very new to gardening and don’t know a whole lot. How can I receive them? Please help!!

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Answer 1

Young strawberries that are freshly transplanted will not tolerate full sun very well. They are a bit sensitive at this time. It is best to let them get quite a bit of shade until they establish.

I do think overwatering is the main culprit here.

Once they show signs from overwatering it mean that they are likely infected. You will need to treat with a fungicide. This article will help:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/info/using-fungicides-in-garden.htm

The next thing to address will be watering. You will not want to water on schedule. Your soil needs to be, completely, down to about halfway down that container before watering again. If there is ANY moisture down to halfway, then don't water. This could be two days, or it could be an entire week. This will depend on heat and humidity.

Once you get watering and lighting down they almost grow themselves, and even become invasive at times.

Here is an article for more information on growing strawberries in container:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/strawberry/container-grown-strawberries.htm