Cause Ditylenchus dipsaci, a nematode that infects aboveground portions of plants but rarely is found in strawberry.
Symptoms Plants are stunted from the crown with short, thick petioles. The disease is most evident in cool, wet springs.
Sampling Take soil samples before planting strawberry if there have been stem nematode problems in that field. If this nematode is suspected in an established plant, only the affected crowns need to be submitted for testing.
Cultural control
- Remove infected plants.
- Rotate to new land or other crops for 3 years.
- Avoid planting in fields where red clover has been affected.
- Fallow periods can disrupt the nematode life cycle. Practice good weed control using herbicides or tillage.
Chemical control
- Velum Prime at 6 to 6.5 fl oz/A can be used after planting using drip, trickle of micro-sprinklers. May be applied day of harvest. Group 7 fungicide. 12-hr reentry.
Reference Poirier, S., Dauphinais, N., Van Der Heyden, H., Véronneau, P. Y., Bélair, G., Gravel, V., and Mimee, B. 2019. Host range and genetic characterization of Ditylenchus dipsaci populations from eastern Canada. Plant disease 103:456-460.