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crumpled leaves, slight necrosisleggy, red stems crinkled puckered leaves I've recently been convinced that my potting soil which contains a lot of homemade compost (made primarily from leaves and fruit waste as the greens) is generally lacking fertiliser. My strawberries, amongst other things, have become leggy.

The only reasons I can find as a cause of tall spindly plants are excess nitrogen and lack of sunlight. Neither of these seem to apply. They have full access to sun from dawn to 2.45pm then are in the shade of some trees for the rest of the day.

So my question is - Is there anything else besides lack of sunlight or excess nitrogen that could cause a plant to become leggy?

Michael Sherpa
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    As you have talked about these plants quite a few times, would you like to share a few photos of them? Just to exclude an [X Y problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XY_problem) and to give the community a chance to see what’s going on. – Stephie Jun 29 '23 at 09:09
  • @Stephie I tried just now. Limited to 2Mib and no option to reduce image size. Also can't see any options to reduce image quality in my photo app. But either way if I am barking up the wrong tree - I would still be looking for an answer to the questions. – Michael Sherpa Jun 29 '23 at 09:54
  • @MichaelSherpa Phones can be so annoying- sometimes I just take a picture from farther away and then crop in to the part I want to get a smaller image. It's an analog-digital-downsize technique :). A picture would probably get you better help for your strawberries, even if it's not exactly part of this question. – MackM Jun 29 '23 at 12:54
  • You can link to the photos if you have Dropbox or Google drive, and someone will fix it at this end. – Rohit Gupta Jun 29 '23 at 13:08
  • @Rohit Gupta thanks, but that's just too much for me - I'm not tech savvy. I'm gonna try cropping as MachM suggested. – Michael Sherpa Jun 29 '23 at 13:20

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Your strawberries look like the ones I have left in my yard where the former strawberry patch gets morning and afternoon sun till about 2 pm. There are lots of strawberry farmers close to me and without exception they are all planted in full sun.

I suggest that lack of light is an issue but this will only reduce your crop not prevent it.

kevinskio
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  • Thanks @kevinskio personally I think not. They've had glorious weather since they were planted and plenty of bright blue skies late afternoon and evening. The trees are blocking direct sunlight but not at all from above. I'll remain open to your idea as I really lack experience. – Michael Sherpa Jun 29 '23 at 15:10
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    @MichaelSherpa , I second kevinskio's comment - the plants look like mine, which are in 5-6 hours of sun (no afternoon sun after 3pm). The variety you've planted could also be a factor. If these are in the same potting soil you mention in your previous post, then you cannot rule out excess nitrogen without a soil test. – Jurp Jun 29 '23 at 20:07