Many newer cultivars, however, have fairly good resistance to these diseases. A good long-term alternative is to go with resistant cultivars when replanting. Gray mold . Also known as Botrytis fruit rot, this is often the number-one disease concern of strawberry growers. If the weather is dry, a single bloom-period spray is enough, but in a year like 1993, a third spray may be advisable.
Leather rot .
Some growers may disagree, but I think this disease is unmatched in its destructive potential. You may lose berries to Botrytis, but you can readily lose entire fields to leather rot. The fungus that causes leather rot is active only under very wet conditions, especially where standing water occurs. The leather rot loss potential is greatest where soil drainage is poor. Even on heavier soils, however, you can usually keep the disease at bay with thorough mulching, which prevents splashing of disease-laden soil particles onto the berries.