it looks like grey mold to me.

I think something's chewing on them. The edges are too sharp for gray mold.

Looks like earwigs to me; I would cover the soil with black plastic, as they do in the field; it not only warms the soil and makes the plant grow faster, but protects it from things like earwigs, slugs, snails, etc.

Birds perhaps? We have catbirds that do that to ours. The bites are likely too small to be chipmunks.
-Glenn

I agree with Glenn, looks like bird damage. Mrs. g

Bites are too small and the wrong shape for birds. I go with bugs -earwigs maybe.

I gave up on strawberries for this reason. :( Even with bird netting over a pvc frame, other critters would get in there. I had earwigs, slugs, lizards and a voracious ground squirrel. sigh!!

I hope you have better luck than I did!

Slugs do that to mine....you have snails/slugs trails around?

That planter looks so healthy. I've often thought about moving my berries to a container to avoid pests and diseases. Apparently that doesn't work.

Without having to resort to chemicals, is there anything I can spray on the soil, leaves and berries that might deter whatever is eating them? Dr. Bronner's soap spray or the like. Or maybe putting plastic down as Johnmerr suggested?

Whatever is eating them also likes the green ones!

I would say earwigs or slugs. Sluggo Plus will get rid of the problem. It is organic and safe to use around your strawberries. If it is slugs, plastic will just provide a nice, moist, dark haven for them, so I would try using Sluggo Plus. You can check for both by setting down a flat piece of cardboard on the ground near your strawberries and see if slugs and/or earwigs congregate underneath.

Patty S.

I'd say it's slugs. We've had a lot of rain here over the last 7-10 days, and I've noticed lots of 1" long grey/black slugs in my strawberry patch.

Did a little research on slugs. Before resorting to the Sluggo, I'm going to try a ring of DE on the lip of the planter to see if that works...of course, I'll have to be careful not to get it wet when watering and reapply after a rain. I'll post pics of that too :-)

Well, the DE may keep out slugs that are not already hiding under the leaves, but will do nothing for the slugs that are already in your strawberry patch. Sluggo is just iron phosphate, completely harmless to you, the soil, etc. I would do both if I were you - sprinkle Sluggo or Sluggo Plus if you see earwigs amongst the plants, and then you can try ringing your patch with DE.

Patty S.