Hi all!

I have a strawberry plant in good soil with about 25% compost -- planted it in a deep and wide container about 2 and a half weeks ago. This week we started getting some hot weather (L.A. area in California), and during the day the leaves and stems of the plant are drooping like crazy (they droop all the way down to the soil), but show no discoloration of any sort. But overnight/in the morning they prop right back up again and look totally healthy...until the sun hits them during the day and they droop hugely again. This has been happening over and over for five days. I keep them hydrated and I don't think I'm over-watering -- I keep the soil so that it's moist about two inches down. I don't see insects on them, and if I pull on the stalk to see if the roots have been hit by rot, they are very firm and don't budge. There are quite a few strawberries starting to develop, one of them is almost ready to pick -- and they all seem healthy, if not a bit small.

Any ideas?

A couple things off the top of my head.

You are overwatering or the soil has poor drainage: this has led to improper root development and/or the roots are chocked and thus struggle to take up water fast enough (strawberry plants are technically forbs and completely rely on osmotic pressure maintain turgor).

Fusarium wilt. "Leaves droop by day and recover by night" is usually the first symptom. If you are handy with tiny things and have a good quality magnifying glass, you can try check for it by cutting off a leaf with stem, peeling it and look for discoloration. If you see streaks of weird colors, it's Fusarium alright.