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 On soft fruit, particularly gooseberries, Botrytis infection kills branches, but the
fuzzy grey mould is seldom evident
 On strawberries, grapes ande other fruits, Botrytis infection leads to a soft brown rot,
often as the fruit is ripening
Control
Non-chemical control
 Hygiene is very important, especially under glass. Remove dead and dying leaves, buds
and flowers promptly
 Do not leave dead plant material lying around

 Reduce humidity by improving ventilation and do not overcrowd plants.


Biology

Botrytis cinerea is an ubiquitous fungus, whose airborne spores are always present. It thrives

as a saprophyte (a micro-organism living on dead organic material), but can also infect living
plants under certain conditions. On green plant parts a wound or other stress is usually needed
for infection, but on flowers and fruits it can infect without wounds, particularly under humid
conditions.
It is also able to cause latent infections where the plant is infected but symptoms of the disease
may not be produced for a considerable time. In some fruit crops the fungus enters flowers and
colonises the developing fruit, but does not break out and cause a rot until the fruit begins to
ripen and the sugar content rises. This is very noticeable with strawberries. It can also cause
latent infections in primulas, where research has shown the fungus is seed-borne and develops
with the plant, only breaking out after considerable growth has occurred.

The fungus forms black, seed-like resting structures (sclerotia) in dead plant tissue which can
carry the fungus through periods when host plants are scarce. These germinate to generate
the sexual structures which in turn release a second, sexual, spore. These can initiate