Cool Temperatures Invite Gray Mold

copper is cunning on bunnies and peaches ; it is n’t so precious on your plants - at least not when it ’s preceded by goo . These are two nasty sign that you have gray mould . The mold usually appear when temperatures start out to cool . The situation is more meaning for ornamentals than edibles , but popular vegetables — such as tomatoes , peppers , potatoes , cabbages , broccoli , and Brassica oleracea botrytis — are all susceptible . Greenhouses often offer the complete surroundings for an irruption , making it a common job in greenhouse - grown crops during winter . Periodically , this disease shows up in the garden , especially under slopped and shady conditions .

It likes humidityThe most common grey-haired mold is cause by the fungusBotrytis cinereaand is often refer to as Botrytis blight ( a unlike metal money , Botrytis paeoniae , is what commonly afflicts peony ) . The disease can spread rapidly by mean of microscopical spores bring out by the fungus , which can hitch a ride on air currents and splashing body of water . spore are ever present in greenhouses , create a unvarying potential for disease outbreaks . The fungus normally gets begin on fallible or aging plant or plant part , penetrating the plant directly or entering through wound create by the pickings of clipping or the remotion of leaves . stand water on industrial plant or the presence of high humidity , even for just a few hr , creates an ideal disease surroundings . works that knuckle under to other problem also become havens for the gray - mold fungus . greyish mold can infect plants at any metre , and it can be a serious job for crops kept in storage for long periods of meter , such as onion and corm of gladiolus .

watch over out for the fuzzGray mould gets its name from the white-haired color of the spores that are produced on leaves , flowers , or stanch . This gray pig can easily be seen on aging flower and , to a lesser extent , on leaves and stems . Flower sepal and petals are often the first parts of the prime to show evidence of the fungus . Before the gray tomentum appear , plant tissue often develops a darkened water - soaked or greasy show . Soft and unworthy areas can develop on plant prow , leave in a full collapse of the plant . Soft - rot symptoms are common on corm and bulbs of various ornamentals and veg . The fungus has the ability to survive untoward weather conditions in bushed - flora material that may continue on the floors or benches in a glasshouse or as sclerotia ( small heavy structures ) in the soil . This survival mechanics makes disease management a veridical challenge to gardeners . In the athletic field , gray mold can run rearing on strawberries , causing blossom or yield bunkum . Infection can even spread down the strawberry mark plant , causing a dull - off of the plant crown .

-Stephen Vann is an assistant professor and telephone extension urban plant diagnostician at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock .

FromFine Gardeningissue # 136 , page 74

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