Gray mold (Botrytis

Management

• Avoid over-head irrigation/ watering • Avoid putting seedbed near to tomato or pepper production field. • Treat seedlings with protective maneb to reduce losses • Apply fungicides with mancozeb once first symptoms appear and after each rain or watering

Small red-brown spots appear, which later develop to gray inner centers. On the right - Stem lesions

Possible confusions

• Cercospora leaf spot • Bacteria leaf spot • Early blight

6. Gray mold (Botrytis) (Botrytis cinera)

It is caused by fungus, botrytis cinerea, which invades weak and damaged plant tissues. Cool temperatures and high humidity favours the development of the fungus. Common in net-houses and greenhouses.

Symptoms and damage

• Initial symptom is dark, water soaked, slimy lesions, which later turns brownish gray powdery. • Sudden collapse of succulent tissues like young leaves, flowers and stems. • Leaf lesions become water soaked with irregular gray spot, which turns brown, wither and collapse.