Gray Fruit Mold Causes Food And Fruit Rot

One of the most frequent and serious causes of fruit rot in strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries is gray mold. This can affect not only the fruit itself, but also the petals, fruit caps, and flower stalks. There is not another disease as serious as this one during a wet, warm growing season. This is the most extreme during the years that have a prolonged cloudy and rainy period during the fruit’s blooming season or harvest.

Young fruit blossoms are typically the most susceptible to the infection and they usually start to show infection in a cluster of fruit. Blossoms generally show the fruit infection as a soft, light brown, and quickly growing spot on the fruit. If it is let to remain attached to the plant, it will shrink, dry up, and become covered in a powdery, gray substance. This is where the disease gets the name of gray mold.

Fruit that are the most commonly affected are located toward the middle of the plant where the leaves and branches cause the humidity to be high and air circulation to be low. When strawberries rest upon the soil or when one strawberry touches an infected one or just a dead leaf, the fruit rot will begin.

Mature fruits are also susceptible after they are picked, but the younger green fruits may become just as infected; however, the disease isn’t usually detected until later when the fruit is ready to be harvested. Mature fruits are likely to be infected because of bruising or the breaking of the skin and if the conditions for the disease are favorable, mature fruits can become completely rotted as little as 48 hours after being picked.

To prevent gray mold from growing on your fruit, you should select a site to plant your fruit that has a good amount of soil drainage and air circulation. They should also be exposed to direct sunlight.

A good amount of straw mulch should be put between the plants to reduce the amount of contact the healthy fruit has with the soil.

Keep your fruit garden weeded, since it will slow the air movement in the canopy of the plant. Fruits need to be dry to reduce the chance of infection.

Remove any berries that have become diseased, but do not leave them in your garden. Take them away and make sure they do not come into contact with anything else you are growing.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
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