Grey mould
A grey, dusty fuzz on rotting flowers, fruit, leaves or stems; touch it and a puff of spores rises. Common on strawberries, raspberries, grapes, tomatoes, lettuce and flowers such as peonies.
Botrytis thrives in cool, damp weather with poor air circulation and enters through small wounds and faded flowers.
What can you do?
- Carefully remove affected flowers, fruit and leaves straight away and put them in the green waste bin or general waste, not on your compost heap.
- Improve air flow: space plants more widely, ventilate the greenhouse and don’t keep houseplants too wet.
- Water at the base and keep flowers and leaves dry.
- Put straw under strawberries so the fruit doesn’t lie on wet soil, and pick ripe fruit promptly.
Prevention
Don’t plant too densely, go easy on nitrogen and regularly remove faded flowers and fallen leaves.
When to watch out: May–October