Botrytis on Strawberry Fruit

I must admit, when I saw the photo below I didn’t guess botrytis first. I guessed leather rot, which is phytophthora infecting fruit. But then we dug a little deeper….

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The grower had put down straw mulch very early, and in doing so had prevented soil splashing onto flowers, which is the normal route for phytophthora spores to infect fruit. That was a strike against the leather rot theory.

In addition, Leather rot is reputed to make the entire berry taste horrible, even if the infected part is cut off. However, the grower reported that on partly infected fruit, the sound bit tasted alright. Another strike against the Leather Rot theory.

Finally, when the infected fruit were incubated for a couple days in high humidity, they grew classic botrytis mold growth.

Despite my hope for something more “interesting” than Botrytis, it was the same old nemesis.

It’s also worth noting that the diagnostic process only starts with a photo of the damage. Sometimes there can be multiple things going on at the same time, and it takes more steps and might include some incubation and a diagnostic lab to sort it out.

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