Fungus: do I spot treat or cut entire branch?

It looks like after months of cloudy weather one of my plants has botrytis. Anyone with experience fighting botrytis: should I try to salvage this branch by spot treating or cut the branch out? It's the only branch on the plant that has visible mold.

Any advice would be great. Part of me just wants to dab liquid copper solution where the spores are (and remove the buds), but I am not sure if the branch can recover.

I'd cut the stalk a few inches below the area shown and hope for the best

Make sure to seal the cut

Spray the area with H202 and cut away any affected branches/leaves. You can cut below the affected area and remove the whole top but I’ve just done what I mentioned above and had no further spread/issues.

Seawood said:

Spray the area with H202 and cut away any affected branches/leaves. You can cut below the affected area and remove the whole top but I’ve just done what I mentioned above and had no further spread/issues.

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Yup!! spray the peroxide before an after touching or cutting anything.

You no looking at that pic again thats in the stem= plant not just a bud site if i had other healthy plants near by might not be worth the fight. Its in the plant an will spread depends fight-cut the loss.

Thanks for the responses, I chopped the branch after spraying the infected area with H202. I did a really thorough check and it's the only place on the plant with rot.

I do have other healthy plants that haven't started flowering yet nearby. I am spraying them with liquid copper as a preventative until flower starts.

The stem is the source of the rot, so it definitely looks like this entire plant has it systemically. I really don't want to chop the entire thing down, would be brutal for me.

Thinking of checking the stems every day for any progression or signs of it getting worse, then I'll chop if needed.

The one with botrytis is the early flowering one in the bottom right

Jjgrow420 said:

Make sure to seal the cut

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NO

sirtalis said:

It looks like after months of cloudy weather one of my plants has botrytis. Anyone with experience fighting botrytis: should I try to salvage this branch by spot treating or cut the branch out? It's the only branch on the plant that has visible mold.

Any advice would be great. Part of me just wants to dab liquid copper solution where the spores are (and remove the buds), but I am not sure if the branch can recover.

View attachment 4964336

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make sure u dont shake the spores off when u cut it off.

Billy the Mountain said:

NO

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Ok then don't?

botrytis is systemic, so keep a close eye on the rest of the plant. It will likely keep popping back up until harvest

After reading about stem lesions from botrytis I figured I'd try a little experiment. The end of this fact sheet mentions people use silica clay pastes on certain tomato branches with lesions as a way to slow development: https://projectblue.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Horticulture/Diseases/Grey mould/Grey mould (Botrytis cinerea) of tomato.pdf

I did some digging and realized that Diatomaceous Earth is 80% silica, and can be turned into a paste with a little bit of water.

With only 1 branch having an early lesion, I'd like to see if I can put a bandaid on the issue. This definitely wouldn't be practical with a larger grow, but with only 5 plants and a bit of curiosity, I thought I'd try it out. It's likely the mold will emerge again but we are finally entering the Indian summer for my area, meaning clean skies and sun for the next 2 months.

Who knows, this could end up being a spot treatment if you find a stem lesion very early. Or it could be a fail and the reality is you have to cut down the entire plant asap. Willing to take the risk.




With the paste applied...the healed wound below the paste is from supercropping a couple months ago.

waterproof808 said:

botrytis is systemic, so keep a close eye on the rest of the plant. It will likely keep popping back up until harvest

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Do you have any recommendations on preventing and/or treating botrytis systemically?

Thank you.

Preventing, yes. Better genetics.

Best to treat budrot preventatively than trying to cure it. Careful w systemic choice as its in the end product

Use potassium bicarbonate solution from the get go. It kills the spores and increases the PH of the plant surface making it inhospitable to fungal infections. Also give the plants lots of silica.
I mix 2-3tsp potassium bicarbonate with ¼-½tsp castile soap mixed with ½gallon of 70% isopropyl alcohol and a ½gallon of water. It kills bugs, powdery mildew and botrytis.
When in flower I go with the lower amount of potassium bicarbonate and castile soap.