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Old April 16, 2018   #3
b54red
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Alabama
Posts: 7,068
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I think that Carol might be the best person to answer the question of whether it can be seed born. I do know that I usually have some or most of my black varieties get gray mold to some degree or another most years but not always. When we have had very low humidity like we did one or two years gray mold doesn't appear much or at all. Of course that is a rare thing down here so most years we are dealing with humidity hovering near 100% much of the time and that means damp leaves and that seems to increase the chances of gray mold along with almost every other foliage disease.

I am not certain how gray mold gets started but I usually have several plantings of the same varieties spaced out in the garden and some get gray mold and some don't. They all come from the same saved seeds. I ferment my seeds and treat them with a bleach solution for a bit before drying them and storing them.

One thing I have noticed over the years of dealing with gray mold is that if it is allowed to linger on a plant without treatment to stop it then the gray mold seems to become systemic at which point it also affects the fruit and can't be controlled or stopped. It seems to me that once it gets to this stage of infestation that it is best to pull the plant as treatment with bleach or copper does little to slow it down. Since I am no scientist or biologist I have only my own observations to go on. I have been dealing with this problem for years with black tomato varieties and sometimes GWR varieties and I have found that use of a copper fungicide will control or stop gray mold most of the time in normal years but in times when conditions favor gray mold development a diluted bleach spray is very helpful in stopping it if used early enough in the infection. It is also most helpful to have plants that are pruned to maintain good air flow and good light penetration. Dense foliage seems to be a recipe for gray mold when conditions are favorable for it.

Bill
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