After a sudden, traumatic loss of my entire (inside) exotic begonia collection I have come to the conclusion Botrytis Cinerea took them out. I desperately read and researched as much as humanly possible about plant diseases and everything points to Botrytis C. Especially the white stem film that’s actually not white, it’s a grey/brown as well as necrotic spots and stem ends.
I treated with Chlorothalonil and it burnt what hadn’t been eaten by the fungus but I’ve seen a small improvement with the stem film, but it’s still happening.
I found a nonnative Asian tree/shrub outside our house being taken over by the same symptoms as my inside plants. We open the windows and doors for fresh air and I assume our house was riddled in spores because of it. Not to mention our pets going in and out. From my research, the treatment of said blight is near impossible. What would my next step be, as in removal of the massive shrub and how to do so without a huge spore outbreak? Am I doomed to never grow my exotics again? I’m a very experienced grower and I easily lost over 5 grand in plants within four days.
I hope someone has any recommendations for how to deal with this unfortunate incident. I have also noted there are other plants around our area that are missing a lot of leaves, withering away. We live in a rural, farm area and surely this is dangerously close to crops. Is this something I need to report and to whom? Thanks so much in advance. I’ll include some pictures of my begonias, and the bushes.
To add, my cabinets have adequate airflow, but the humidity and temp seem to be the perfect climate for the spores to infect and multiply. I keep reading that it is all about airflow and spacing and that is clearly not the case here. It’s even found its way into my terrariums. It leaves a grey powder on glass, wood and tabletops as well.
by Spirited_Internal312