Ways to Prevent Botrytis From Ruining Your Cannabis Crop
October 3, 2022 
Botrytis cinerea is the most phenotypically diverse of the 40 or so Botrytis species that have been identified. This pathogen infects thousands of plant species worldwide and has evolved resistance to many fungicides.
In a recent post on his Elevated Botanist website, cannabis IPM consultant Stewart Maxwell says this disease is reliant on high humidity or liquid water to colonize plant tissue, and spreads most quickly at moderate temperatures. Following germination, conidia will produce germ tubes within a few hours, followed by increasingly complex hyphal structures to colonize dying plant tissues.
“Due to its endemic nature, exclusion of this pathogen from your cannabis facility through biosecurity measures is unrealistic,” Maxwell says.
Your plants will quickly recognize the chemical signature of Botrytis infection and respond to this existential threat. Plant immune response is enabled by hormone signaling systems and includes production of antimicrobial compounds, and enrollment of soil microbes to support plant defense.
At a molecular level, plant resistance genes will be up regulated by hormone signaling to accommodate the threat environment.
Botrytis has evolved countermeasures to these plant defenses which include silencing of hormone signaling through chemical synthesis, and deployment of small RNA to disrupt plant defense at the genetic level.
Learn more, including how biocontrols can play a role in managing botrytis, in this post on ElevatedBotanist.com.
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