Botrytis Cinerea in Relation to Covering Red Current Shrubs

Covering red currant during the development of the fruits guarantees high quality fruits and delays picking time. Because of these reasons the number of fruit growers using cover production system is increasing. Covering red currant aff ects fungicide action and effi cacy. Furthermore the climate conditions are altered in the shrub resulting in a diff erent infection risk/pressure for certain fungal diseases. Th e eff ect of the timing of covering on the control of Botrytis cinerea which is the cause of the mayor fruit rot disease of red currants was studied. Th e results from the trials clearly show the positive eff ect of covering during bloom on the chemical control of Botrytis on red currant. Th e chemical control of plants during bloom which were covered from bloom equals that of a full season chemical control of uncovered plants or plants covered aft er fruit set. Th e full season chemical control of plants covered from bloom was only statistically better then all other objects tested in one of the two trials. Covering alone without chemical control had only a limited eff ect. Key words Rubus sp., Botrytis, fungicide, sustainable fruit productio