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B. Prevent botrytis in plants that stand to dry

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When you have botrytis in the glass-house the fuchsialover knows that he has to take care to give the fuchsias not to much water. General namely is known that in an environs with a high humidity, this mould disease comes easely into existence. Remove regular fallen leaves and suchlike, and well ventilating the glass-house, opposes the moulding of botrytis. Less known will be that botrytis also can come into existence when the plants are standing too dry.

 
After pruning in autumn of the year 1994 I placed my plants end October in the glass-house. And as usely I had then to many plants, through which they fitted in the too little glass-house only placed close together. A problem that nearly every fuchsialover has in autumn, while he usely can throw away plants difficult. With as a result the coming into existence of botrytis in the close together placed plants. You know then that the glass-house better must been ventilated.

But with an autumn like in 1994 that was for a long time cold and humid, ventilating of the glass-house isn't so easy. With the help of a ventilator you can hold well a good streaming of the air in the glass-house, but with it you don't stop the growing of the plants. And that happens to me also. By the vigorous grow it all has become still more close. 'By giving water as less as possible the grow should well go slow down', I thought so. However, the humidity became not lower than 90%  and that is in a little glass-house with many plants much to high. When you haven't a hygrometer in the glass-house you can this also seen to much condense water on the panes. Therefore I dared to give the plants hardly no water with as a result they drooped.

At that moment it than goes wrong. While the drooped leaves are hanging together there comes into existence botrytis on those leaves, while the soil then is bone-dry. You must then yet real give water, allthough the humidity can be still yet around 85%. Giving water best can happen by nice sunny weather when the glass-house can become well ventilated. 

The water may not be colder than 15°C. For otherwise happens the following: the plants drop their leaves and they remain hanging here and there between the branches. These places then also become infected by the mould, through which the mould spreads through the whole plant and to the adjoining plants. Naturally you can spout against the mould. But it is better first cleaning all the plants and cut off all attacked branches, in spite of howmany more work this is. Remove the fallen leaves on the soil in the pots while otherwise the root ball of the plant is attacked again. When all plants are cleaned and are standing on their place again it is advisable to spray with a controlspray against mould (for example Eupareen). Young plants from which the stems aren't woody have more chance to been attacked by botrytis than old plants.

'Gelderse Fuchsia Info-site'- November 2008