Botrytis blight of bouvardia flowers

A serious blight is prevalent on bouvardia cut flowers when they are stored in waxed containers in commercial refrigerators at 48° F in San Francisco. Symptoms consist of small to large lightbrown lesions on buds and open flowers. Often lesions coalesce to form larger lesions. In advanced stages, the flowers become shriveled and deformed.

The causal organism has been identified as Botrytis cinerea Pers. Its pathogenicity has been established. The disease may be controlled by spraying the flowers with an aqueous solution of copper oleate (1:800) immediately after packing.