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Effects of Plant Spacing and Cultivar on Incidence of Botrytis Fruit Rot in Annual Strawberry

The effects of within-row plant spacing and cultivar on the incidence of Botrytis fruit rot (Botrytis cinerea) and marketable yield of annual strawberry were evaluated during the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons. Three cultivars (Camarosa, Rosa Linda, and Sweet Charlie) and four plant spacings (23, 30, 38, and 46 cm) were evaluated. Marketable yield and the incidence of Botrytis fruit rot were determined twice weekly. Cultivar and spacing effects were analyzed for three periods each season (early, late, and whole season). In 1997-98, spacing effects were observed on weekly incidence of Botrytis rot for the late period (P = 0.0925) and on cumulative incidence for the whole season period (P = 0.0795). Further analysis of the late and whole season periods revealed a spacing effect for Camarosa (P = 0.0102). Spacing also had a dramatic effect on cumulative and weekly Botrytis incidence for the late and whole season periods during the 1998-99 season (P ≤ 0.0014), when narrower spacings had higher incidence of Botrytis than wider spacings. Marketable yields were higher at narrower spacings during the early period for both seasons. Whole season marketable yields were also higher at the narrower spacings despite higher incidence of Botrytis. There were significant differences in susceptibility among cultivars.