The influence of diurnal temperatures on the postharvest susceptibility of poinsettia to Botrytis cinerea

The influence of day/night (DT/NT) temperatures of 16/16, 19/19, 22/22 16/19, 19/22, 16/22, 19/16, 22/19, and 22/16 degrees C during poinsettia production on postharvest bract and foliage susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea was investigated. Plants were inoculated with 2.7 x 10(5) B. cinerea conidia per ml of water following a 3- or 6-week temperature treatment and incubated at 20 degrees C. Area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) data indicated that the postharvest susceptibility of poinsettia bracts and foliage to B. cinerea, measured by the proportion of bracts and foliage infected and the proportion with sporulating B. cinerea, was not influenced by the difference in DT and NT but increased as DT or NT during production increased. As plants matured, as indicated by thermal time, AUDPC values increased (P = 0.001) more for the proportion of bracts infected (R(2) = 0.73) than for the proportion of bracts with sporulating B. cinerea (R(2) = 0.86) and the proportion of foliage with sporulating B. cinerea (R(2) = 0.74). Results suggested that commercial growers using higher NT than DT to limit poinsettia height are not increasing the postharvest susceptibility of their crop to B. cinerea. However, the increased susceptibility of maturing poinsettias suggests disease management strategies should be intensified during crop finishing and postharvest handling.