Cottage Pink with Bacterial Soft Rot? Rare but Treatable

Bacterial Soft Rot on Cottage Pink: What to Know?

Bacterial Soft Rot on Cottage Pink (Dianthus plumarius) is a bacterial condition with moderate severity. Cottage Pink has low susceptibility to this disease. Erwinia is a genus of plant-pathogenic bacteria that cause fast-spreading rots and blights. On apple and pear, Erwinia amylovora causes fire blight: tender shoots wilt, turn dark, and often bend like...

Cottage Pink is a easy-care plant.

Unlike most plants, Cottage Pink has natural resistance to Bacterial Soft Rot. Best treated with preventive measures rather than reactive treatment.

• ✓ Choose resistant or less-susceptible apple and pear varieties when possible.
• ✓ Plant trees and shrubs with good spacing and prune them yearly to maintain airflow and avoid dense, shaded canopies.
• ✓ Water plants at the base in the morning and keep foliage and flowers as dry as possible.
• ✓ Sterilize pruning tools before and during use and avoid pruning in wet weather.
• ✓ Use clean potting mix and containers and isolate new plants for 2–3 weeks before adding them to your collection.
• ✓ Avoid heavy nitrogen fertilization that encourages soft, lush growth.
• ✓ Remove and discard blighted twigs, mummified fruit, and fallen debris throughout the season.
• ✓ Manage insects that visit flowers or wounds, using non-chemical methods first, to reduce the spread of bacteria.