Blight Caused by Sclerotium rolfsii on Potted Ornamental Citrus in Sicily.

Approximately 140,000 container-grown ornamental citrus plants are produced each year in the province of Catania (eastern Sicily). In the spring of 2006, a severe blight was observed in a commercial nursery in Catania on 2-month-old rooted cuttings of lemon (Citrus limon (L.) Burm.) and calamondin (× Citrofortunella mitis (Blanco) J. W. Ingram & H. E. Moore). Approximately 80% of the nursery stock of 2,000 cuttings was affected. Cuttings were grown in 7.5-cm2 pots made with compressed peat and wood pulp at 28 to 30°C with 95 to 100% relative humidity on benches in a greenhouse, The pot mix was composed of peat, perlite, and soil (2:1:2). Cuttings showed a dark brown necrotic lesion at …