Tulip blight – Botrytis tulipae

(Question)

Hi, nearly all of my tulips got Botrytis tulipae this year. I am cleaning up the area and won’t be planting tulips in the same location for a few years. My question is whether or not it’s safe to plant other bulbs in the same location as the blight. I would like to plant narcissus or iris but do not want to waste good money if the new plantings are likely to also be infected. My research tells me that iris can get botrytis too. Is it a different strain?

I garden in zone 5b, sunny conditions, loam, fairly dry conditions.

Thank you so much for your help.

(Answer)

Botrytis or Gray mold is a fungal blight with several different types, both general and specific.

Below you will find an article on Botrytis tulipae (tulip fire disease) from Cornell University which you may find interesting and may help with a definitive diagnosis of your tulip woes this year.  It seems that this particular Botrytis blight is very host specific.

http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/botrytisblighttulip.pdf

Botrytis in Iris and Narcissus is different, see links below for disease information.

https://extension.psu.edu/iris-diseases

https://extension.psu.edu/narcissus-diseases

Much of the botrytis problems this year were caused by spring weather conditions which were cool and wet.  There are fungicides available for use should you wish to go this route and plant more bulbs.