Last season—and really, every season before it—I’ve battled botrytis on my peony farm. If you’re not familiar, botrytis is a fungal disease that causes grey mold on plant material. It’s not uncommon, especially on production farms like mine where plants are grown in close quarters.

It’s often recommended to space peonies up to 4’ apart. Well… mine are spaced 2 feet apart within each row, and my rows are spaced 3 feet apart. It’s a tight setup that works well for maximizing space, but unfortunately, it encourages fungal and bacterial issues due to limited airflow.

In past years, I didn’t worry too much about it. The worst of the botrytis usually showed up after harvest, so I never felt the urgency to deal with it. That said, I’ve always had a few varieties along the edge of the field that seem to get hit with it earlier than the others. That particular edge is shaded by tree cover, and I suspect the lack of sunlight creates the perfect environment for botrytis to show up early and often.

This past season though felt different. The botrytis showed up sooner than usual. Maybe it was because the plants are getting bigger. Maybe it was because of the cold, wet spring we had. Either way, now that I’m focusing solely on peonies, I finally have the time to be proactive instead of reactive.

This is especially important this year as I’m also growing potted peonies inside our hoop house. If you’ve ever grown anything in a hoop house, you know it can be a breeding ground for fungi and bacteria. Less airflow + warmer temps = a perfect storm.

So, this season I’m taking a new approach.

Here’s the plan…