Home ​​​​>​​​​ Knowledge Center​​​​

Mucor Mold on Strawberries

Mucor is a collective name for different types of fungi. The fungus Mucor occurs in many crops, but is mainly found in strawberry and soft fruit crops. Since control is not possible, hygiene is very important to keep the fungi out of the greenhouse to minimize the risk of production loss.
Mucor mold on strawberries
Jasper Verhoeven
Specialist Hygiene & Disinfection | January 12, 2023 | 3 min. reading time

Mucor species

The collective name Mucor includes several species of fungi. The most common are Mucor rhizopus, Mucor circinelloides, Mucor hiemalis, Mucor indicus, Mucor racemosus and Mucor mucedo.

Recognize Mucor

Mucor mold infestations are most common in crops where the fruit suffers from sores. These sores occur easily during pollination. There are several symptoms by which you can see that mucor is in the crop. In strawberry crops and soft fruit crops, Mucor is often first recognized by the dull color that the fruit acquires. The texture of the fruit also becomes watery and soft. How is this possible? Once the fungus is in the fruit, it begins to break down the cell walls of the fruit, resulting in a fragile structure. As soon as you touch the fruit, the juice leaks out. In addition, the fruit splashes apart as soon as it falls to the ground from a height.

After some time, light gray, sometimes hairy fungal threads form on the fruit. These characteristics are similar to the fungal threads caused by the fungus Rhizopus. The major difference between the two is that the form threads of Mucor are much longer and less woolly.

Life cycle of Mucor

Mucor molds have both a sexual and asexual life cycle. During the sexual life cycle, the fungus survives in soil and decaying plant parts. During the asexual cycle, there is the potential for the fungus to spread via insects such as fruit flies, water, and wind. Humidity and temperature play a major role in the spread of Mucor mold. If the climate is too warm and humid, the fungal disease will develop quickly. Mucor will not develop further once the temperature drops below six degrees.

Control Mucor

Unfortunately, there are no effective means of combating the Mucor fungus yet.  Therefore, it is very important to take preventive hygiene measures. To greatly reduce the risk of mold.

Prevention through hygiene measures

Since the fungal disease Mucor cannot be controlled and causes considerable damage to the crop and loss of production, it is important to pay attention to prevention of the fungal disease. It is important to start with the cleanest possible crop. In this way, you can greatly reduce the pressure of the disease. 

However, a clean start is difficult if you grow in the open ground. In this case, regular removal of dead or dying plant material is important. Steaming the soil is also an option to reduce the fungus. 

Getting a "clean" start on a new crop goes hand in hand with preventative sanitation measures. This is something that needs to be considered throughout the growing process. Think about disinfecting materials and cleaning hands. The following agents are recommended for this purpose:
  • Menno Florades is a disinfectant that works well against bacteria, fungi and viruses. This disinfectant is the only approved disinfectant that you may use as a pesticide.
  • Enno Rapid is specially designed for cleaning bare hands in the horticultural sector. You do not need water to use this product.
  • Menno H is an alcohol-based disinfectant soap suitable for cleaning "wet" hands.
In addition to hygiene measures, it is important that the plant is strong, forms a good resistance and the growing conditions are as favorable as possible. All this reduces the risk of fungal diseases. 

Related products
Contact form
Can't find your answer? Fill out the contact form and our specialist Jasper Verhoeven will get back to you. On weekdays, even within 24 hours.
Also interesting for you

Mucor Mold on Strawberries

Mucor is a collective name for different types of fungi. The fungus Mucor occurs in many crops, but is mainly found in strawberry and soft fruit crops. Since control is not possible, hygiene is very important to keep the fungi out of the greenhouse to minimize the risk of production loss.
Search in the Knowledge Center
​​​​​​​​Find answers to your question in our Knowledge Center. 600+ articles, written by our specialists.​​​​
Jasper Verhoeven, product specialist hygiene
Jasper Verhoeven
Specialist Hygiene & Disinfection | January 12, 2023 | 3 min. reading time
Share this article
Mucor mold on strawberries
Topics in this article

Mucor species

The collective name Mucor includes several species of fungi. The most common are Mucor rhizopus, Mucor circinelloides, Mucor hiemalis, Mucor indicus, Mucor racemosus and Mucor mucedo.

Recognize Mucor

Mucor mold infestations are most common in crops where the fruit suffers from sores. These sores occur easily during pollination. There are several symptoms by which you can see that mucor is in the crop. In strawberry crops and soft fruit crops, Mucor is often first recognized by the dull color that the fruit acquires. The texture of the fruit also becomes watery and soft. How is this possible? Once the fungus is in the fruit, it begins to break down the cell walls of the fruit, resulting in a fragile structure. As soon as you touch the fruit, the juice leaks out. In addition, the fruit splashes apart as soon as it falls to the ground from a height.

After some time, light gray, sometimes hairy fungal threads form on the fruit. These characteristics are similar to the fungal threads caused by the fungus Rhizopus. The major difference between the two is that the form threads of Mucor are much longer and less woolly.

Life cycle of Mucor

Mucor molds have both a sexual and asexual life cycle. During the sexual life cycle, the fungus survives in soil and decaying plant parts. During the asexual cycle, there is the potential for the fungus to spread via insects such as fruit flies, water, and wind. Humidity and temperature play a major role in the spread of Mucor mold. If the climate is too warm and humid, the fungal disease will develop quickly. Mucor will not develop further once the temperature drops below six degrees.

Control Mucor

Unfortunately, there are no effective means of combating the Mucor fungus yet.  Therefore, it is very important to take preventive hygiene measures. To greatly reduce the risk of mold.

Prevention through hygiene measures

Since the fungal disease Mucor cannot be controlled and causes considerable damage to the crop and loss of production, it is important to pay attention to prevention of the fungal disease. It is important to start with the cleanest possible crop. In this way, you can greatly reduce the pressure of the disease. 

However, a clean start is difficult if you grow in the open ground. In this case, regular removal of dead or dying plant material is important. Steaming the soil is also an option to reduce the fungus. 

Getting a "clean" start on a new crop goes hand in hand with preventative sanitation measures. This is something that needs to be considered throughout the growing process. Think about disinfecting materials and cleaning hands. The following agents are recommended for this purpose:
  • Menno Florades is a disinfectant that works well against bacteria, fungi and viruses. This disinfectant is the only approved disinfectant that you may use as a pesticide.
  • Enno Rapid is specially designed for cleaning bare hands in the horticultural sector. You do not need water to use this product.
  • Menno H is an alcohol-based disinfectant soap suitable for cleaning "wet" hands.
In addition to hygiene measures, it is important that the plant is strong, forms a good resistance and the growing conditions are as favorable as possible. All this reduces the risk of fungal diseases. 

Related products
Contact form
Can't find your answer? Fill out the contact form and our specialist Jasper Verhoeven will get back to you. On weekdays, even within 24 hours.
Jasper Verhoeven, product specialist hygiene
Also interesting for you
How to control Downy Mildew in greenhouses
The fungal fluff of downy mildew is on the underside of the leaf, unlike powdery mildew, which is also on top of the leaf.
Powdery mildew on strawberries
Podosphaera aphanis, also known as strawberry mildew, is a powdery mildew that grows on strawberries. 
How to treat leaf spot on strawberry plants
White spot disease in strawberries: Identify & control white spot disease. Characteristic white, reddish-brown bordered spots on the leaves of strawberry plants.