![University of Georgia researchers are studying the effectiveness of applying a Bacillus bacteria species to the stigmas of female flowers to slow the spread of bacterial fruit blotch from seed to seedling.](https://secure.caes.uga.edu/news/multimedia/images/2237/WatermelonflowerLR.jpg)
Battling Blotch
Georgia farmers struggle to control bacterial fruit blotch (BFB), but University of Georgia plant pathologists have discovered that naturally occurring bacteria can combat the disease.