Phytophthora cactorum was detected on ⁹⁄₁₀ of pansies showing yellowing of leaves and crown rot symptoms and constituted about 90% of isolates obtained. Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium avenaceum, F. solani and Pythium ultimum were also isolated from diseased tissues. Using rhododendron leaves as the bait, P. cactorum was detected in pansy substratum as well as from soil under the mata. Isolates obtained from diseased plants, substratum and soil under mata colonized leaves, stem parts and roots of pansy. Necroses spread faster on organs inoculated with cultures from plants and substratum. Among 25 cultivars inoculated with P. cactorum, disease symptoms did not occur on 3 of them, whereas the fastest spread of necrotic spots (3.8 mm/24 hrs) was noticed on 3 cultivars. Isolates of P. cactorum from Begonia semperflorens and Malus domestica colonized leaf petioles of pansy with significantly faster spread when isolates from begonia and pansy were used for inoculation.