2/11/2024 0 Comments Spraying potatoes for blight![]() “You get about a 24-hour kick-back from the cymoxanil, which could help if an interval is stretched.” Mr Alford adds that Kunshi could also be of interest where timings slip, potentially partnering it with a product such as Ranman Top. Shirlan doesn’t have one at all,” he explains. “I think the second spray in the programme is its best place, but it could also be used later for tuber blight – just watch the harvest seven-day harvest interval. Mr Alford tried it for the first time last year and liked the convenience of having two key actives – fluazinam and cymoxanil – in one can. Shirlan comes first, followed by Kunshi as the second spray. Mr Alford prefers fluazinam-based sprays to start the programme, aiming to coat the ridge with the product to give some protection against tuber blight. “It is going to be difficult to get away from that, but ensuring you are back in with the second spray no more than five days later will help.” This could compromise the ideal timing of first sprays and some 25-50% of the crop could be left untreated for longer than it should be. ![]() Patchy emergenceĬold and wet soils are not giving crops an ideal start and Mr Alford believes emergence could be staggered this season, with 50-75% of the crop up and away and the rest yet to come through. Some people try, but end up with problems,” he adds. “We just don’t get the weather to enable us do that and it just isn’t worth the risk to cut back rates. However, he admits it is tricky to do this in the south-western climate. This is a tough pill to swallow for Mr Vaux, who would like to stretch timings and use cheaper products to cut production costs. With these strains, you can’t afford to go out beyond five- to seven-day spray intervals,” says Mr Alford. “You need to be in with the first spray at the early rosette stage, as soon as you see any green leaf. They are much more aggressive and start to cycle at 7-8C, rather that previous Smith Period guidelines of 11C. He is also cautious of the now-dominant Pink_6 and Blue_13 blight strains. He says as soon as the crops come through the ground and produce leaves, the blight pressure is on. The farm’s Agrii adviser, Matthew Alford, who walks about 300ha of potatoes from north Devon to Yeovil and down to Exeter, believes Mr Vaux’s earliest crops will emerge in the first week of May. Planting of the farm’s Lady Rosetta and Tauris crispers started on 23 March this year and it has been a stop-start affair due to persistent showers and cold soil temperatures. Philip Vaux, farmer at New Rydon Farm Pressure on If there’s any growth we will knapsack spray it off as soon as possible,” he adds. “As it is close by, it is easy to keep an eye on and we don’t tend to have any serious problems with it. Mr Vaux also sells all his outgrades as stock feed, so he has very little waste from the grading process and has just one dumping site close to the farm. If you have trees on three sides it can create a micro-climate with a more humid atmosphere and that encourages blight,” he explains.Īs a first line of defence the farm tackles potato volunteers in wheat drilled after the previous year’s crop with florasulam/fluroxypr mixes, taking out a potential source of late blight inoculum. “Down here we have hedgerows and tree lines around small fields, so you can get blight pockets. See also: How to stop ‘stealth’ potato disease sneaking under the radar He tells Farmers Weekly the local landscape also works in favour of the number-one potato disease and requires growers to be vigilant against outbreaks throughout the growing season. He grows about 95ha of crisping potatoes across a range of soil types. Philip Vaux of D Vaux & Sons is a third-generation farmer at New Rydon Farm, South Petherton, just west of Yeovil. ![]() The typically wet and warm West Country climate is famed for its propensity to breed septoria in wheat crops and it is no different for late blight in potatoes grown in the region. An early start to blight fungicide programmes, followed by meticulous spray timings and robust application rates are crucial to keep a lid on late blight for one Somerset potato producer.
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