Archive Article: 1997/09/20
TWO west Lancashire growers have used an unconventional approach to blight this season – copper chelate.
Once, copper was the only fungicide available to growers – and it still is for organic growers. Now it may be returning as a tin replacement in blight spray programmes and as a desiccant.
Blight was so bad in one 2ha (5.4 acres), crop of Saxon at Ambrose Farm, Halsall, near Ormskirk, that John Pilkington could not wait for the contractor to spray off with diquat (Reglone).
Instead, his crop consultant Bill Scarisbrick – who is also an independent distributor for Stoller – suggested Key Feeds copper chelate where it is being used in the States very successfully to kill off potato haulms. Stoller recommended application at 10 litres/ha.
The results have astounded Mr Scarisbrick. Within three days the blight was stopped in its tracks and the tops wilting, he explains. It cost Mr Pilkington just £25/ha (£10/acre) – a 60% saving on contractor-sprayed acid.
At Hill Farm, Little Crosby, near Liverpool, 8ha (19 acres)of Maris Piper received the same treatment. The tops remained green after the first application, so a further 10 litres/ha were applied.
The result? No sign of blight, and 95% of the tops dying. However, a small area remained too green for Mr Scarisbricks liking, so a touch of diquat (Reglone) was applied.
"As an expedient and comparatively inexpensive way of controlling blight and desiccating the tops the copper chelate seems extremely effective," he says. He plans to introduce more of his customers to it next year.
Furthermore, he has been using copper sulphate to replace tin-based products for blight control. "It wasnt as cheap as we would have liked because the product had to be flown in the from the States," he adds.
But, at £20/ha (£8.25/acre) it was, he believes, cost-effective. Next year he plans to cut rates by a half – and apply it a week or so earlier to keep on top of the blight.