Keep on top of blight with tin
Keep on top of blight with tin
DRY weather and fungicides may have dried blight infections, but a full-rate programme of tin is still advisable to prevent tubers carrying infection into store, particularly if wet conditions return before lifting.
"Growers should keep on top with full-rate fentin hydroxide products, at the shortest label intervals," says Yorkshire agronomist Eric Hutchinson of BCS Agriculture. "At this stage the tops are mature, so shock is not a problem."
To maximise the chance of getting crops into store cleanly, at least three full doses should be applied before burning off with acid. If growers are using diquat or glufosinate, then a fourth full-rate tin should go on with the desiccant as they are slower acting.
Potatoes should be left in the ground for at least three weeks, to cut tuber infection, he stresses.
so spores on dying foliage and soil are less likely to infect tubers at lifting, he stresses.
If catchy weather returns, or irrigation is in progress, then mixing in a sticker with the blight sprays is advisable, he adds.