Multi active Instrata gives long term turf disease control

Fusarium disease attacks over the coming weeks will be the most damaging of the season, warns Syngenta Turf & Amenity Technical Manager, Dr Simon Watson. With soil conditions cooling rapidly and turf growth slowing there will be little opportunity to recover from any scarring and surface loss.   

Speaking at ScotsTurf this week (11-12 November), Dr Watson highlighted that the risk of Fusarium attack has increased significantly in recent weeks. "The Fusarium pathogen will almost certainly be present in most turf surfaces, even if there are no visible symptoms yet. Turf managers will have to be ready with a proactive strategy for fungicide selection, synchronising application with conditions that are conducive to disease outbreaks. In the difficult conditions the multi-active Instrata fungicide gives greenkeepers greater flexibility to target disease in the turf, as well as incredible long-term protection for clean leaf," he advises. 

With rain showers expected all week for the ScotsTurf event in Edinburgh, the GreenCast website disease prediction system - www.greencast.co.uk - was forecasting high risk conditions for Fusarium infection every day. Fusarium risk was predicted to remain high across the UK, with only the eastern most counties of England seeing any respite towards the end of the week. 

Dr Watson added that where turf managers have already applied fungicides over the summer and early autumn, switching now to an application of multi-active Instrata with its entirely different mode of action is good management practice to knock out lingering disease populations and give a clean start for the winter. "Instrata includes fludioxonil, the first new contact fungicide for turf for over 20 years. It is proving quite exceptional in giving long-term disease protection."  

Hampshire course manager, Mark Openshaw (right), has already experienced the long-term control of Instrata for protecting turf during winter conditions. From one application last November, when disease symptoms were first seen on the most susceptible greens, he reported lesion development was immediately stopped and the turf remained disease free for over nine weeks through the crucial winter period. 

With the disease pathogen clearly active and the risk of further development remaining high, the idea of using a multi-active fungicide and hitting disease at different points in its life cycle was particularly attractive. The aim was to stop further spore production from existing disease lesions, to prevent infection that had already penetrated into other plants from developing further, and to protect otherwise clean leaves from being infected. 

"I have always been interested in mixing actives to cover the potential disease threats at any given application," says Mr Openshaw. "With Instrata having the active ingredients already mixed in one product simplifies the process and makes spraying easier and faster.   

"The results in stopping disease development and clearing up the Fusarium infection were extremely good," he added. "The nine weeks control was conservative, and could possibly have been extended. As we further improve our Integrated Turf Management and reduce the potential risk of Fusarium, we hope to get even longer control out of all fungicide applications."

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