I've been doing my monthly FAQ's for a year now and since 2021 is the year I've decided to get ahead of the game and communicate in advance of the problem rather than after the event then I thought it was worth reviewing last years questions that came up and I hope that will put you in the driving seat for the challenges ahead.
Primo Maxx II - watering in
Last year here seemed to be a few questions floating around about watering Primo in - Looking out the window, I can see where they came from. The there is so much going on at this time of year and so many opportunities to make the courses look great any time saving should be considered.
So it makes sense to consider adding Primo to wetting agents and doing 2 jobs at once.
Short answer is try not too. Any time you mix two products with different target areas (Primo – leaf / Qualibra soil) you are making a compromise (albeit a conscious one), and your application technique compounds this decision.
Primo needs about an hour until it’s rainfast. My concern with watering primo in immediately isn’t that you’re reducing the efficacy (that’s a conscious decision you make – after all, you have a legal obligation to read the label – and it states it there) but if your watering in isn’t consistently timed then you’ll see varied results from the primo from green to green. If some greens are watered immediately and others don’t get watered for an hour then some greens, or parts of greens will be under higher levels of suppression than others.
Primo Maxx II timing
Covered this one quite a lot recently - during June (unless we have a particularly cold one) then A well timed Primo programme is around every 14 days - there are alot of micro adjustments that can be made but in simple terms:
- Cool but just growing: Apply every 4 weeks
- In between: Apply every 3 weeks
- Peak summer: Apply every 2 weeks
- and remember, adjusting the rate will alter the levels of suppression not the period it lasts.
For a more thorough approach use the GDD tool and use 200 GDD at 0C Base temp for best results. You can set thresholds on there to send you reminders.
Has Acelepryn been granted for LeatherJackets yet?
I getting this question already this year and the answer is the same as last year - Not yet (2nd June 2021), we're waiting still and unfortunately that's the nature of Emergency Authorisations.
Should I spray Acelepryn for Chafers yet?
June is typically a month where we see activity - so the normal advice would be: Apply during the best rainfall period after hatch.
That advice still stands but I suspect this years cold April and May will slow down the emergence of the Chafer beetles.
A quick look at the Chafer sightings reported into PestTracker show lower numbers reported to date. I suspect the decent temperatures we're seeing now (early June) will stimulate some activity - remember to keep logging here so we can share the timing advice.
To date the majority of sightings have been Garden Chafer, (ignore the winchester sighting on all maps - thats my house as I need a reference point to kick the system into action!), The Cock Chafer sighting on the Isle of Wight was me during the Bank holiday weekend - So I suspect we'll see more of those pop up this week, in which case June is perfect (assuming we get some rain!)
My XC nozzles don’t fit my sprayer
I get asked this one so often – it’s got it’s own blog!
