A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
With winter fast approaching, there is no time like the present to get under way with those all-important winter jobs - writes Technical Area Sales Manager, Steve Chapman. Here he outlines a few key tasks for growers.
For many growers and nurseries, the recent turning back of clocks symbolises the end of the year is edging ever closer and the seemingly relentless, seven-days-a-week, struggle to keep up with watering has finally come to an end. This, though, is only the start of the many steps needed to get ready for spring.
Getting plants ready
It is all too easy to overlook plant nutrition as we head into the colder months. While nutrition is likely to be at the forefront of our minds as spring approaches and we think about getting plants growing again - it is also super important to get it correct over winter.
If the controlled release fertilizer incorporated into your growing media has come to the end of its predetermined longevity - or you are about to turn off your irrigation with its associated liquid feeding - now is the time to apply a quality-controlled release fertiliser.
With the risk of cold weather approaching, applying a high Potassium feed now - like Osmocote Bloom (2-3month) - will help green up foliage. Importantly it won’t encourage soft growth, but it will help plants harden up ready for winter, while maintaining their colour.
Getting cleaned up
Another easily forgotten job at this time of year is to get on top of weeds - whether these are in crops, or around and underneath emptied benches and glasshouses. Many weed types act as alternative hosts while vulnerable, or less suitable crops, are absent. This is particularly true for aphids, whitefly and even diseases like rust and powdery mildew.
Now it is also a good idea to familiarize yourself, and your team, with the whitefly life cycle; while it is often easy to spot the adults flying around, you need to look much closer to see the egg, crawler, nymph or scale stages.
Getting things cleaned and disinfected between crops is always time well spent. Struggling with problems in crops all year is bad enough - but starting with exactly the same problem the following season is senseless.
With this in mind, look to use a suitable strong disinfectant for all surfaces including glasshouses, tools, pots, trays, benches, paths, and irrigation systems.
Time for reflection
As nights start to draw in, it's a great time to reflect on where crop protection products have worked and where they have not worked so well. Where control has proved challenging with insecticides or fungicides, look to cultural controls first; things like increasing airflow with vents or fans; moving crops outside to slow down pest life cycles; or adjusting watering regimes.
It is also a good time to familiarise yourself with FRAC and IRAC codes for the pesticides you rely on. It is very easy to think you are using a completely different product, as the product name may differ. However, with limiting active ingredients available, you may find on closer inspection that they have exactly the same mode of action.
Another important thing to check is whether the product has a curative mode of action against the disease. Many fungicides are only preventative, so will need to be applied before a problem manifests itself.
Registered insecticides must do what they say on the label. If you have found they are not working effectively, double check how they are best applied. Some maybe systemic, others translaminar or contact acting only - this will help determine whether you need higher water volumes for dense foliage canopies or whether low water volumes will even contact the pest efficiently.
Top tip!
If you are struggling to find a spray programme that gives sufficient control of a disease for the entire season - due to maximum applications per crop - look to include one of our new Vitalnova Nursery biostimulants to help stimulate plants natural defence mechanisms by acting as elicitors. With no entry limitations or maximum applications, they can be very useful on busy nurseries.
For rates of use etc, speak to your Local Technical Area Sales Manager.