Technical Services Newsletter
BotryStop® WP: Effective Botrytis management now comes in a new, room temperature-stable formulation
Botrytis is a rough disease to manage, and growers are left struggling to gain control with conventional fungicides due to fungicide resistance. This has led to a greater emphasis on using cultural and biological methods as the primary defense against this pathogen.
To make your life a whole lot easier, we’ve introduced BotryStop WP. This re-formulated biofungicide has improved room-temperature storage, increased ease of use, and remarkable suppression power against Botrytis. BotryStop WP has proven its effectiveness against Botrytis on a variety of crops, indoors and outdoors, such as strawberries, grapes, raspberries, geraniums, and poinsettias. The updated formulation also includes bacterial leaf spot (Xanthomonas spp.) and can be used on a wider range of crops, whether conventional or organically grown.
This novel product is a unique punch for resistance management and a fantastic rotation partner for your IPM strategy. For a closer look into its wonder, take a peek at the BotryStop WP White Paper.
Introducing the BioWorks Product Compatibility Tool
One useful feature of the BioWorks website is the Product Compatibility Tool. This new interactive tool allows growers and pesticide applicators to efficiently determine whether certainBioWorks products can be tank mixed with other products on the market.
Tank mix compatibility is important because it determines whether it is safe to mix two or more pesticides in the same application tank. Incompatible pesticides can react with each other in the tank, causing several problems. Products not compatible could reduce the efficacy of biological pesticides, increase phytotoxicity risk to crops, and produce physical changes to the spray solution. These problems can lead to poor pest control, spray equipment and/or crop damage which could be costly to an operation.
However, tank-mixing compatible pesticides can be beneficial to growers for several reasons:
- IMPROVED PEST CONTROL: Tank mixing pesticides can increase the overall efficacy. Different pesticides have different modes of action, so mixing them can provide more comprehensive control of the pest. This is particularly important when dealing with resistant populations. For example, SuffOil-X® kills on contact through suffocation and Molt-X® is an IGR (Insect Growth Regulator); these two-products tank mixed offer quick knockdown control plus longer residual by interrupting the pest lifecycle.
- COST-EFFECTIVENESS: Tank mixing can also save time and money by reducing the number of application treatments needed. For example, by tank mixing a fungicide (i.e., CEASE®)with an insecticide (i.e., SuffOil-X), growers can achieve control of both disease pathogens and insect pests with a single application, rather than applying them separately.
- BETTER CROP YIELD: By effectively controlling pests and diseases, tank mixing pesticides can also improve crop yield and quality, which can result in better profits for growers.
To use the Product Compatibility Tool, simply select the products you are interested in using from the drop-down menus provided. The tool will then display a list of compatible and incompatible products, as well as any special considerations that may need to be taken into account when using the selected products together.
The BioWorks Product Compatibility Tool is a valuable resource for growers who want to ensure that they are using the most effective and safe combination of products on their crops. It can also help operations save time and money by avoiding the use of incompatible products, which could potentially harm their crops or lead to reduced yields.
The BioWorks Product Compatibility Tool can be found here, or on our Resource Page along with other helpful information on our products.
