Pre-harvest sprays
- Orchards with a history of Gloeosporium or Colletotrichum rot should be sprayed pre-harvest with sprays of captan or Switch (cyprodinil + fludioxonil) or Bellis (pyraclostrobin + boscalid) in July and August.
- Captan or Switch (cyprodinil + fludioxonil) or Bellis (pyraclostrobin + boscalid) applied in early spring and summer may also reduce Gloeosporium and Colletotrichum rot.
Avoiding fungicide resistance
- Resistance of Gloeosporium and Colletotrichum isolates to benzimidazole fungicides is common in the rest of Europe.
- In the UK the incidence of resistance has increased in the last five years such that about 30-40% of isolates are resistant.
- Therefore pre-harvest sprays should be based on sprays of two different products rather than two sprays of the same product.