The PotCast - Syngenta's Professional Horticulture Podcast

One pest that seems to have generated more than its fair share of enquiries is Tetranychus urticae, glasshouse red spider mite which is also known as two-spotted spider mite. Outbreaks are usually worst at the end of summer but this year the spell of hot dry weather we saw in spring may well have triggered some infestations.

It’s a pest favoured by warm, dry conditions either under protection or, despite its common name, on outdoor ornamentals. It can be a particular issue in glasshouses thanks to its rapid lifecycle – around 12 days at 21°C ­– where it can be active year-round if the temperature doesn’t drop below 16°C.

Listen to this episode to discover mroe about this pest to put you on the right side of controlling it when an attack happens. 

Want to know more about Syngenta Ornamentals - visit us at www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk or on Instagram (syngenta_ornamentals), Facebook (Synegnta Ornamentals UK) or Twitter @SyngentaOCUK or follow the blog online.

https://www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk/blog/advisory-blog/time-tackle-spider-mite

Understanding how fungicides work ­– their mode of action ­– not only helps in the design of spray programmes when new diseases or resistant strains of pathogen appear, it helps you minimise the risk of fungicide resistance evolving in the first place. Have a look at my earlier blogs on insecticide resistance, as the principles behind resistance management are similar for insecticides and fungicides. As the number of active substances authorised for horticultural use contracts, it’s vital to use treatments in a way that prolongs their effectiveness but delays or avoids the occurrence of resistance.

As with insecticide resistance in pests, a pathogen that develops resistance to a fungicide is often cross-resistant to others that share similar chemistry – but resistances that affect all the active substances targeting one area of an enzyme or one step in a biological process don’t necessarily confer cross-resistance to those targeting another part. And in some cases resistance to one group of actives can make the pathogen more sensitive to another.

Want to know more about Syngenta Ornamentals - visit us at www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk or on Instagram (syngenta_ornamentals), Facebook (Synegnta Ornamentals UK) or Twitter @SyngentaOCUK or follow the blog online.

https://www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk/blog/advisory-blog/understanding-how-fungicides-work-0

While plants can respond to protect themselves, at least in the short term, those responses take energy and can shut down some important parts of their metabolism, inevitably taking their toll on growth and development. Even when the stress is eliminated, the crop may never catch up so quality suffers with consequences for plant performance in the garden or landscape.

An element of the stress response that is increasingly well understood is how it affects plant proteins.

Proteins form the structural elements of cells and tissues but they’re also the enzymes that control all of the thousands of different biochemical processes in the plant – such as photosynthesis, nutrient transport, and regulation of flowering.

Discover how amino acids can hep you combat stress in plants.

Want to know more about Syngenta Ornamentals - visit us at www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk or on Instagram (syngenta_ornamentals), Facebook (Synegnta Ornamentals UK) or Twitter @SyngentaOCUK or follow the blog online.

https://www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk/blog/advisory-blog/amino-acids-antidote-stress

Daniel Lightfoot Business Manager at Syngenta Ornamentals interviews Fargro's Ant Surridge and Chris Dart about the product Subdue. How it works, what it controls and how to get the best out of it.

Want to know more about Syngenta Ornamentals - visit us at www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk or on Instagram (syngenta_ornamentals), Facebook (Synegnta Ornamentals UK) or Twitter @SyngentaOCUK or follow the blog online.

A relatively new type of plant health product which complements both crop protection and nutrition, biostimulants are set to play an increasing role in integrated pest and disease management programmes for ornamentals.

Because they have no direct effect on pests or diseases they fall outside the scope of plant protection legislation, but you still need to take care to source products from manufacturers who can provide the research and trials evidence to back their claims. Most reputable suppliers, including Syngenta, belong to the European Biostimulants Industry Council (www.biostimulants.eu).

Biostimulants can include various substances, sometimes micro-organisms, that can boost plant vigour, yields, quality or stress tolerance. Many include nutrient compounds: though these act through different mechanisms to fertilisers, biostimulants have recently been brought into Europe-wide regulations covering the performance and quality of fertilisers and related products, which should help to raise product quality overall and give growers more confidence to use them.

Want to know more about Syngenta Ornamentals - visit us at www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk or on Instagram (syngenta_ornamentals), Facebook (Synegnta Ornamentals UK) or Twitter @SyngentaOCUK or follow the blog online. 

https://www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk/blog/advisory-blog/take-stress-out-plant-health-0

Controlling root diseases is something not to be forgotten. This gives you more detail into the "behind the scenes"

Root diseases caused by species of the oomycete pathogens Pythium and Phytophthora are particularly difficult to manage. Although they share some characteristics with fungi, some aspects of their biology and biochemistry are dissimilar meaning only certain fungicides, such as Subdue, have a mode of action able to control them.

Different Pythium and Phytophthora species grow best at different temperatures: some Pythium species can grow and spread at below 15°C.

Want to know more about Syngenta Ornamentals - visit us at www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk or on Instagram (syngenta_ornamentals), Facebook (Synegnta Ornamentals UK) or Twitter @SyngentaOCUK or follow the blog online.

https://www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk/blog/advisory-blog/dont-forget-your-roots

Ornamental crops can come under stress of one kind or another at any time but spring is arguably when it’s most likely.

Tender young shoots and buds will still be at risk from cold damage at that point in the year whether plants are on the nursery or in transit in the supply chain. It’s the stress caused by overheating, lack of water and too much or too little light, however, that can be more difficult to spot and manage.

Sudden changes in the weather, for example from cool and dull to hot and bright, can be particularly damaging if plants can’t adapt fast enough – think how quickly the temperature can climb in a greenhouse on a warm, windy day that would keep the vents closed. Modern monitoring systems (which we talked about in an earlier blog) can help you manage the greenhouse environment much more responsively; fans to keep the air moving and stop hot spots can also help.

Want to know more about Syngenta Ornamentals - visit us at www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk or on Instagram (syngenta_ornamentals), Facebook (Synegnta Ornamentals UK) or Twitter @SyngentaOCUK or follow the blog online.

https://www.syngentaornamentals.co.uk/blog/advisory-blog/active-growth-crops-resilience