Pest and disease control for blueberry
Case 1 Prevent disease before the rain - 1
Start from the Crop Protection button Pick the plot, then tap Crop Protection. ORTH offers questions such as a disease prevention plan from this week’s weather, a check before harvest and export, or the next spray rotation from your last 60 days. Tap one to ask it. For blueberry In the Huelva autumn, rain and humidity in and around the tunnels drive grey mould, anthracnose and Phytophthora. Start with the weather question, so the plan follows your own forecast. - 2
Let the weather set the plan We tapped Build a disease prevention plan using this week’s weather. ORTH saw rain rising sharply from 8 to 10 November with humidity up to 89.6%, and proposed seven actions from 5 to 10 November: a disease baseline, removing infected material and opening up airflow, a fungicide decision on 6 November, drainage, securing the tunnel, protecting the root zone and a check after the rain. It scheduled no spray, because the plot is healthy and has no disease history. - 3
Products authorised for blueberry Under the plan, ORTH listed products from Spain’s official register (MAPA) authorised on blueberry for each disease: for grey mould, biologicals such as JULIETTA (2.5 kg/ha, 1 day before harvest) and SERIFEL (0.5 kg/ha); for anthracnose, SWITCH, at most twice, 21 days apart; for Phytophthora, phosphonates such as MIKONOS. Each card shows the dose, the pre-harvest interval, the number of applications and the EU residue limit. - 4
Save the proposal as actions When ORTH proposes a plan, tap Review to see every action with its date, category and instructions. Change or add actions if you need to, then tap Create. The actions land in the plot’s plans, ready to assign to someone on your team. For blueberry On Arándanos this saved the weather-based disease prevention plan with seven actions, for 4 to 10 November. Case 2 Spotted wing drosophila before harvest - 5
Set up traps before the fruit is at risk We asked what to do about spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, caught near harvest last spring. ORTH answered that no insecticide is justified now, while the fruit is not vulnerable. Use the dry days to repair the tunnel mesh and doors, remove old fruit, set a marked trap route and record catches from before flowering through harvest. A catch is a reason to inspect more fruit; the spray decision comes after that. For later, ORTH listed registered traps and attract-and-kill stations such as DECIS TRAP SUZUKII. - 6
What has to be true before you spray with bumblebees Once the hives are in, ORTH sets a gate. Pressure and susceptible fruit justify the spray. The label covers blueberry, Drosophila suzukii, tunnel production and the crop stage. The pre-harvest interval fits the next picking. The label and the bumblebee supplier say how to close or remove the hives and when to reopen them. No bees are foraging, and the weather is dry and calm. If any of these is unclear, do not spray.
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