Pest and disease control for strawberry
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 strawberry Under a tunnel, rain rarely wets the leaves, but it slows drying inside the tunnel, which favours grey mould. Plan before the wet spell. - 2
Ask for a plan built on the forecast We tapped Build a disease prevention plan using this week’s weather. ORTH used the dry days until 7 November to prepare, because pressure rises from 8 November, with 34.9 mm of rain, 87.4% humidity and gusts of 60 km/h on 9 November. First a 20-point disease baseline with removal of dead and suspect tissue, then drainage and root-zone moisture, then on 7 November a pre-rain decision on a treatment. With no disease history or symptom report on the plot, it did not plan an automatic spray. - 3
Check what is authorised in Spain Above the plan, ORTH listed products from the Spanish register (MAPA) for strawberry: 165 authorised for these diseases, with the first ten shown. For grey mould, for example, Captana (captan) with a 14-day pre-harvest interval and Teldor (fenhexamid) with one day. Each card gives the dose, the interval, the number of applications, the growth stages and the EU residue limit. In this list every card said the use was not yet confirmed, so check the label before you spray. - 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 strawberry On Fresas this saved the 7-day strawberry disease prevention plan with 8 actions, starting with the disease baseline on 5 November. Case 2 Spider mites with bumblebees in the tunnel - 5
Predatory mites first, a product only as rescue We reported the first two-spotted spider mites under the leaves. ORTH listed 40 authorised products, but advised predatory mites first and a product only as a local rescue treatment, never a routine spray of the whole tunnel. Release Phytoseiulus persimilis on the marked hotspots and Neoseiulus californicus for background control. Remove only heavily infested leaves, bag them on the spot and scout again often. - 6
Protect the bumblebees and the predators If a product is needed, Botanigard (Beauveria bassiana) was the first one ORTH would check, because it is authorised in tunnel strawberry without a pre-harvest conflict. Its label does not confirm compatibility with your predators and bumblebees, so ask both suppliers for the waiting interval. Spray after bee flight, never onto foraging bumblebees or open hives. Close hives only as the supplier and the label direct, and reopen them once the spray has dried, the tunnel is aired and the re-entry period has passed. Do not release predators into wet residue. - 7
Ask what changes on tables and in raspberries We asked what changes for strawberries in coir bags on raised tables and for raspberries in the same tunnels. On tables the risk moves to bag moisture, drain hygiene and emitters, and predatory mites go on the leaves and along the table, because the floor is too far away. Raspberry is a separate crop: its own label, target and interval, an open cane wall and predators spread through the canopy. Raspberry flowers attract bumblebees, so keep drift out of the neighbouring crop.
1.
2.
3.
4.