Gary Veal, Technical Sales Agronomist for Plant Food Systems, Inc., says that tactics for preventing disease in young, non-bearing scab susceptible, and young scab tolerant pecan varieties is important. “We can’t turn our backs on pecan diseases even if we have scab tolerant cultivars”, says Veal.
For non-bearing trees that are pecan scab susceptible, we recommend growers begin foliar sprays by the second year after transplant. Scab infection will overwinter in leaves and stems on scab sensitive varieties. Starting fungicide sprays early is essential in holding down scab incidence now, and as these trees grow in subsequent years. Unfortunately, according to Veal, scab susceptible varieties need to be protected even the first 2-5 years. This is costly but a necessary input for scab sensitive varieties planted in the southeastern U.S. Kphite 7LP is the chemistry preferred for these applications. Make applications based on scab pressure (consider variety susceptibility), conditions of frequent rainfall, high temperatures and humidity. For small orchards and hand-spraying use 1 quart per 100 gallons of water, says Veal. For larger. non-bearing trees use the rate of 2 quarts per acres in 50-100 gallons water per acre based on tree size. Repeat applications every few weeks based on weather and variety susceptibility to pecan scab. Kphite 7LP is fully tree-systemic providing excellent protection utilizing foliar sprays.
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For non-bearing, and scab tolerant varieties, Veal says that some sprays are advised depending on the variety and tolerance for scab. Some newer varieties, according to Veal, are nearly scab resistant but have threats from other diseases like anthracnose and powdery mildew, for example. Two or three sprays per year may be all growers need with scab tolerant varieties. The sprays should be timed to coincide with the infection period and anticipated incidence of secondary diseases like anthracnose (aka, glomerella), and powdery mildew.
Plant Food Systems, Inc.’s patented Kphite 7LP is fully plant-systemic. Kphite 7LP is low risk for diseases building resistance allowing multiple and sequential applications. From our experiences in 2019 with the 2-3 quart rate used sequentially, Veal says key growers reported how well Kphite 7LP controlled pecan scab, but visually made a difference in the overall appearance of their trees. Veal says those growers used 2-3 applications ( pecan sprays 1, 2, and 3) of 2 quarts of Kphite LP each application alone, no other fungicide in the tank! Veal states that Plant Food Systems uses only virgin, high quality components to manufacture Kphite 7LP. “We believe the purity of our product makes Kphite 7LP the most systemic product that relates to outstanding disease protection and overall tree health.”
Gary Veal
Plant Food Systems, Inc.
