From Melanie Ivey, OARDC Plant Pathology
As with many other commodities, there is a shortage of fungicides (and herbicides), in particular Captan, for the beginning of the 2022 fruit crop season. Since Captan is the backbone fungicide for many fruit crops growers will need to prepare a Plan B in case these two products do not arrive in time for the first early season sprays. For apple, peach, cherry, grape, and blueberry, Captan can be replaced with Ziram. A spreader/sticker can be added to Ziram to improve its efficacy. I attached a copy of the Ziram 76DF Label. The rates for Ziram are not the same as Captan so growers will need to refer to the label. Remember the label is the law! For growers who have strawberries, they should consult the Midwest Fruit Pest Management Guide to select an alternative to Captan.
Growers should also anticipate a significant increase in prices for all fungicides. 🙁
Let’s hope we don’t have to move to Plan B and the products will arrive before the buds break!