OSR Sclerotinia Monitoring
Unfortunately, we are unable to produce the BASF-ADAS Sclerotinia Monitoring Bulletins in 2020. This is due to government guidance on social distancing due to COVID-19 preventing operation of the spore PCR lab testing, which is an integral part of the ADAS advice. Therefore, we are unable to monitor airborne spores to advise on the level of inoculum. Headline guidance is that in flowering crops where night temperatures stay above 7oC, infection can occur if canopies are humid. Remember all Sclerotinia fungicides are protectant only, so an early-mid flower spray is advised if these conditions occur.
ADAS will be reporting on Sclerotinia inoculum levels in Herefordshire, based on the tried and trusted low-tech method in which they sample petals from untreated trial plots and place these petals on agar plates. For live information on the weather-based sclerotinia infection risk please visit north_east https://ahdb.org.uk/sclerotinia.