Apple black spot control

August 2023 | Dr Peter Triloff | Future Orchards® presentation

Apple black spot can become difficult to contain when repeated rainfall continually creates infection opportunities. In this Future Orchards® presentation, Dr Peter Triloff draws on European experience to discuss practical control principles for high-pressure seasons.

A consistent theme is the value of protectant fungicides. Where rain is forecast, a protectant should be applied as close to the rainfall event as practical, with product rainfastness considered when selecting the program. When weather creates only short spray windows, the blocks with the highest disease pressure should be prioritised.

Triloff’s approach also highlights the cumulative nature of disease pressure: allowing infections to establish increases the amount of secondary inoculum available for later infection cycles. That makes timely intervention and sustained protection more effective than waiting for visible symptoms.

The presentation is a strategic disease-management resource. Product choice and use must always be checked against current Australian labels, permits and resistance-management guidance.

The presentation also reflects the reality of “popcorn weather” described in European black-spot management discussions: frequent localised showers can repeatedly remove or dilute protection and create new infection periods before a conventional calendar interval is reached.